All documents added to the site since 3/1/2010 are listed alphabetically by issue.
Accountability
The Numbers We Need: How the Right Metrics Could Improve K-12 Education - This Outlook outlines several steps that, if implemented, could make data-driven management in education a reality and lays out key measurements districts should collect to make data analysis an effective tool for improving education. (Frederick Hess and Jon Fullerton, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, February 2010)...
Accountability (Postsec.) False Fronts? Behind Higher Education's Voluntary Accountability Systems - Two major voluntary efforts to measure and report colleges' cost and academic effectiveness are considered by some to be inadequate and lacking in their ability to provide parents and students with the information to make informed decisions. Higher education will have to be more accountable and more open to consumers about the actual cost of attending a college in order to succeed as the nation's economic engine, according to the authors of this report. (Andrew Kelly and Chad Aldeman, Education Sector/American Enterprise Institute, March 2010)...
Arts in Education Artistic Production Processes as Venues for Positive Youth Development - The positive youth development model focuses on the idea that when given adequate resources, young people acquire and put to use constructive capacities that allow them to make a positive contribution to the civic realm. Viewing adolescence as a time of promise as opposed to a time of risk has the potential to remake the way we understand the nature of development and our role as researchers and educators in supporting the development of young people. (Erica Halverson, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, February 2010) ...
Assessment 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)... 2009 College-Bound Seniors--Total Group Profile Report - More than 1.5 million students in the class of 2009 took the SAT. Of those, 40% were minority students. In 1999 only 29.2% were minority students, reflecting the steady growth of minority participation rates. Hispanic students represent the largest minority group taking the test and now account for 13.5% of all test takers. The number of Hispanic testers over 10 years has more than doubled. Females comprised 53.5% of the 2009 test-takers. More than one-third of the test-takers reported their parents' highest level of education as high school or less. (The College Board, August 2009)... ACT Profile Report--National: Graduating Class 2009 - This report provides information about the performance of graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors or seniors. The report focuses on performance, access, course selection, course rigor and college readiness. ACT encourages educators to focus on trends (3,5,10 years), not year-to-year changes. Such changes can represent normal, even expected, fluctuations. On the other hand, trend lines offer more insight into what is happening in a school, district or state. Further, ACT encourages educators to measure student performance in the context of college readiness measures--a measure that is much more meaningful and understandable than an average composite score for a group of students. (ACT, August 2009) ...
Completion Open-Access Colleges Responsible for Greatest Gains in Graduation Rates - The largest gains in graduation rates over the past decade have been accomplished at open-access or nearly open-access colleges and universities. In addition, states could see even bigger increases if they directed their policies and supports toward improving graduation rates at these non-selective institutions. (William Doyle, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, February 2010)...
Counseling/Guidance Can I Get a Little Advice Here? How An Overstretched High School Guidance System is Undermiing Students' College Aspirations - This report is the second in a series of on what factors influence success and failure and what kinds of measures might be taken to improve college graduation rates. The report is based on a national survey of young adults ages 22-30 asking young Americans how much help they received from the high school guidance system when it comes to choosing a college or career or getting financial aid for college. (Jean Johnson, Jon Rochkind, Amber Ott and Samantha DuPont, Public Agenda, February 2010)...
Distance Learning/Virtual University Aligning State Approval and Regional Accreditation for Online Postsecondary Institutions: A National Strategy - The Presidents' Forum brings together a broad spectrum of institutions that have the common attribute of facing growing challenges to college access. The Forum has invited a task force to define and devise strategies to address and ameliorate college access concerns. This paper presents the work of this task force, exploring the background and proposing strategies that might simplify and improve the regulatory process. (President's Forum, November 2009)...
Finance 
Investing in Innovation Fund - Update 
MS Word 
PDF - Updates information about the i3 grants. Provides the timeline, the application grading scale and information about the cost-sharing or matching. The i3 grants are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and are directed toward individual school districts or groups of school districts and entrepreneurial nonprofits partnering with school districts. Although states are not eligible to apply, there may be ways in which states could assist districts or consortiums with their grant applications. (ECS, March 2010)...
Middle School Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better--A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes - The narrative summary of this new middle grades report provides further affirmation of capacity building efforts. What is particularly interesting is that the findings suggest schools who have high-functioning leadership teams that focus the school community on a shared "future oriented" mission are far better off. (EdSource, February 2010)...
No Child Left Behind Better Federal Policies Leading to Better Schools - It's a good time to rethink the federal role in elementary and secondary education. But where should the nation go from here? Two years ago CEP began a research-based review of the federal role--examining an extensive body of research, reviewing scholarly papers, holding forums to discuss ideas, etc. At the end of the process they developed five guiding principles for reshaping the federal role and ten recommendations for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. They are included in this report. (Center for Education Policy, February 2010)... Stuck Schools: A Framework for Identifying Schools Where Students Need Change--Now! - This report shows that schools often lumped together as "low performing" are not all alike. Data from reading and mathematics assessments for elementary and middle schools in 10 states show some low-performing schools remain "stuck" year after year. Yet others that started as low performers are among the fastest improvers in their states. Amid conflicting claims about school turnarounds and growing federal investment in struggling schools, this report sheds light on gains, or their absence, in low-performing schools. (Natasha Ushomirsky and Daria Hall, The Education Trust, February 2010)...
State Comparisons/Statistics 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)...
State Data Systems Linking Data Across Agencies: States That Are Making it Work - This issue brief captures the current status of states' ability to link data across agencies, the opportunities and challenges they face, and how leading states are braking down silos to ensure data follow individual students over time to improve success. (Rebecca Carson, Elizabeth Laird, Elizabeth Gaines and Thaddeus Ferber, Data Quality Campaign, November 2009)...
Student Achievement 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)... 2009 College-Bound Seniors--Total Group Profile Report - More than 1.5 million students in the class of 2009 took the SAT. Of those, 40% were minority students. In 1999 only 29.2% were minority students, reflecting the steady growth of minority participation rates. Hispanic students represent the largest minority group taking the test and now account for 13.5% of all test takers. The number of Hispanic testers over 10 years has more than doubled. Females comprised 53.5% of the 2009 test-takers. More than one-third of the test-takers reported their parents' highest level of education as high school or less. (The College Board, August 2009)... ACT Profile Report--National: Graduating Class 2009 - This report provides information about the performance of graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors or seniors. The report focuses on performance, access, course selection, course rigor and college readiness. ACT encourages educators to focus on trends (3,5,10 years), not year-to-year changes. Such changes can represent normal, even expected, fluctuations. On the other hand, trend lines offer more insight into what is happening in a school, district or state. Further, ACT encourages educators to measure student performance in the context of college readiness measures--a measure that is much more meaningful and understandable than an average composite score for a group of students. (ACT, August 2009) ...
