Teachers and students are often confused about the "voluntary nature" of pre-tests, in which the questions require responses, including those queries that a student may not wish to answer. Therein lies the problem. Because the data generated in those surveys is part of school-required activities, it falls under the purview of multiple laws that protect the privacy of student data.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 06/22/18
A new working paper from NBER asks, does holding schools accountable for student performance cause good teachers to leave low-performing schools? The answer....
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 06/20/18
In light of the scathing NEPC report on virtual schools, Kevin P. Chavous of K12 Inc. — whose partner schools account for more than a third of all online schools in the United States — argues for the need for meaningful measures of effectiveness ... and sets the record straight on student diversity.
- By Kevin P. Chavous
- 06/13/18
As states sort out their science standards — many adopting the Next Generation Science Standards and even more going at the work on their own — all of them are expected to adhere to "high-quality" summative science assessments that meet federal requirements spelled out in Title 1 Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 04/17/18
Even after moving high-stakes tests online, states for the most part aren't sharing student assessment data with teachers in time for them to make use it.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/21/18
A recent computer science addition to the College Board's Advanced Placement course offerings has seen wild success decades after the non-profit originally introduced the subject in its college-level high school offerings.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/21/18
According to a new report, when results from "The Nation's Report Card" proficiency assessments are compared to results from two international assessments and the Common Core, the proficiency benchmarks of the National Assessment of Educational Progress would knock out students in almost every country.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 02/01/18
Non-profit NWEA is launching a new oral reading fluency assessment for K-3 that uses speech recognition, automatic scoring and computer adaptive technology rather than human judgment and individual administration.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 01/24/18
A running tally shows that more than a thousand accredited, four-year colleges and universities now make their admissions decisions about all or many applicants without considering ACT or SAT test scores.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 01/17/18
With the latest round of feedback from the U.S. Department of Education to states that have submitted their ESSA education plans during the second round, new approaches for accountability are sprouting out all over the country, but perhaps without sufficient innovation.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 01/08/18