Andrew Latham, Director of the federal Center on Standards and Assessments Implementation, offers timely guidance on implementing and understanding the Smarter Balanced and PARCC assessments.
As state departments of education take on increasingly complex roles, the need for outside assistance has grown. A national network of comprehensive technical assistance centers draws on years of experience to provide the most effective support for states.
Leadership training focused on turnaround can make a difference, but districts serving large numbers of disadvantaged students face considerable challenges in sustaining improvements over the long haul.
“The face of the country is changing dramatically,” says Aída Walqui, director of WestEd’s Teacher Professional Development Program. According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, for example, the percentage of Latinos in the U.S. will increase by more than 300 percent in the next 15 years.
Turning around a low-performing district “seems so basic, and makes so much sense: Take what you know has worked well somewhere else and put it in place,” says district administrator Wilson. Yet no two contexts are entirely alike, so customization is key.
A National Science Foundation–funded study found that students whose teachers participated in Making Sense of SCIENCE training outperformed their peers by nearly 40 percent; gains were greatest for English language learners and low-performing students.