Research Studies provide concise, bulleted Findings, Policy Implications, and Recommendations on key issues, such as:
- High school rigor and exit exams
- Better serving English language learners
- Boosting reading and math achievement
- College entry and completion
- Reducing dropout rates and increasing graduation rates
- And many more! (Go to the database.)
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 The Progress of Education Reform addresses the hottest
education issue and provides information in a concise and easy-to-read
format based on the most recent studies and reports.
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ECS regularly issues useful compilations, summaries and/or comparisons of state policies—enacted or pending—on a wide variety of education topics, listed on the right. For a list of our most current documents, please see our What's New page.
Please use the links below to download PDFs that include all the documents for a given year.
If you'd like to order a print copy, contact the ECS Distribution Center
at 303.299.3692 or jivey@ecs.org.
Reprint
Permission
ECS is pleased to have other organizations or individuals share its materials with their constituents. To request permission to excerpt part of our publications either in print
or electronically, please e-mail ecs@ecs.org, subject: Reprint Permission. State the full name of the document, and supply detail about how the permission will be used (audience, quantity, etc). A response will be provided within 24 hours. |
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(Note: Not all topics have an ECS document associated with them. If you are looking for information on a specific topic, you can use our search function.)
Assessment
 From the ECS State Policy Database: Assessment--End-of-Course - 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: Assessment--Value Added - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....
Third Grade Reading Policies  PDF - This paper outlines state policies relating to 3rd-grade reading proficiency, including identification of, intervention for, and retention of struggling readers in the P-3 grades. The paper provides a state-by-state policy summary, sample statutory language, and highlights from bills enacted this year. (Stephanie Rose, ECS, August 2012)
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End-of-Course Exams PDF - This report identifies the states with current or pending state-level end-of-course assessment (EOC) programs, the subjects in which EOCs are administered in the states, and the EOCs (if any) students must pass to graduate from high school. (Jennifer Dounay Zinth, Education Commission of the States, March 2012)...
Assessment: Are assessments that rely heavily on teacher judgment reliable? - Access related research titles from the ECS Research Studies Database. Links embedded in titles will take you to each study's major findings and recommendations....
From the ECS State Policy Database: Assessment--NAEP (NAEP Results and NAEP Organization) - 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: Assessment--Performance Based/Portfolio - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....
What Governors Need to Know: Highlights of State Education Systems PDF - This multistate compilation includes states' number of operating districts, average students per district, per-student spending, free or reduced-price lunch eligible students, percent of K-12 revenue from state sources, state and local school revenue, full-day kindergarten requirements, compulsory school ages and more. (Kyle Zinth and Melodye Bush, Education Commission of the States, updated December 2010)...
The Progress of Education Reform: End-of-Course Exams PDF - In recent years, criticism of high school graduates’ lack of readiness for college and work has led a number of states to raise high school graduation requirements — particularly in terms of the number and rigor of courses students must pass. This issue of The Progress of Education Reform addresses end-of-course assessments at the high school level....
From the ECS State Policy Database: Assessment--Formative/Interim - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....
State Approaches to Improving High School Outcomes: A National Perspective - On October 6, ECS Senior Policy Analyst Jennifer Dounay Zinth presented to Oklahoma's Legislative Task Force on Achieving Classroom Excellence, created by 2009 S.B. 1168.
Dounay Zinth's presentation raises the need for states to focus greater policy attention on the middle grades, and provides information about national trends in high school assessments, including: end-of-course and exit exams, substitute assessments for students who do not pass exit exams and administration of the ACT to all 11th graders.(Jennifer Dounay Zinth, Education Commission of the States, October 2009)...
Strategies to Empower Low-Income and Minority Students in Gaining Admission to and Paying for College PDF - This policy brief identifies barriers created by federal, state and local policies that pose a particular challenge for aspiring first-generation college students in the college and financial aid application process, and provides suggestions for how state-level policy might address each barrier. A final section on "other" barriers to college entry seeks to alert policymakers to emerging issues for which adequate institutional, state and federal policy responses are needed. (Jennifer Dounay, Education Commission of the States, November 2008)...
Let's Talk About…Minimum Competency Testing PDF - This classic 1978 ECS report discusses interest in minimum competency testing along with its related issues, options and arguments. The report was designed for three primary purposes, for use: (1) as a discussion guide, (2) as a mailed questionnaire, and (3) in education classes or local staff development workshops. (Henry M. Brickell, Education Commission of the States, 1978)...
College-Ready Standards - This database provides 50-state information on state policies requiring all students to (1) complete a college/employer-recommended curriculum and (2) take the ACT or SAT. The database also includes disaggregated college-readiness data from the Manhattan Institute. (Jennifer Dounay, Education Commission of the States, January 2006)...
From the ECS State Policy Database: Assessment--Computer Based - 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: Assessment--Accommodations - 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: Assessment--College Entrance Exams - 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: Assessment - 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: Cheating - 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: Assessment--High Stakes/Competency - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....
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Roll over each database for a description.
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