To understand the immediate impact of a university-school district partnership that places preservice teachers (both traditional undergraduates and graduate students in an initial licensure residency program) in a Professional Development School (PDS) model, this exploratory study reviewed data from yearly examinations required by the Kansas State…

Having a well-qualified, effective teacher in every classroom is a cornerstone of current educational reforms. Clearly, retaining these effective teachers is critical to achieving this goal. This brief presents a strategic accountability approach to managing teacher talent retention and turnover. The brief begins with an overview of a strategic…

Across the country, state legislatures are turning to evidence-based policymaking to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and effectively. One example is family support and coaching. In response to research confirming that the early years of childhood affect learning, behavior, and health for a lifetime, many states have invested in…

In "Creating Learning Environments in the Early Grades that Support Teacher and Student Success," the National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL) profiles three expanded-time elementary schools that leverage a longer school day to better serve young students. In particular, the report describes how a longer day opens up opportunities…

Around 30 percent of families across New York State now speak a language other than English at home, resulting in 240,000 English language learners (ELLs) in the state's primary and secondary schools who speak nearly 200 different languages. This report looks at New York State's redesign of policies and practices to better support the education of…

As teachers and students have taken more active roles in assessment practices, our field has begun to pay more attention to classroom-based assessment (CBA). As a result, we have gained a better understanding of CBA principles but we have also become aware of challenges, particularly in applying traditional assessment concepts such as reliability…

As state education agencies (SEAs) across the nation take on the ambitious work of implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), it is critical that they have a clear understanding of the effectiveness of their efforts: Are educators being reached with the correct messages? Are the SEAs' supports and resources meeting the needs of the…

Physical inactivity is of concern for the majority of age groups within the United States. Limited engagement in physical activity (PA) has been linked with an increased risk for a host of health problems, including but not limited to heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Benefits of PA are widely documented and accepted yet many people, especially…

Education is seen as an instrument "per excellence" for effecting national development. Education is seen as a means of developing potentialities and capacity building. Any educational Curriculum that aims at developing human potentials must target at functionality. Functionality here refers to curriculum that is designed to teach…

This study compared a value-added approach to school accountability to the currently used metrics of accountability in California of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Academic Performance Index (API). Five-year student panel data (N?=?53,733) from 29 elementary schools in a large California school district were used to address the research…

This article discusses the role of assessment in a response-to-intervention model. Although assessment represents only 1 component in a response-to-intervention model, a well-articulated assessment system is critical in providing teachers with reliable data that are easily interpreted and used to make instructional decisions. Three components of…

In comprehensive, integrated, three-tiered models, it is essential to have a systematic method for identifying students who need supports at Tier 2 or Tier 3. This article provides explicit information on how to use multiple sources of data to determine which students might benefit from these supports. First, the authors provide an overview of how…

A case study was conducted during 1994-2013 on several groups of process engineering students to see what was needed to transform a single course from a teacher-centred to a student-centred learning environment (SCLE). Development work was done incrementally, using Herbart's didactic triangle as a theoretical framework. The effects of the…

This action research project on "Self-Regulation" uses the understanding of self-regulation to help students set goals through metacognition so that they may monitor their goals effectively. Being biological and cognitive beings, students are given opportunities to reflect on the process required to set effective goals so that they may…

Annually American College Testing (ACT) provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is designed to help educators understand and answer the following questions: (1) Are students prepared for college and career, and are younger students on target? (2) Are enough students taking core…