For many years English learners (ELs) have lagged behind native speakers of English in the academic community. In an era of accountability, the pressure to achieve and maintain Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status is increasing the burden of success on ELs, especially when trying to learn a second language. The population of English learners is…

The federal government's role in PreK-12 education has long been contentious and continues to evolve. Many have written about education governance, but few have attempted to define an appropriate role for the federal government. That is the core purpose of this essay. The authors articulate a set of principles to guide the federal role in…

California's implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and its governing state role in one of the Race to the Top comprehensive academic assessment consortia, present a major opportunity to dig deeply into the challenges of fair and accurate assessment of the academic performance of its English Learners (ELs). Moreover, recent…

In response to federal initiatives such as Race to the Top (RTTT), Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) flexibility waiver requests, and the Teacher Incentive Fund competition, states have made dramatic changes in their policies related to teacher evaluation during the past three years. Historically, teacher evaluation systems have been…