Susan Muenchow and Christopher Ruhm discuss how a paid parental leave policy could promote a more stable foundation for children and families in the U.S.—without breaking the bank. Longer leave gives mothers more time to heal physically, encourages breastfeeding, and promotes parent-baby attachment. ...
Student learning objectives (SLOs) are emerging as one measure to assess teachers' contributions to student growth in educator evaluation systems. To support states and districts in developing and implementing SLOs, the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders is curating a searchable collection of SLO resources. ...
The specifics of how growth models should be constructed and used to evaluate schools and teachers is a topic of lively policy debate in states and school districts nationwide. In this paper we take up the question of model choice and examine three competing approaches.
As ESEA turns 50 this month, the time is ripe to rethink whether the “E” in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is the best place to start. In this blog post, Susan Muenchow discusses the robust research that reveals students are most successful when they get a good jumpstart ...
The recent increased attention to teacher evaluation has raised questions about the relationship between evaluation and student outcomes. This research and policy brief lays out an informal framework for using evaluation results to target professional growth opportunities for teachers within an aligned system of evaluation, leading to higher levels of ...
Dr. Gary Phillips and Dr. Louis Danielson participated as panelists at the National Assessment Governing Board's 25th Anniversary Symposium on February 26, 2014, which brought together leading experts in the fields of education, policy and business.
In this blog post, David Osher, AIR vice president and international expert on school climate, social emotional learning, and student support, shares an interesting perspective about making a difference through school climate.
As the Family Medical Leave Act turned 20 in February, AIR and ZERO TO THREE hosted an event looking at the law’s impact on workers so far and ways to improve family leave policies going forward.
Ensuring that secondary students are adequately prepared for college and career pathways after high school remains a critical priority for schools, education systems, and policymakers. In response to policy mandates for more explicit College and Career Readiness (CCR) requirements in K–12 academic standards, states have responded with varied approaches to ...
How well do classroom observation scores help us understand how much a teacher has added to his or her students’ achievement? As Rachel Garrett describes in this blog post, new research raises questions about the wisdom of basing high-stakes, summative teacher evaluations chiefly on classroom observations. ...