Students with extensive support needs (ESN), most of whom are taught in separate settings by special educators without extensive academic preparation, have difficulty making progress in the general education curriculum. Although there is evidence that data-based decision-making improves achievement for a wide range of students, there is little…

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) has been recommended as a specific problem-solving approach for addressing disproportionate discipline outcomes. RCA differs from other problem-solving models through its in-depth analysis that draws from the perspectives of individuals who are impacted by the issue being addressed. When applied to disproportionate…

Evidence based decision making is essential for enabling improved student learning. Teacher motivations and beliefs about the types and use of data are critical determinants of decision making. Our research explored the types of data teachers use and consider valuable when measuring improvement in student learning. Findings from 294 teachers from…

This toolkit is designed to help school- and district-based practitioners engage in a continuous improvement effort. It provides an overview of continuous improvement and focuses on the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. It includes tools and resources that practitioners can use to implement a continuous improvement effort in their own schools, districts,…

Choices made on data visualizations guide how users make meaning of the information presented. This research investigates design decisions made on 115 state-level dashboards reporting school safety data. Using pre-determined codes drawn from a framework of visualization rhetoric, dashboard characteristics were described and analyzed. Analysis…

The school librarian has a critical role to play in the 21st-century school learning environment. However, because of the constant changes in K-12 school environments and the difficult decisions administrators must make about allocating money to best help students, school librarians must rigorously document their professional growth and impact.…

Students in a master's-level graduate course in school counseling program evaluation conducted a qualitative research study to investigate school counselors' experiences with evidence-based program delivery and evaluation. We discuss the study's findings that illuminated themes of challenges faced by school counselors with implications for…

Efforts across higher education, economic development, workforce development and secondary education address alignment, which the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) Council defines as helping individuals prepare for and obtain meaningful careers while also meeting employer needs. Specifically, the relationship between workforce…

Around 600 schools have used the free, research-based Teaching, School and Leadership Practices (TSP) survey since it was first offered in 2017. This brief report is based on interviews with 10 principals who've used TSP three years in a row. The report shows the principals find it informs their own development and appraisal, identifies priorities…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) is focused on supporting educators in the use of data; to this end, ESE developed an Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS) that rolls many student data variables into a single indicator that provides educators with information about which students are at low, moderate, or…

"The Every Student Succeeds Act" encourages educators to use school improvement strategies backed by rigorous research. This snapshot, based on national surveys administered in 2018, describes what guidance states provided on improvement strategies and how districts selected such strategies in lowest-performing schools. Most states…

The passage of ESSA in 2015 created a novel mandate for States to develop school accountability systems that use alternative measures of school quality beyond test scores. This created an opportunity for States to be innovative and make new forms of data available that could potentially lead to new strategies for improving schools. This study…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), originally passed in 1965, is the primary federal law related to K-12 schooling. Title I and Title II-A are core ESEA programs, and they intend to help provide all students with equal access to education by providing financial assistance to schools and districts with a high percentage of students…