This report represents the work of New Jersey's Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee (EPAC) from 2011-2013. The EPAC Interim Report, published in February 2013, summarized the establishment of the EPAC, key lessons learned from the 2011-12 teacher evaluation pilot, and recommendations for statewide roll-out of a more effective educator evaluation…

Many policies and initiatives have been proposed or implemented to address the unique needs of military families who face special challenges while supporting the service of their military member(s). Some of those policies and initiatives have sought to focus on military-connected children (MCCs) and the particular academic challenges they face.…

This report presents Maryland's achievements in public education for 2011. Maryland's achievements include: (1) Maryland's public schools again ranked #1 in the nation in Education Week's 2011 Quality Counts annual report; (2) Maryland ranked 1st nationwide for a 3rd year in a row in the percentage of public school students scoring 3 or higher on…

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…

All of the 15 states in this study have recently been involved in school accountability system reform. Since 2011, the states have taken advantage of a federal program to give them flexibility around certain accountability requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 (NCLB), the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and…

Access to financial aid is dependent on a variety of factors, including the time of application; the earlier students apply for financial aid, the greater their access to institutional and often state resources. We use the Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) as a case for investigating the economic, social, and academic factors that affect…

This dissertation is comprised of three separate yet related papers focused on Connecticut's new beginning teacher induction program: the Teacher Education and Mentoring (TEAM) program. The study uses data collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with twenty two participants including program leaders at the Connecticut State Department…

This project was a response to the changes in the Washington State math assessments for high school students. The creation of an exit exam for Washington State high school students and the expectation that they pass it to graduate has placed tremendous pressure on high schools that struggled with low passing rates on the Washington State math…

To remain internationally competitive, states needed clearer, higher, and comparable K-12 learning standards aligned with college and career expectations, and as ambitious as those of the countries that lead the world in education. Idaho's old academic standards were not preparing students for postsecondary education, which contributed to the…

This study investigates the influence of Green School designation on students' achievement in state-mandated standardized tests. Data were gathered 3 years pre- and post-Green schools designation, from test pass rates in reading and mathematics for Grade 5 and Grade 8 students, and from mathematics, English language arts, and biology scores for…

This brief estimates the impact of a statewide implementation of Opportunity Culture models, using North Carolina as an example. Impacts estimated include student learning outcomes, gross state product, teacher pay, and other career characteristics, and state income tax revenue. Estimates indicate the potential for a statewide transition to…

New Jersey is preparing to implement a statewide educator evaluation system in the 2013-14 school year. As part of this process, an Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee (EPAC) was convened in September 2011. The EPAC consisted of 22 appointed members from various stakeholder groups. Its charge was to make recommendations to the New Jersey…

The Idaho State Department of Education (SDE) recently revised its SLD identification policy to include a requirement to document a student's response to intervention coupled with a comprehensive evaluation. To implement this policy, the SDE is using multiple implementation drivers. In this article, we describe how and why the new policy was…

Using a multi-method approach involving fixed effects and logistic regressions, this study examined the effect of the Oklahoma's Promise Program on student persistence in relation to the Pell and Stafford federal programs and according to socio-economic characteristics and class level. The Oklahoma's Promise is a hybrid state program that pays…

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…