Educational leaders across the country are catching on to the idea that traditional grading practices and standardized tests do not adequately capture the scope of what young people know and can do. These schools and districts are experimenting with new models for assessing learning and communicating results with students and families. This…

This guide was developed for PreK-12 leaders interested in exploring innovative approaches to evaluating student learning. Specifically, the authors sought to identify promising practices in evaluating critically important learning outcomes that infrequently get evaluated, such as career readiness skills, social and emotional competencies, and…

Students in an interdisciplinary undergraduate introductory course were required to complete a group video project focused on nutrition and healthy eating. A mixed-methods approach to data collection involved observing and rating video footage of group work sessions and individual and focus group interviews. These data were analyzed and used to…

The purpose of this paper is to inform evaluators of a method of evaluating capacity building in educational programs. One definition of capacity building is helping an organization increase its ability to fulfill its mission (Wing, 2004). Evaluators of capacity-building efforts therefore must focus on evidence that the program has helped to build…

A new certification regulation for social studies teachers in the state of Minnesota has been developed by a Task Force to Study Programs Leading to Certification of Teachers in the Areas of Social Studies. This Position Paper includes the rationale for a competency-based certification program and an analysis of the regulation, including…

Writing across the curriculum has been a pedagogy associated with faculty development since the earliest days of the movement. Carleton College, an early adopter of WAC pedagogy and faculty development, has, in the last decade, added portfolio assessment to the combination with positive results. Among the unexpected consequences has been a…

This document describes the efforts of program administrators to implement an organic curriculum in the Duluth, Minnesota, secondary schools. Major activities included staff development activities and inservice training students in a core of job skills. Organic curriculum is a learner-rather than a teacher-centered course of study utilizing…

Background information to help elementary and junior high school social studies teachers use the materials developed by the Minnesota Community Studies Project is provided. The primary concern of the 3-year project was to help students learn skills and content essential to understanding life in Minnesota's past, present, and future. There are 10…

This publication provides examples of the types of services that may be provided to Minnesota gifted/talented students and the corresponding outcomes accomplished by students when such services are provided. The first chapter examines education system values, a philosophy of education, the mission of public education, and Minnesota State Board of…

Materials contained in this career education implementation guide (one in a series of seven) provide concrete examples of how to evaluate a comprehensive career education program using the approach of applying logic and objectivity to the process of judging the merits of career education activities. Major topics discussed include the following:…

This study finds that nearly every school in the Great Lakes states is threatened to fail the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements mandated by the federal "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act. NCLB holds schools and districts accountable for student achievement on state standardized tests and schools that do not make AYP face…

This appendix describes the analytical procedures used to project the status of schools in the Great Lakes state toward meeting AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) requirements from 2005 to 2014. To "make AYP," the school as a whole and each numerically significant subgroup must meet "Annual Measurable Objectives" (annual…