Educators and researchers often think of program design and program evaluation as separate endeavors, even intentionally creating a firewall between them. But what if designers and evaluators worked together, combining their insights to strengthen both the program and the study of it? In the work of evaluating a statewide professional learning…

Instruction in prekindergarten through third grade (P-3) lends itself to authentic, project-based and playful experiences that immerse learners in STEM activities and instruction. In an era of increased focus on literacy and math skills, STEM provides an interdisciplinary approach that may prove more effective for young students to acquire skills…

To date, most of the public narrative and pushback on new teacher evaluation systems has centered around their use for high-stakes personnel decisions such as pay, promotion, and dismissal, but these systems were always intended to promote and support improvements for all teachers--not just the superstars or laggards. Why is teacher development…

This report presents a multi-year study of how states are implementing their state college- and career-readiness standards. In this report, the Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) Benchmarking State Implementation of College- and Career-Readiness Standards project studied state efforts in 2014-15 and 2015-16 to foster effective…

In the summer of 2012, thousands of teachers across the United States attended several days of professional development workshops. The workshops, which focused on the Common Core State Standards, were part of a Tennessee Department of Education initiative in teacher leadership. The department recruited and trained 200 highly-effective teachers to…

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are helping educators prepare for and implement the Common Core and aligned assessments through professional learning. The major professional development efforts around the Common Core were examined in order to understand the overall efforts of each state. An exhaustive list of…

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are helping educators prepare for and implement their states' new college- and career-readiness standards and aligned assessments, through professional learning. SREB researchers examined each state's major professional development efforts around its new standards in order to…

Implementation of college- and career-readiness standards is some of the most important work currently underway in states to improve student achievement and public education overall. SREB examined the efforts of 14 states--including 11 SREB states--to support implementation of new college- and career-readiness standards. The goal of the research…

Implementation of college- and career-readiness standards is some of the most important work currently underway in states to improve public education and student achievement. This report provides a summary of findings from SREB's research into the efforts of 15 states--12 in the Southern Educational Research Board (SREB) region--to support…

The Career Ladder Program in Tennessee is a comprehensive teacher evaluation and certification system. The program is designed to attract, retain, and reward excellent teachers. On the basis of performance evaluation, teachers can move up a Career Ladder which provides monetary incentives and allows teachers professional growth opportunities…

Explains the structure of Tennessee's Career Ladder Program for teachers, with the primary focus on evaluation procedures used at the state level for identifying teachers in the top two to five career levels. Covers evaluation criteria, evaluation data sources, use of peer evaluators, and evaluation processes. (PGD)

A study was conducted to identify areas of teacher and program needs in the state of Tennessee in order to plan for the future. Five secondary school systems were selected from each of the seven developmental districts in the state, for a total sample of 35 representative systems. From these 35 systems, 419 (of 587) vocational personnel completed…

On March 6, 1984, Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander signed into law the Comprehensive Education Reform Act, which its supporters have called the nation's most ambitious statewide teacher career-ladder and incentive-pay program. In its final version, the legislature set up a five-step career ladder with annual salary incentives ranging from $500…

An annual report of the conditions of higher education in the United States for 1986-1987 is presented. The 16 sub-sections are as follows: (1) introduction; (2) principal sectors of higher education (four papers, on research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and state colleges); (3) issues (15 papers, e.g. academic…