The Center on Education Policy released a report updating previous CEP research with data from the 2010–11 school year on the number of schools not making adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The estimated percentage of all U.S. schools not making AYP was 48% in 2011; an all-time high and an increase from 39% in 2010. The report also provides six years of trends in the percentage of schools in all 50 states, D.C., and the nation not making AYP, using official numbers from the State Consolidated Performance Reports submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.
Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center
Printed from: http://nwrcc.educationnorthwest.org/enews/archive/59
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December 2011 E-newsletter
Below is a listing of our archived monthly e-newsletters. You can view the resources we mentioned in each issue by clicking on the link or Search Resources to find any resource from an e-newsletter or event.
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The Thomas B. Fordham Institute released a report finding that gains in math achievement coincided with the advent of "consequential accountability" first in Texas and a few other pioneer states, then across the U.S. with the implementation of NCLB. The author warns that the recent plateau in Texas math scores may foreshadow a coming stagnation in the country’s performance.
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Evergreen Education Group released a report tracking the latest in online and blended learning policy and practice developments across the country. The report shows that opportunities exist for at least some students in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, but no state provides a full set of online learning opportunities to all students. There continues to be rapid growth across the country, but various policy barriers have resulted in uneven growth.
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AIR released a report for the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd, attempting to define turnaround schools in California; both what constitutes low-performing or failing schools and what constitutes turnaround or success for these schools. The study specifies the criteria used for identifying and selecting turnaround schools and then provides summaries of the strategies that a sample of principals from these schools reported as essential to their schools' improved outcomes. The study applied these criteria to all California schools using data from a seven-year period to identify these schools and then interviewed the selected schools' principals to identify the strategies they believed were responsible for their turnaround success.
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The Center on Education Policy released their annual study of high school exit exams and other assessments, finding that fewer states are requiring students to pass a high school exit exam, though testing in other areas has increased. The report, based on a survey of all 50 state departments of education, discusses state policies associated with high school exit exams, college entrance exams (such as the ACT or SAT), and college and career readiness assessments.
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The National Governors Association (NGA) released a report providing governors and other state policymakers with guidance to transition their school systems to the standards. Suggested actions include:
- Communicate a vision for reform
- Identify performance goals and measure progress
- Engage key leaders from education, business, and philanthropy
- Build educator capacity
- Lead transitions in state assessments and accountability policy
- Support local development and acquisition of new curricula and materials
- Maximize resources and share costs
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Public Agenda released a report offering a resource for leaders seeking to transform the nation's persistently failing schools. The report is a blueprint that offers eight clear and actionable principles to help leaders effectively communicate with and engage communities facing school turnaround. The principles are:
- Lay the groundwork by talking with parents, students, teachers, and community leaders and residents early and often
- There has to be a vision
- Invite the community to help shape the vision
- Provide information—not too little and not too much
- Remember to tell stories
- If you can, avoid the standard "public hearing" format—or at least don't rely on it as your sole communication vehicle
- Communicate through trusted sources
- Don't surprise people—and don't mangle communications basics
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The National Education Association released a report examining the policies and practices governing the teaching profession and crafted a teacher-centered vision of teaching and the teaching profession. The report's vision is based on three guiding principles:
- Student learning is at the center of everything a teacher does
- Teachers take primary responsibility for student learning
- Effective teachers share in the responsibility for teacher selection, evaluation, and dismissal
