Great teachers recognize great assessments. As policy and education leaders work to make sure state tests are measuring the problem-solving, writing, and critical-thinking skills students need for success, they should convene and rely on teachers to review test quality and help answer the question: Do the questions on our state test reflect…

Prior learning assessment policies allow students to earn college credit for knowledge and experience gained outside of a classroom, which can accelerate their time to graduation. Research shows that students who receive Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) credit accumulate more credit and graduate more quickly and at higher rates than their peers who…

Higher education can help improve Washington residents' outcomes so they will have the opportunity to lead productive and financially rewarding lives and contribute to the economic success and social wellbeing of the state. But the COVID-19 crisis is having a major impact on higher education, and postsecondary enrollment in Washington was down 13…

The purpose of the pilot project was to investigate the benefits of an Educational Service District (ESD) Behavioral Health System Navigator to coordinate between the behavioral health and K-12 education systems to develop strategies to engage in regional partnerships to increase access to care for students who are eligible for Medicaid. The…

On October 21, 2006, more than 200 Washington National Board Certified Teachers[R] (NBCTs) assembled in Seattle to address the vexing problem of recruiting and retaining accomplished teachers for high-needs schools. Before the Summit, NBCT participants read a number of background papers and research summaries. At the Summit, they listened to the…

The Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) provides $75 million for the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI). This Initiative, originally launched and funded at the same amount in FY 2014, is overseen by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) within the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of…

Annually, ACT provides each state with "The Condition of College & Career Readiness," a report that details the college readiness of students who took the ACT[R] test. This report is a companion to "The Condition of College & Career Readiness." This paper traces the college enrollment, retention, re-enrollment, and…

Parent involvement is widely acknowledged as a central component in both overall school success and the academic success of individual children. Recognizing this, the federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates that states, districts and schools make extraordinary efforts to enhance effective parent involvement. Now, more than six years after the…

Improving teacher preparation is critical to long-term improvement in teacher quality. More than 200,000 new teachers enter classrooms each year. Increasing student enrollment, the retirement of baby boom generation teachers, and high attrition in their first five years (between 40 and 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession) have…

Current research increasingly highlights the role of early literacy in young children's development--and informs practices and policies that promote success among diverse learners. This handbook presents cutting-edge knowledge on all aspects of literacy learning in the early years. Volume 2 provides additional perspectives on important topics…

American high schools are increasingly the target of educational reform. Today's high schools are expected to graduate all students with the rigorous academic knowledge and skills necessary to prepare them for college or a career. This report provides a comprehensive look at high school reform based on research and professional literature. It…

Gaps in academic achievement between students from various racial and ethnic groups and from low-income families are a cause for national concern. The advent of high stakes testing and the increased awareness of high dropout rates have rekindled the search for ways to help all children succeed in school. Many strategies to address lagging…

This document is comprised of two reports: (1) "Science-Based Recommendations to Prevent or Reduce Potential Exposures to Biological, Chemical, and Physical Agents in Schools" by Derek G. Shendell, Claire Barnett, and Stephen Boese (supported by grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Institutes of Environmental Health…