From the ECS State Policy Database: 21st Century Skills - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

From the ECS State Policy Database: Student Achievement--Closing the Achievement Gap - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

From the ECS State Policy Database: Instructional Approaches--Grading Practices - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

From the ECS State Policy Database: Student Achievement - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

From the ECS State Policy Database: Instructional Approaches - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

From the ECS State Policy Database: Instructional Approaches--Problem Based Learning - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

From the ECS State Policy Database: Instructional Approaches--Constructivism - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

From the ECS State Policy Database: Student Achievement--State Trends - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

The Nation's Report Card: Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics 2009, National and Pilot State Results - Nationally representative samples of 12th-graders from 1,670 public and private schools in the 11 states which participated in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Approximately 52,000 students were assessed in reading and 49,000 were assessed in mathemathics. Average mathematics scores were higher in 2009 than in 2005. While the overall reading score was also higher in 2009 than in 2005, reading scores did not change significantly for Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native students or for female students. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010)...

Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City's New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates - The first step in New York City's high school admissions process is to require eighth-graders to select in rank order of priority up to a dozen high schools that they want to attend. When one of the schools has more applicants than spaces a lottery-like process to randomly assign students to "small schools of choice" (SSCs) in another district. These lotteries provide the basis for an usually large and rigorous study of the effects of SSCs on students' academic achievement. This report presenting clear and reliable evidence that, in roughly six years, a large system of small public high schools can be created and markedly improve graduation prospects for many disadvantaged students. (Howard Bloom, Saskia Levy Thompson and Rebecca Unterman, MDRC, June 2010)...

2009 4th Grade Reading Results: How Did Your State's Students Do? - The state snapshot reports provide a look at the main results of the NAEP 2009 reading assessment. Each participating jurisdiction receives its own customized state report, as seen here. The Nation's Report Card: Reading 2009 offers data for all participating states and additional national data. The NAEP Data Explorer provides information for all jurisdictions for which results are reported in 2009 and allows the user not only to develop custom data tables, but also to perform appropriate tests of statistical significance for within- or across-state data comparisons. (National Center for Education Statistics, March 2010)...

2009 ACT National and State Scores - The National Score Report section provides 10-year trend data, in both text and interactive charts, on the number of graduating seniors taking the ACT; the national average ACT composite score (both overall and disaggregated by gender); national average scores in English, math, reading and science; and the percent of ACT-tested seniors who reported completing a core curriculum. The 2009 national average composite scores disaggregated by race. The state average scores section provides details about each state’s performance in these areas. The number of graduating seniors taking the ACT reached an all-time high in 2009, though the average composite score of 21.1 did not change from 2008. The 2009 report includes college readiness by state. (ACT, Inc., August 2009)...