Making Good on the College-Ready Promise: The Common Core and Higher Education Engagement MS Word - Education First has worked with the 10 Core to College states in the first year of their efforts to better align the work of the higher education and K12 sectors to implement the Common Core standards. This report highlights some of their early findings, best practices around faculty engagement and some likely next steps in their efforts. (Education First, October 2012)...

Framework for English Language Profi ciency Development Standards corresponding to the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards - Many states have begun the process of developing or adapting English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards to align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the forthcoming NextGeneration Science Standards (NGSS). This document presents a framework to assist states with this work. The goal of the Framework is to provide guidance to states on how to use the expectations of the CCSS and NGSS as tools for the creation and evaluation of ELP standards. (CCSSO, September 2012)...

Instructional Supports: The Missing Piece in State Education Standards - The transition from current state learning standards to college- and career-ready standards being rolled out across the nation is more than a subtle shift. In this paper The Education Trust offers insights about the best ways states can support our nation's educators in their efforts to help students meet high academic standards. (The Education Trust, March 2012)...

U.S. Education Reform and National Security - A new Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)–sponsored Independent Task Force report on U.S. Education Reform and National Security finds that the United States' failure to educate its students leaves them unprepared to compete and threatens the country's ability to thrive in a global economy and maintain its leadership role. The Task Force proposes three overarching policy recommendations: Implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security; make structural changes to provide students with good choices; and launch a "national security readiness audit" to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness. (Council on Foreign Relations, March 2012)...

The 2012 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning? - The 2012 Brown Center Report on American Education examines the current state of education in the United States. The author investigates achievement gaps on NAEP, explores common mistakes in interpreting international assessments, and makes predictions of the effect of the Common Core on student achievement. (Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, February, 2012)...

Talking About Skills and Learning: A Frameworks Messagememo for the Core Story of Education Project - This MessageMemo outlines initial findings from FrameWorks research examining perceptual obstacles that prevent education reformers from engaging the public in meaningful discussions about improving skills development through educational reforms. It is the first in a series of interpretive reports. (Frameworks Institute, February 2012)...

State Learning Standards to Advance Social and Emotional Learning: The State Scan of Social and Emotional Learning Standards, Preschool through High School - The purpose of the CASEL State Scan is to understand whether and how states currently address social and emotional learning in their learning standards--an important step toward achieving the goal of every child receiving high-quality education in social and emotional learning. (CASEL and Social and Emotional Learning Research Group, April 2011)...

Informing Grades 1-6 Mathematics Standards Development: What Can Be Learned From High-Performing Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore? - AIR chose the three Asian countries because of their high performance on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessments. The analysis finds a number of features that can inform an international benchmarking process for the development of K–6 mathematics standards in the United States. (American Institutes for Research, December 2009)...

National Standards for Quality Online Programs - National Standards for Quality Online Programs is designed to provide states, districts, online programs and other organizations with a set of quality guidelines for online program leadership, instruction, content, support services and evaluation. The initiative began with a thorough literature review of existing online program standards, including accreditation standards, a cross-reference of standards, followed by a survey to iNACOL members and experts to ensure the efficacy of the standards adopted. (Liz Pape and Matthew Wicks, International Association for K-12 Online Learning, October 2009)...

Standards, Assessments and Accountability: Recovering the Promise of Standards-Based Education - Education reform by assessment tends to raise three concerns: that content standards may be too voluminous, superficial and repetitive, that accountability tests over-represent what is relatively easy to measure, and that accountability systems are flawed, and misrepresent school performance. The federal government needs to encourage the redesign of content standards—and the curricula, professional development and assessments that go with them—so there are clear progressions for teaching and learning. Also, the federal government should support research and development of future assessment tools and strategies for accountability systems....

The Proficiency Illusion - No Child Left Behind (NCLB) allows each state to define proficiency as it sees fit and design its own tests. This study compares state tests to benchmarks laid out by the Northwest Evaluation Association to evaluate proficiency cut scores for assessments in 26 states. The findings suggest that the tests states use to measure academic program and student proficiency under NCLB are creating a false impression of success, especially in reading and especially in the early grades. (John Cronin, Michael Dahlin, Deborah Adkins and Gage Kingsbury, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, October 2007)...