This article positions the core-selective evaluation process (C-SEP), a pattern of strengths and weaknesses (PSW) model of identifying specific learning disabilities (SLD), within guidelines and best practices recommended for assessing English learners. C-SEP is a broad approach that utilizes multiple sources of data to establish underachievement,…

Play-based learning is a combination of rich play and curricular outcomes. When implemented in a classroom, play-based learning has a multitude of positive effects on the students, both academically and social-emotionally. As leaders of a play-based learning classroom, educators must understand the different types of play, how to create an…

Academics is not the sole component of school readiness; rather, it is a compilation of children's physical, social--emotional, language, and cognitive development (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2009; National Education Goal Panels, 1997). The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC,…

Education officials have long hoped that the statewide academic assessments most students take each year could be used not only for accountability but also to guide instruction. Congress established the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) program in 2015 to help address this goal, offering up to seven states flexibility from…

Many personal and policy decisions turn on perceptions of school effectiveness, defined here as the causal effect of attendance at a particular school or set of schools on student test scores and other outcomes. Widely-disseminated school ratings frameworks compare average student achievement across schools, but uncontrolled differences in means…

Multicultural education is a reform movement grounded in the belief that all students should have equal opportunities to learn (Banks & Banks, 2015). Therefore, the diversity brought to educational institutions should be considered as assets not deficits. One way to accomplish cultural parity is to incorporate equity pedagogy, which occurs…

This article outlines a three-phased approach to enhancing online student-instructor interaction using asynchronous threaded discussions: check-ins. These instructor-initiated touchpoints, a form of Classroom Assessment Technique, are staged throughout the grading period to help affirm online presence, clarify expectations, monitor performance,…

In an institution where assessment was viewed as meaningless box-checking for the purpose of accreditation, a new reflective assessment practice changed 15 faculty members' perception of assessment in a single semester. Piloted with an interdisciplinary graduation requirement for Cultural Competency, the new assessment practice became a powerful…

The Grand Challenges in Assessment (GCA), a collaborative across assessment professionals and organizations, seeks to improve assessment activities through scholarship and access to practical information. To achieve the GCA strategic priorities, the authors provide resources for enacting rapid pedagogical change, defined as instructional…

At a time when teachers are feeling exceptional amounts of duress, literacy coaches often feel ineffective. However, coaches can be more important than ever when their collaborations increase teachers' self-efficacy, resiliency, and success with students. This article provides six simple rules that literacy coaches can use to enhance their work…

In this article, F. Tony Carusi considers the politics of instrumentalism performed between educational policy and research that figures the teacher as the primary means to raise student achievement. By reducing teachers to a means toward an end, policy and research work together to collapse what teachers are into what teachers are for, and in…

A significant role in educational assessment is played by measuring behavioural changes based on clearly specified educational objectives and meaningfully interpreting the results. One of the most significant strategies for evaluating a student's learning performance in the classroom is formative assessment. Formative assessment systems…

Motivating today's adolescents to read is a challenge. This article discusses the kinds of literacy instructional practices that leverage what we know about adolescent motivation. It also reviews several evidence-based literacy interventions designed to engage and motivate adolescent readers that can potentially lead to improvements in student…

Motivating today's adolescents to read is a challenge. Martha Abele Mac Iver, Marcia H. Davis, and Douglas J. Mac Iver discuss the kinds of literacy instructional practices that address what we know about adolescent motivation. They also review several evidence-based literacy interventions designed to engage and motivate adolescent readers that…

In today's dynamic and high-tech learning environment, offering flexible and innovative assignment options is crucial for engaging students across varied learning preferences and backgrounds. Alternative formats, such as gamification and storyboards, can boost engagement, spark creativity, and enhance learning outcomes in college classrooms. By…