Topic: Assessment & Standards
Measuring students' learning against standards and seeking to improve the effectiveness of schools, based on such measures, are key goals of the No Child Left Behind legislation.
In collaboration with the Center for Inquiry on Secondary Education (CISE) in Maine and the Center for Resource Management (CRM), The Education Alliance produced research-based resources that provide guidelines for planning, implementing, and sustaining adolescent literacy initiatives at the secondary level, and provided professional development that applied effective secondary literacy classroom practices in the subject areas.
The Education Alliance conducted an applied research project on the design and evaluation of online seminars to allow in-depth learning about topics in elementary mathematics education. The project targeted teachers using Investigations in Number, Data and Space, a K-12 mathematics curriculum, and focused on issues of curriculum implementation.
The departments of education in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut and New York City contracted individually with The Education Alliance to conduct evaluations of the implementation of each state's Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program.
The Rhode Island Department of Education contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of its Graduation by Proficiency (GBP) Initiative. The GBP Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was a project dedicated to the development of a critical component of Rhode Island's diploma system.
The United States Department of Education contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct an evaluation of the implementation of six widely used comprehensive school reform models and changes in teacher practice and student performance in 90 predominantly low-performing schools across the eastern United States.
The goal of this descriptive research project was to help education leaders in the Northeast at state, intermediary, district, and school levels to work together to implement evidence-based strategies that build district and school capacity, sustain high standards, and improve student achievement in low performing schools.
The purpose of this project was to conduct Maine’s State CSRD Evaluation. The evaluation design involved site visits over three years to all CSRD grantee schools and intensive consultation with Maine state department of education officials involved with state implementation and support for the CSRD program.
The New England Compact (NEC) contracted with The Education Alliance to conduct evaluations of the process and outcome components of NEC's two Enhanced Assessment Instruments (EAI) grants funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
The New England Comprehensive Center (NECC) is one of 16 regional comprehensive centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education to support state education agencies in fulfilling the promises of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Headquartered at RMC Research Corporation of Portsmouth, NH, NECC is a partnership that has included the Alliance (2005-2010), Education Development Center, and Learning Innovations at WestEd.
Web site: http://necomprehensivecenter.org
The New York Comprehensive Center (NYCC) is one of 16 regional comprehensive centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education to support state education agencies in fulfilling the promises of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Headquartered in New York City under the leadership of RMC Research, NYCC is a partnership that has included the Alliance (2005-2010), Education Development Center, Learning Innovations at WestEd, and the United Federation of Teachers' Teacher Center. The mission of the NYCC is to develop the capacity of the New York State Education Department and its networks and agencies to assist districts and schools in improving achievement outcomes for all students.
Web site: http://nycomprehensivecenter.org
The Education Alliance served from 1995-2005 as the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory, under contract to the U.S. Department of Education. Many of the projects and publications available through this web site had their origins in work done under the two consecutive cycles of this contract.
PRIMES is a three-year, federally funded Math Science Partnership (MSP) program of the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE). The goals of the PRIMES program are to increase the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science by enhancing the content knowledge and instructional skills of classroom teachers. Partnership between high-need school districts and the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty in institutions of higher education are at the core of these improvement efforts. The evaluation study of PRIMES, conducted by The Education Alliance, examines the implementation and impact of the program at each of three selected school districts.
"Student-centered learning" describes a style of teaching and learning where the environment, curriculum, and instruction focus primarily on helping students achieve success. Understanding how to build and sustain student-centered learning environments at the high school level is crucial to the long-term goal of improving high schools. The purpose of the Personalized Learning Project was to capture and disseminate procedural knowledge about how schools can become student-centered, and to articulate the process required to create and sustain personalized learning as the guiding norm of high schools.
With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Education Alliance worked with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to enhance the statewide assessment system with a process for high school students to demonstrate proficiently what they know and can do. It seeks to ensure that every student leaving RI public schools be prepared for college and work.
Web site: http://www.ride.ri.gov/HighSchoolReform/DSLAT
The Education Alliance has provided technical assistance in implementing the recommendations of the Breaking Ranks process to transform high schools. Through site-based coaches, this project has provided professional development to staff of high-poverty, low-performing secondary schools. The aim has been to support schools in changing their structures, cultures, and instructional content to increase student academic achievement, attendance, and high school graduation rates.
This project was a multi-site research project aimed at understanding how teachers who belong to study groups use on-line information and communication to build knowledge and support each other's work, improve instruction for diverse learners, and sustain the group for continued professional growth. This project built on findings from a previous research project on implementing standards in culturally diverse schools, and it used products developed by that project.
This study systematically investigated the process and effects of high school restructuring in low-performing high schools that are implementing three central elements of systemic reform: high standards for all students, smaller and more personalized learning environments, and effective use of data to support continuous improvement.
- All Projects
- Assessment & Standards
- Community & Family
- Curriculum & Instruction
- Equity & Diversity
- Leadership
- Literacy
- Professional Development
- Rural Schools
- School Reform
- STEM*
- Technology
- Urban Schools
*Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics
