"The ABCs of School Choice" is a comprehensive, data-rich guide to every private school choice program in America. The 2016 edition of "The ABCs of School Choice" is the best yet, not just because of the new look and the fantastic growth in the number of school choice programs, but also because it is now paired with a…

State longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) promise a rich source of data for education research. SLDSs contain statewide student data that can be linked over time and to additional data sources for education management, reporting, improvement, and research, and ultimately for informing education policy and practice. Authored by Karen Levesque, Robert…

The purpose of the National AEM Center's Quality Indicators with Critical Components for Higher Education is to assist institutes of higher education, both at the system and campus level, with planning, implementing, and evaluating dynamic, coordinated systems for providing accessible materials and technologies for all students who need them. The…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…

Recognizing that clear standards and strong incentives alone are not sufficient to transform teaching, policymakers now discuss "capacity-building" strategies. An examination of capacity-building strategies in eight states is provided in this report. Capacity refers to the wherewithal needed to translate high standards and incentives…

This report is an overview of events that have taken place over the last 4 years to further efforts to make the arts part of what every schoolchild learns in every grade. The report recounts how the Arts in Schools Basic Education Grants (AISBEG), a targeted federal pilot project of the National Endowment for the Arts, has stimulated change at the…

The Colorado Department of Education undertook the establishment of an educational quality database that would contain the information necessary for measuring the effects of various efforts at educational improvement. Five major planning concerns had to be resolved before the database itself could be established. First, it was determined that…

In Tennessee, varied data-gathering devices have been employed in an attempt to determine whether an educator is qualified for a given level on the state's career ladder program and, thereby, should attain the meaningful financial benefits linked to that status. In its first year of operation, the Tennessee program employed several domains of…

This paper delineates the purposes of a symposium that was based on a major study of the California School Improvement Program (SIP). The problem of increasing the capacity of schools to implement reform efforts is conceptualized. To explore this issue, a conceptual framework was developed, based on the case study and survey data from the first…

Based on 18 months of extensive research and study, the New Mexico State Department of Education developed the Staff Accountability Plan to address the issue of teacher accountability and certification. One of the provisions of the plan (a written assessment of general and professional knowledge for initial certification) will be fulfilled by…

This procedures manual for the North Carolina Test Development Program details the tasks involved in test development. The basic steps are described in an introductory section; they are (1) to specify the institutional objectives of the curriculum and ensure their instructional validity; and (2) to specify the characteristics, such as the purpose…

This paper presents two examples of how methodological research in testing and evaluation simultaneously served the needs of both researchers and practitioners. The first example focuses on Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE) research in writing assessment. This research investigated issues in domain definition, cognitive processing…

The Visiting Team Guidelines for Evaluation of Pennsylvania School Districts was prepared as a companion document for the three Pennsylvania Educational Needs Assessment Self-Study Guides for elementary schools, middle/junior high schools, and secondary schools. The purpose of these guidelines is to assist personnel of the school district and…

This state master plan provides a structure to facilitate the development of an appropriate and effective education system for all students in Utah, including those at risk of dropping out and of failing to achieve literacy. The challenges of ensuring an appropriate and effective education for each student are significant, numerous, and complex;…

This paper reports on the investigation of the operation of the Teacher of the Year Award program in 28 states. It focuses on the method of selection for recipients of this award, and explores the nature of the judging process used in selecting candidates at both the state and national levels. Specific objectives are: (1) to determine the criteria…