Publication Archive — 2009

What States Can Do to Improve Teacher Effectiveness*

Educators and policymakers understand that tinkering around the edges won't improve teacher quality and that a concerted effort is essential to create systemic change. To succeed, states must make rapid progress in four areas: (1) defining teacher effectiveness, (2) building better systems to measure teacher effectiveness, (3) basing milestones in the teaching career on measured effectiveness, and (4) establishing and enforcing a policy of equitable access to effective teachers and align other reforms to support this effort.

Publication date: 
December 22 2009

Charting a Necessary Path: The Baseline Report of the Access to Success Initiative*

The baseline report of the Access to Success Initiative shows that low-income and minority students enroll in and graduate from four-year programs at disproportionately lower rates than do other high school graduates in their respective states. Click the report's title to view the individual system profiles.

Publication date: 
December 3 2009

The Value of Value-Added Data*

Value-added data give principals, educators, and parents a potent tool to assess both student achievement and teacher impact. This report shows how value-added data—which tracks growth in student learning—can improve decisions about course placements, individual interventions, and professional development designed to hone teachers’ skills.

 

Publication date: 
November 20 2009

Fighting for Quality and Equality, Too*

If state leaders invest resources and energy wisely, they don’t have to choose between excellence and equity. This paper outlines ten steps state policymakers and school district leaders can take now that hold the promise to make a difference in teacher quality and equitable access to the best teachers for low-income students and students of color.

Publication date: 
November 9 2009

A Guide to Homework for Parents to Help Their Children Succeed*

This guide helps parents locate their state’s academic standards, compare homework assignments with the standards, ask questions about homework assignments, and get help when homework seems meaningless, too difficult, or too easy.

Publication date: 
September 30 2009

What Does It Take to Close Achievement Gaps and Help All Students Learn at High Levels?

Find answers in How It’s Being Done: Urgent Lessons from Unexpected Schools. Karin Chenoweth’s latest book takes you on a coast-to-coast tour of classrooms that work. These schools turn high expectations into academic success, whether they serve low-income white kids in rural Arkansas, Latino teens in Southern California, or black middle schoolers in Boston. Learn how they do it.

Publication date: 
September 8 2009