Our updated primer on Common Core-aligned assessments offers policymakers, staff, education leaders and advocates reusable slides that make the case for why we need new and better tests of student learning. The primer also digs into the different testing options...
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It’s time for a more strategic approach to assessment. Schools, school districts and charter management organizations (CMOs) need to take a fresh look at what is measured: which assessments we give, when and why, and how the data are used....
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Race to the Top directed billions of dollars to states in order to put in place college and career ready standards, educator evaluations, data systems and school turnaround strategies. Yet after five years, the work of implementing and sustaining these...
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Education First facilitated a network of state grantees improving alignment between K-12 and higher education on the Common Core and new assessments.
Common Core opponents spent three days in hearings this week urging Ohio lawmakers to pass a bill that would repeal the Common Core standards in their state.
Common Core opponents spent a third day yesterday urging lawmakers to pass a bill to eliminate the education standards in Ohio, and a key sponsor said it could lead to high-performing schools being able to opt out of most state...
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Is Common Core on its way in – or out? Proponents and opponents are so sharply divided that an assessment of the standards’ prospects depends on whom you ask.
A new group billing itself as a “Consumer Reports for school materials” will soon begin posting free online reviews of major textbooks and curricula that purport to be aligned to the Common Core State Standards—an effort, some say, that has...
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In states that have adopted the national Common Core Standards teaching to the standards is required, it is just not clear what that means. The standards enumerate skill goals, but not curriculum, not specific lesson plans, and not approaches to...
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In this series of briefs we provide an introduction to important areas for effective K–12/higher education collaboration and alignment. Each brief tackles a different issue: 1) Overall introduction; 2) Defining college- and career-readiness; 3) Adopting college- and career-ready assessments; 4)...
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