Displaying 4381-4410 of 17912 results
Commentary
2.18.2016

A conversation with our content leads

The Education Gadfly

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of blog posts that will take a closer look at the findings and implications of Evaluating the Content and Quality of Next Generation Assessments, Fordham’s new first-of-its-kind report.

Video
2.18.2016

Evaluating the Content and Quality of Next Generation Assessments

In 2015, nearly 13 million schoolchildren across the country took a brand new “next generation” assessment: PARCC, Smarter Balanced, or ACT Aspire. These tests promised parents, teachers, and community members a better understanding of their students’ preparedness for college and career.

Commentary
2.17.2016

Mardi Gras for Common Core

Kevin Mahnken

Over the years, students have resorted to all kinds of chicanery as a means of concealing bad grades from their parents. Intercepting report cards in the mail has long been a reliable standby, along with the artful application of X-Acto knives, whiteout, and copy machines.

Commentary
2.17.2016
ESSA

Steering and rowing in the age of ESSA

If you care about state education policy and/or the new federal education law, you ought to spend some time doing three things. First, consider how the performance of schools (and networks of schools) needs to be assessed.

Undefined
2.17.2016
Standards

The Grammy edition

In this week's podcast, Robert Pondiscio and Brandon Wright laud the progress of education policies since NCLB, weigh gentrification’s role in D.C.’s achievement gains, and discuss the controversy surrounding a Success Academies video. In the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines educators’ perspectives on Common Core implementation.

Commentary
2.17.2016

Fictionalizing education reform

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Reformers always face backlash, no matter the realm. People and institutions, structures and routines, budgets and staffing arrangements—all are tailored for the status quo. Indeed, they define the status quo, and myriad interests are then enmeshed in keeping things the way they’ve always been.

Commentary
2.16.2016
ESSA

ESSA Accountability Design Competition: My big takeaways

On February 2, I had the privilege of being a judge for the Fordham Institute’s ESSA Accountability Design Competition. It’s widely known that I’m a fan of using competition to drive policy innovation, and this competition did not disappoint.

Commentary
2.16.2016
ESSA

Designing accountability systems to avoid NCLB-era mistakes

I walked away from Fordham’s School Accountability Design Competition last Tuesday pleasantly surprised—not only at the variety of fresh thinking on accountability, but also at how few submissions actually triggered the “I think that’s illegal” response. I left encouraged at the possibilities for the future.

Commentary
2.12.2016

Testing the tests: A better lens

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of blog posts that will take a closer look at the findings and implications of Evaluating the Content and Quality of Next Generation Assessments, Fordham’s new first-of-its-kind report.

Report
2.11.2016
Accountability & Testing, Standards

Evaluating the Content and Quality of Next Generation Assessments

Evaluating the Content and Quality of Next Generation Assessments examines previously unreleased items from three multi-state tests (ACT Aspire, PARCC, and Smarter Balanced) and one best-in-class state assessment, Massachusetts’ state exam (MCAS). The product of two years of work by the Thomas B.

Undefined
2.10.2016

The assessments edition

In this week's podcast, Mike Petrilli and Robert Pondiscio preview Fordham’s long-awaited assessments evaluation, analyze low-income families’ education-related tech purchases, and wave the red flag about TFA’s lurch to the Left. In the Research Minute, David Griffith examines how well the nation’s largest school districts promote parent choice and competition between schools.