Folder: Student Engagement

This report from the National Endowment for the Arts looks at correlations between arts activity among at-risk youth and subsequent levels of academic performance and civic engagement. Data was pulled from four large-scale, longitudinal studies that tracked a nationally representative sample of children and/or teenagers over time. The following key findings emerged:
Socially and economically disadvantaged children and teenagers who have high levels of arts engagement or arts learning show mo...Read more

Folder: Leadership

Effective education leadership makes a difference in improving learning. There’s nothing new or especially controversial about that idea. What’s far less clear, even after several decades of school renewal efforts, is just how leadership matters, how important those effects are in promoting the learning of all children, and what the essential ingredients of successful leadership are.

This report by researchers from the Universities of Minnesota and Toronto examines the available eviden...Read more

Folder: National Performance Reports

Johns Hopkins is endorsing a new study that has concluded that there is an optimum amount of time for children and young people to sleep in terms of how well they perform in school, and more is not necessarily better. The research, published in the Eastern Economic Journal, used data from 1,724 elementary and secondary students to explore the relationship between sleep and performance on standardized tests. Findings showed a statistically significant relationship between the two, with the mos...Read more

Folder: Adult Education

In this report published by the Center for American Progress, the authors give a summary view of where we are with the link between our teacher evaluation and teacher improvement systems. The authors also explore the current issues that PD can address and the challenges to successful improvement models. A high level review of relevant research is part of this report. A very informative and helpful report for all school leaders at all levels.

Folder: Adult Education

A new report from Education First and the EPE Research Center looks at the readiness of states to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). As the Common Core movement has matured, attention has shifted toward practical implementation and issues such as readiness of teachers to enact the standards in the classroom. The study gives the status of state plans in teacher professional development, curriculum, and teacher-evaluation systems. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were i...Read more

Folder: Leadership

"The School Principal as Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning," is the latest installment in the foundation's Perspectives series. This report distills lessons from school leadership projects and research in twenty-four states and many districts. According to the report, the key practices in effective school leadership are shaping a vision of academic success for all students; creating a climate hospitable to education; cultivating leadership in others; improving instructio...Read more

Ginger Featherstone, Principal
Jensen Beach High School

June 2011

Duration: 14:30

Folder: Adult Education

The Center for K–12 Assessment & Performance Management at ETS® has created this guide to stimulate
discussions about the opportunity before us. We begin with an overview of the CCSS — what’s new, why
they’re needed, and how these standards will drive new designs in assessment. We then provide you with
descriptions of the two assessment systems to be built. Finally, we provide our best thinking on the work ahead
in assessment — the most significant and high-leverage measurement...Read more

Folder: College Readiness

Representatives from the Common Core write this paper to highlight the challenges American education faces. They postulate that the nations that consistently outrank us on math and science examinations do not owe their success to concentrating solely or even mostly on those subjects. Nor are they focusing relentlessly on skill subjects like reading and math, as we do, shorn of any connection to history, science, or literature. That is what the researchers who compiled this report have learned...Read more

Folder: Leadership

A Research Partnership of the Successful Practices Network, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the International Center for Leadership in Education, and the Quaglia Institute. Funded by the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This report describes the results of five years of research SPN led in 75 schools in 10 states. The factors that emerged from this research has contributed to a national understanding of what distinguishes model schools. This report feat...Read more