In the words of Dr. W. James Popham, assessment literacy “describes a person’s understanding of what education tests can do—and what they can’t. To be assessment literate, one needs to comprehend the basic concepts and procedures of education tests likely to influence education decisions.” Essentially, assessment literacy means we have broad knowledge and skills around … Continue reading The Case for Assessment Literacy: Why It’s Critical for All of Us
With the release of a new survey published recently by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, school principals in K-8 schools say their top concern is the rising numbers of students with emotional problems and mental health needs. To put it in perspective, this survey has been conducted since 1928; in the 2008 report—just … Continue reading Social-Emotional Learning vs. Mental Health: What’s the Difference?
Will Your District Provide Quality Data to All Stakeholders This School Year? As school districts prepare for the start of a new school year, it’s very likely that district administrators have not completed a detailed inventory and gap analysis of their district assessment program. Informal surveys of districts completed over the last 10 years indicate … Continue reading Taking Stock of Your Assessment Program
The most popular analogy used to describe a data dashboard is a car’s dashboard, which gives instant access to critical information. An automobile dashboard allows the driver to view the various instruments to monitor the many functions of the car and engine. In a car, the instruments will instantly tell you the status of fuel … Continue reading Does Your School District Need a Data Dashboard?
The Elementary and Secondary Education/Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA/ESSA) was signed into law by President Obama on December 10, 2015. In the two years since passage, state departments of education and school districts are in the process of gearing up for implementation. The new law includes a number of specific provisions to help ensure success … Continue reading ESSA & the Pathway to Successful Implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
Presented by Dr. Chris Balow – Transcription Below Introduction Hello, everyone. I’m Dr. Chris Balow from Illuminate Education, Chief Research Scientist, and welcome to the Illuminate Whiteboard Series. Today we’re gonna talk about a really important topic, student engagement. This is a really big topic, it’s major, but we’re gonna break it down for you … Continue reading What’s So Important About Student Engagement?
Mental health disorders in our K-12 schools affect many of our youth and directly impact classroom learning and social interactions, both of which are critical to the success of students. Mental disorders among children is a critical public health issue because of their early onset, frequency, and impact on schools, families, and the community at … Continue reading The General Status of Student Mental Health in Our Schools
Back in the days of NCLB, schools were given credit for the percent of students achieving the state’s “proficient” level, regardless of how far students progressed to proficiency. However, in the past few years, accountability has expanded the proficient view of achievement by recognizing that some students have much farther to go to reach proficiency, … Continue reading 7 Methods for Measuring Student Growth
Recent studies on student engagement self-perception and performance. The extent to which a student is engaged is a robust predictor of his or her ability to learn, get good grades and test scores, retain information and, ultimately, graduate. The 2016 Gallup Student Poll surveyed 900,000 public school students in grades 5-12 in 48 states. The … Continue reading Developing Hope & Resilience for Disengaged Students
Presented by Dr. Chris Balow – Transcription below Introduction Hello, everyone. Welcome to the “Illuminate Whiteboard Series.” I’m Dr. Chris Balow, Chief Research Scientist here at Illuminate Education. And we’re here today to talk about social emotional learning competencies. This is a super important area that’s really kind of at the forefront of education right … Continue reading Illuminate Whiteboard Series: The Basics of Social Emotional Learning Competencies