All enrollment managers face some level of challenge related to decentralized decision making and operations. Policies and practices can vary considerably by academic area, creating administrative complexity, restricting the scope and speed of institutional initiatives, and limiting potential efficiencies. Central attempts to standardize or…

This publication summarizes the key discussion from experts in the field of measuring student growth during a convening held February 2015. Experts heard about two emerging approaches to measuring growth: Portfolios of student work samples and unit value-added models that provide teachers with timely and actionable feedback that they can use to…

A major goal of graduate education is the development of students as "stewards of the discipline," scholars who can create and preserve knowledge and responsibly translate it through writing, teaching, and practical applications. These qualities are consistent with the American Physiological Society's list of professional skills for…

A research synthesis points to the "added-value"--benefits to social and emotional development, as well as learning outcomes--for students of color taught by teachers of color. Given ongoing education debates, policymakers can use this evidence base to craft legislation aimed at increasing the ethnoracial diversity of the U.S. educator…

This report presents a question-driven exploration of growth and achievement data using SAS EVAAS reports. The purpose of this exploration was to bring additional data, information, and ways of thinking about student growth to ongoing district conversations about the measurement of campus-level student growth.

This report summaries the Professional Pathways for Teachers (PPfT) appraisal scores and teachers' perceptions of the appraisal system. The PPfT appraisal system was developed and refined during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years. The 2016-2017 school the appraisal system was implemented district-wide. The 2016-2017 appraisal scores will…

Data has played an important role in England's recent school improvement journey. The evolution of the approach has not been perfect but the National Pupil Database has become a vital tool for health checking the education system, driving accountability, directing education policymaking, and tracking the educational attainment of key vulnerable…

Northwest Evaluation Association™ (NWEA™) conducts norming studies every several years to provide the best and most up-to-date information we can about student achievement and growth to better support educational decision-making. It is an important part of our commitment to our partners. The most recent NWEA norms were released in July 2015. Just…

Training school leaders in the key areas of policy and state laws, basic statistical literacy, assessment types and purposes, and value-added models is particularly important because ideas shaping teacher performance evaluation are being considered at the national, state, and local levels. The authors argue that providing school leaders with this…

Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, state teams have been preparing their state plans aligned with ESSA for submission in April or September 2017 to the U.S. Department of Education. Because ESSA lands much of the decision-making and responsibility in education at the state and local levels, state education leaders…

We live in a rapidly changing world with technology as an essential part of our lives and an important component in contemporary education. Preparing teachers for the future requires that university professors understand what it means to teach and learn in the digital age. Teacher preparation programs need to create intentional learning…

This report provides an overview of the process used to derive a school's growth level and summarizes 2015 math and reading/ELA growth levels for all AISD elementary, middle and high schools. Additionally, longitudinal data are provided for each school level.

This paper seeks to add to the emerging literature related to online student engagement with additional suggestions for instructional strategies. Student engagement is one of the tenets of effective online instruction; as such, particular attention to how it adds value to student learning is crucial and worth the time and effort to enhance…

Rubrics have received increased attention in recent years in assessment and accountability efforts in higher education as tools that provide faculty with rigorous frameworks for translating authentic examples of student work into high-quality, useable data. These same tools may represent powerful vehicles for prompting and facilitating…

Culinary Arts training at the associates level presents a set of challenges to the instructor. It has been my experience that as the work environment is changing, students face new challenges in the kitchen, including a new mix of skills, both technical and social in nature. In this piece, I reflect on a promising learning community model at our…