The Washington state Board of Education (SBE) and the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) submitted this 5th biennial joint report to the Governor, Legislative Education Committees, and Superintendent of Public Instruction. The report outlines the collaborative work of the Boards, highlights accomplishments, and provides goals and…

Nationwide, states face declining or plateauing investments in education. These financial constraints, coupled with increased standards for student achievement through the widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), create a heightened need for strategic resource use. However, districts are not currently using resources…

The locally-elected school board is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining, developing and operating local schools. School board members make important decisions with long-lasting implications for their community and its citizens. They establish a vision for the public education system in their community, are responsible for hiring and…

British Columbia's Ministry of Advanced Education's "2014/15-2016/17 Service Plan" supports achievement of government's strategic priorities of a: (1) Strong Economy; and (2) Secure Tomorrow. The Ministry will continue to work towards its vision of a leading-edge post-secondary system for strong communities and bright futures. To realize…

Given the prevalence of low-stakes testing internationally (e.g., NAEP, TIMSS, PIRLS), it is crucial to try to better understand examinee motivation in these contexts. In the current study, mixture modeling results supported three different profiles of test-taking effort over the course of five tests. Classes 1 and 2 had varying levels of effort…

The duplex design by Bock and Mislevy for school-based testing is revisited and evaluated as a potential platform in test-based accountability assessments today. We conclude that the model could be useful in meeting the many competing demands of today's test-based accountability assessments, although many research questions will need to be…

The United States is an outlier with respect to its heavy emphasis on student test scores for the purposes of school accountability. Many other countries instead use school inspection systems that pay more attention to a school's internal processes and practices. This policy note focuses on the school inspection systems of New Zealand and the…

For decades, the American elementary and secondary education system has operated somewhat as the railroads did before Lincoln's day, with each state setting its own expectations for what students should know and be able to do. To address that problem, nearly every state, with little fanfare, has adopted the Common Core State Standards for student…

This study examined the degree and frequency to which school counselors' utilized accountability measures and deliberate practice and their impact on perceived levels of counselor self-efficacy, as well as, perceived levels of student academic success. This study attempted to answer several critical questions regarding school counselor…

With a growing concern that society's needs are not being met, there are heightened expectations for accountability for public purposes. At the same time higher education institutions are experiencing increasing competition, as well as decreasing state support for public higher education. The concern is that competition for resources is overtaking…

Teacher evaluation has emerged as a key strategy for improving student outcomes in public education. The rationale is compelling: teachers vary widely in their effectiveness, and evaluation systems need to identify and address this variation. Performance evaluations have historically been largely perfunctory: no meaningful feedback is provided, no…

Consider the high-priority challenges facing education stakeholders today, such as measuring teacher effectiveness, implementing the Common Core State Standards, aligning K-12 and postsecondary education efforts with workforce demands, efficiently allocating resources, and ensuring that students stay on track to success. These efforts all rely on…

Recently, teacher evaluation has become a major focus in educational policy debates and research efforts. This increased attention to teacher evaluation has raised questions about the relationship between evaluation and student outcomes. Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain (2005) and others have demonstrated with value-added research that there are…

As states, districts, and schools transition toward more rigorous educator evaluation systems, they are placing additional weight on judgments about educator practice. Since teacher and principal observation ratings inherently rely on evaluators' professional judgment, there is always a question of how much the ratings depend on the particular…

This study was designed to investigate the perceived experiences encountered by principals in the state of Illinois regarding professional development sessions offered through the Illinois Administrator Academy. The fundamental value of the Illinois Administrator Academy was designed as one of 169 specific initiatives in association with the…