Hot Topics in Education

Common Core State Standards Issued for Comment

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers formally issued a draft of college- and career-ready standards in English language arts and mathematics for comment as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. These standards define the knowledge and skills students should have to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing, academic college courses and in workforce training programs. ACT has been involved in the development of the standards. After a comment period, ending October 21, the standards will be subject to review by a validation committee composed of national and international experts on standards. This group will review the standards development process and the substance of the standards to ensure they are research and evidence based.  Read More…

Keeping Middle Grades Students on the Path to Success in High School

This report by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) draws on many recent studies that highlight the positive correlation between middle- and high-school achievement. The report stresses the importance of raising standards aggressively and improving curricula across the middle grades. Looking at state and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test scores of its 12 member states, SREB concludes that modest gains over the past five years do not diminish the need to do more to ensure that middle schools are adequately preparing students to succeed in high school. The report breaks little new ground, but it reinforces the need to address early-year core knowledge.  Read More…

Moving English Language Learners to College and Career Readiness

This issue brief from the American Youth Policy Forum explores educational models for serving English Language Learners (ELLs) in ways that build on the students’ assets and prepare them for college and careers. The brief summarizes an AYPF fact-finding trip to Texas’s Rio Grande Valley region. The trip focused on how two school districts in the region, Hidalgo Independent School District (HISD) and Pharr San-Juan Alamo (PSJA) Independent School District, have implemented effective, asset-based programs to promote the educational and career success of ELLs. The issue brief provides an overview of the models and recommendations for future federal legislation.  Read More…

Race To The Top—Accelerating College and Career Readiness in States—P 20 Longitudinal Data Systems

This paper from Achieve, Inc. is one of four in a series of briefs on leveraging the Race to the Top Incentive Grants to advance the college- and career-ready agenda. The briefs are intended to provide American Diploma Project states with ideas in each of the four core reform areas that states are asked to address in their Race to the Top reform plans: standards and assessments; P-20 Longitudinal Data Systems; teacher effectiveness; and turning around low-performing schools.  Read More…

Using Student Achievement Data to Support Instructional Decision Making

The Institute of Education Sciences from the What Works Clearinghouse issued this new practice guide. The guide offers five recommendations to help educators effectively use data to monitor students’ academic progress and evaluate instructional practices. It recommends that schools set a clear vision for school-wide data use, develop a data-driven culture, and make data part of an ongoing cycle of instructional improvement. The guide also recommends teaching students how to use their own data to set learning goals.  Read More…