International Education Planning Rubric: State Strategies to Prepare Globally Competent Students

Offers guidance for planning and assessing state strategies to develop students' global competence, including language, communication, and collaboration skills. Lists promising practices in leadership, resource allocation, certification, and curricula

An Unfinished Canvas: A Review of Large-Scale Assessment in K-12 Arts Education

Reviews the status of and current practices in statewide standards-based arts assessment for K-12 education accountability. Examines the approaches and criteria of several models of large-scale arts assessment and five states' assessment programs

A Review of the Major School Counseling Policy Studies in the United States: 2000-2014

Jay Carey and Ian Martin conducted a review of the major policy studies concerning school counseling in the United States. The authors located 37 documents disseminated between 2000 and 2014 that were either intentionally written with a focus on policy implications or were frequently used to attempt to influence policy decision-making. Their review is organized by types of policy studies: Literature Reviews, Survey Research, Statewide Evaluations of School Counseling Programs, State Evaluations of School Counseling Practice, Existing Database Investigations of School Counseling, Research Identifying Elements of Exemplary Practice, Studies of Evaluation Capacity and Practices in School Counseling

Education in the Post-Lake View Era: What Is Arkansas Doing to Close the Achievement Gap?

Assesses whether the state's reforms can close the achievement gap among racial and socioeconomic groups. Proposes additional steps such as school health programs, extended learning programs, targeted small classes, and more parental engagement

Evaluating Digital Math Tools in the Field

Many school districts have adopted digital tools to supplement or replace teacher-led instruction, usually based on the premise that these tools can provide more personalized or individualized experiences for students and at lower cost. Rigorously evaluating whether such initiatives promote better student outcomes in the field is difficult as most schools and teachers are unwilling to enforce rigorous study designs such as randomized control trials. We used study designs that were feasible in practice to assess whether two digital math tools, eSpark and IXL, were associated with improvements in 3rd – 6th grade student test scores in math. We also investigated the resource requirements and costs of implementing eSpark and IXL to assess whether these tools represent a valuable use of resources. We find that while IXL is substantially less costly to implement than eSpark, its use is not significantly associated with students’ math performance

Closing the Graduation Gap: Toward High Schools That Prepare all Students for College, Work, and Citizenship

Outlines the foundation's thinking on these issues, the evidence and research underpinning them, and a policy agenda that supports this vision of high quality high schools for all students

Beyond the Bubble: Technology and the Future of Student Assessment

Provides an overview of information technology's potential to enable better assessments of student achievement. Outlines promising models for testing complex skills, cognition, and learning and for utilizing such assessments to improve instruction

James R. Killian, Jr., Sputnik, and Eisenhower: White House Science Advice and the Reformation of American Science Education, 1955-1958

This paper chronicles the often-overlooked relationship between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Dr. James R. Killian, Jr., the first-ever appointed Presidential Science Advisor. Emphasis is placed on the role of Dr. Killian and the President’s Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) in advocating curricular reform in the fields of science and mathematics, a reformation which became doubly important following the successful launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik I in 1957. This essay examines the efforts of Eisenhower and Killian to keep pace with the Russian scientific advances by improving American education in the scientific and technical fields. It concludes with a discussion of the National Defense Education Act of 1958 and Killian’s efforts to see the piece of legislation enacted

A Case for an Online Educational Administrator Practicum Experience

The principal and superintendent practicum experiences have traditionally been entirely face-to-face (f2f) between university professors, interns and site mentors – typically a campus or district administrator (Figure 1). Advancements in technology combined with the exponential growth of online graduate programs give rise to additional incorporation of technology into the practicum experience