News: Student Proficiency Tests

While Grades May Be Meaningful, It’s Still About the Skills: “Resolving” to Recognize that Report Cards are Less Meaningful than Student Mastery

This Blog reviews a major study demonstrating that high school grades across the country have been inflated from 2010 through 2022. At the same time, it emphasizes that grades are less important than...

Read Full Article

Twelve Critical Components for (Continuous) School, Staff, and Student Improvement: Motivation Cannot Compensate for a System with Systemic Deficits

New Blog describes the school improvement experiences of three school districts at different points in the improvement process. It then describes the twelve evidence-based components of effective scho...

Read Full Article

Maybe It’s the (Lack of) Money that Explains the Relationship Between Black-White Achievement Gaps and Disproportionate Disciplinary Suspensions?

Analyzing the Results of a New National Study: Why Some “Two-Dimensional Problems” Need “Three-Dimensional Thinking”Dear Colleagues,Introduction   Every day, I get e-mail briefings discussing or analy...

Read Full Article

Solving Student Crises in the Context of School Inequity: The Case for “Core-Plus District Funding” (Part I)

When Schools Struggle with Struggling Students:  “We Didn’t Start the Fire”Dear Colleagues,Introduction   The last two weeks have been a blur.  Just over two weeks ago, I landed in Singapore to keynot...

Read Full Article

When Kids Can’t Read: Policy and Practice Mistakes that Make it Worse

Reading Proficiency, Unprepared Students, Untrained Teachers, and Ill-Advised Responses: A National Dilemma and New National ReportDear Colleagues,Since the early 1990s (and even before), our schools...

Read Full Article

Correcting the Flaws: The Feds’ Thinking on Academic Proficiency and Results Driven Accountability

Connecting and Correcting the Flaws in (ESEA's) High Stakes Proficiency Assessments of Students' Academic Achievement and (OSEP's) the New Special Education Results Driven Accountability SystemDear Co...

Read Full Article