| Achieving With Data (PDF) |  |
| This report is the second in a three-part research effort to investigate the prevalence of performance-driven practices in urban school districts across the country. The first study, "Anatomy of School System Improvement: Performance-Driven Practices in Urban School Districts," analyzed the state of performance-driven practices within 28 leading school districts. This second year of research has been conducted with the support of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and in partnership with the Center on Educational Governance at the University of Southern California. The study captures the details of data-driven instructional decision making at the classroom, school, and system levels in two urban school districts and two nonprofit charter management organizations. In doing so, the researchers document effective performance-driven practices, identify salient themes regarding the structure and culture of the systems, examine needs for improvement, and make recommendations for policy and practice. |  |
| Assessment Tools | |
| This website provides links to numerous assessment and technology articles, tools, and materials. | |
| Classroom Observations: Digital Data In The Palm Of Your Hand | |
| Discusses traditional tools for collecting classroom data, and how a handheld computer can facilitate this activity. | |
| Data Tools For School Improvement (Document Missing) | |
| A diagnostic testing process that automatically records what each student already knows or needs to master to meet all district and state learning standards by the end of the year would not only suggest lessons to assist the students with their learning needs as a whole, but it would also indicate which students need additional, individualized support. These strategies will help schools select an appropriate and effective data system. | |
| Data Use: Data Primer | |
| The Data Primer is an instructional website designed to help educators become more comfortable with thinking about and using data for the purposes of instructional decision making. It has an overview and four modules. Each of the modules contain a tutorial, practice and extension section. The path of inquiry followed in each "Tutorial" section is applicable to all types of educational data. It works for all types and levels of testing and assessment. It can be used for analyzing attendance information, surveys of attitudes and perceptions, and programs. The questions apply equally well when analyzing data at the district, school, grade, classroom, or student level. | |
| Evaluation (PDF) | |
| Chapter 7 of "Planning into Practice" is dedicated to the subject of technology evaluation | |
| Helping Practicioners Meet The Goals Of No Child Left Behind (PDF) | |
| This resource is a compilation of white papers designed to provide school leaders and policymakers with information on ways e-learning can help schools meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act. | |
| High School Classroom: Part One (PDF) | |
| The ongoing assessment of student progress can provide a foundation for personalized instructional delivery. Technology tools can rapidly generate feedback from a variety of assessment types. Using technology-based diagnostic assessments, students and teachers can understand what a student already knows and help plan an instructional program to get him or her to the next level. Frequent formative assessments can allow students and teachers to monitor student progress and understand how close they are to their goals. Summative assessments allow students to demonstrate mastery and teachers to document student achievement. Technology-based assessments can also adapt to student understanding, becoming progressively more difficult as students learn more. | |
| Integration Of Technology Instrument (PDF) | |
| Observation instrument on the integration of technology observation | |
| Making The Grade: Accountability And Assessment Under No Child Left Behind (PDF) | |
| The shift to evidence-based education set in motion by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation raises the stakes for education technology leaders. Accountability has been redefined, with schools being required to answer on the basis of results rather than inputs, outcome rather than process. Students in all subgroups -- including those who are economically disadvantaged, speak only limited English, or have disabilities -- must show evidence of progress in reading/language arts and mathematics, as well as other measures such as graduation rates. | |
| Mapping Educational Progress 2008 | |
| Six years after No Child Left Behind's passage, we have collected more data than ever before about the academic performance of our students and schools. See data on how we're doing as a nation -- student achievement in reading and math, high school graduation rates, schools making adequate yearly progress, highly qualified teachers, parents taking advantage of tutoring and choice options, state participation in flexibility options, and more. | |
| Middle School: Part One (PDF) | |
| Assessment is critical in teaching and learning. Embedded assessments provide teachers with evidence of student progress and areas where a student is struggling. Assessments give students clarity about their own success and weakness. Assessment information can inform educators, parents, and community members in evaluating the effectiveness of a program. The challenge with assessment has always been the lag time between taking the assessment and receiving the results. Online assessments can greatly reduce this turnaround time, meaning that students and teachers alike have near real-time access to information about student learning. | |