The concept of learning progressions offers one promising approach to developing the knowledge needed to define the "track" that students may be on, or should be on Learning progressions can inform teachers about what to expect from their students. They provide an empirical basis for choices about when to teach what to whom Learning progressions…

Duval County Florida superintendent John Fryer was not used to flying blind. A retired Air Force major general and former tactical fighter wing commander new to school district leadership, Fryer was used to having a control panel packed with information. In front of him in the cockpit, Fryer had a wide range of continually updated data from which…

In 1996, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began implementing a new school accountability policy designed to improve student performance by providing a combination of consequences and support to low-performing schools. The center point of the accountability system, the Chicago school probation policy, designates schools as being on probation if…

To assist in the redesign of accountability systems, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) and the Center for Research on Evaluation, Student Standards, and Testing (CRESST) sought to assemble knowledge from new research on emerging accountability systems. A book, "Redesigning Accountability Systems for Education," edited by Susan…

This Brief is the third in the Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE) series reporting on the policy implications of Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data. It summarizes results of recently completed research that explores in greater detail questions raised in initial analyses. Earlier analyses were based…