Education Policy

Education Policy

Educators and policymakers need supportive policies to improve schools. We partner with states and districts to develop those policies and advocate their adoption at the district, state and federal levels. In papers, blog posts and presentations nationally, we highlight good policy practices.

Recent Education Policy Projects

Maryland

We partnered with Maryland as it undertook a comprehensive re-envisioning of both its assessment and accountability systems. The Center helped develop and coordinate a broad-based task force to help define policy priorities, which we documented in a comprehensive report that outlined clear recommendations to improve assessment and accountability.

National Assessment Governing Board

Scott Marion is one of three measurement professionals on the 26-member board that sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” In this role, he helps support the technical quality of the assessment and advocates for strong policies to support it.

Policy briefs, blogs and webinars

We work to build support for federal and state policies to support high-quality assessment and accountability systems that ensure that all students have a fair opportunity to learn meaningful content and skills. Two short papers, “The Case for State Testing” and “The Case for Statewide School Accountability Systems,” are recent examples of this work.

Recent Education Policy Blog Posts and Papers

Through-Year Assessment: Ten Key Considerations (Webinar)

More than a dozen states are exploring or piloting through-year assessments to replace their current end-of-year summative test for accountability. […]
May 10, 2023
A magnifying glass lays on top of what is intended to represent a test. It is magnifying green "plus" signs and red "negative" signs to indicate the importance of evaluating test validity to understand its positive and negative consequences.

Face It: Tests Have Consequences

An assessment’s negative or positive consequences are just as important as other dimensions of assessment quality, and should be part of test validity evaluations.
April 26, 2023
Birds flying over different colored blocks to indicate an innovative approach that brings us forward.

It’s Time for an Innovative Accountability Pilot

Federal regulations limit states’ innovations in assessment. More substantial innovation can happen only with more flexibility in accountability.
April 12, 2023
An arrow showing the way to a red flag against a green landscape to demonstrate the direction of through-year assessment and how we get there.

Through-Year Assessment: Are We Asking Too Much?

The Center's latest paper provides sound advice for the states exploring through-year assessment right now, cautioning that this approach comes with serious challenges and tradeoffs.
March 29, 2023
States can better support school improvement by building stronger connections between accountability design and school improvement.

Reframing Accountability: Build Closer Connections Between School Identification and School Improvement

States can better support school improvement by building stronger connections between accountability design and school improvement.
March 15, 2023

Through-Year Assessment: Ten Key Considerations

Through-year assessment is enjoying a surge of attention, with more than a dozen states designing, piloting, or implementing versions of […]
March 10, 2023
Advancing educational assessment, like through-year assessment programs, can be supported by changes to the RFP process.

Slow the Flow of Your RFPs

Advancing educational assessment, like through-year assessment programs, can be supported by changes to the RFP process.
February 24, 2023

Primer on Diagnostic Classification Models (DCMs)

This document lays out a few high-level principles and practices around cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs) / diagnostic classification models (DCMs) that are commonly of […]
February 7, 2023
School accountability systems encompass more than what is reflected in school grading systems, which can skew how school quality is seen.

Accountability Systems Must Offer More Than School Grades

School accountability systems encompass more than what is reflected in school grading systems, which can skew how school quality is seen.
January 19, 2023
Let's start focusing on student learning recovery.

Can We Stop Obsessing About the Effects of Remote Instruction on Student Learning?

Let’s start talking about student learning recovery and stop focusing on the impact of remote instruction during the pandemic.
December 2, 2022
1 … 7 8 9 10 11 … 28