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The purpose of this toolkit is to help education leaders craft written language that conveys their work clearly, effectively, and in a way that resonates with their intended audiences--otherwise known as messaging. Written messaging is the most critical approach for achieving coherence, consistency, and resonance. It ensures the audiences are hearing the same thing across all staff, materials, and touchpoints.

This toolkit is for school districts that are considering using text messaging to improve attendance. Text messaging can reach large numbers of parents with minimal cost. This toolkit is intended to enable district leaders and staff to: (1) Consider goals and priorities for using text messaging to communicate with parents about student absences; (2) Understand the attendance data collection procedures and information technology (IT) infrastructure needed to implement a texting strategy; (3) Consider whether the text messaging strategies used in the Parent Messaging Study are feasible to adopt and implement; and (4) Set up a text messaging system using the district's student information system and (if appropriate) a short messaging service (SMS) vendor. The Background section of this toolkit provides an overview of chronic absence in elementary schools and describes the texting strategy that was found in the Parent Messaging Study to reduce chronic absence rates. Part I is for "district leadership and the team in charge of planning for student attendance text messaging." This section will help district staff assess their needs, examine capabilities, and plan to implement the messaging strategy. Part II is geared specifically to "district staff working with the student information system and district IT." It describes key actions to set up and monitor a text messaging system and provides information about security and privacy considerations. Part III is a set of tools and resources to support the district's work on both Parts I and II. The Example Attendance Text Messaging Blueprint is the same blueprint that was used in the Parent Messaging Study. The other tools were developed specifically for this guide.

In March 2020, Advance CTE and the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) convened a Shared Solutions Workgroup of state and national experts to explore strategies for effective Career Technical Education (CTE) data reporting and communication. Over a series of meetings, the workgroup co-designed a set of tools and resources to help states improve their CTE data reporting. This toolkit contains guidance, best practices and tools that CTE leaders can use to create communications that help stakeholders better understand and act on CTE data. The primary audience for the toolkit is state leaders, but district and K-12 or postsecondary institution leaders may also be able to use these resources for the CTE data communications. [For "Beyond the Numbers: Design Principles for CTE Data Reporting," see ED610152.]

This report presents data on students in the United States attending kindergarten through grade 12. The focus of the report is on parent and family involvement in the students' education during the 2018-19 school year, as reported by the students' parents. It includes the percentage of students who participated in selected family activities. Demographic information about students and families is presented, including students' poverty status and parents' education and language spoken at home, as well as school characteristics, such as school size and school type. These data represent circumstances before the implementation of coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The data for this report come from the Parent and Family Involvement in Education (PFI) Survey, administered as part of the 2019 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2019). When weighted, the PFI data in this report are nationally representative of the nonhomeschooling population of students in grades kindergarten through 12, including children enrolled in public, private, and virtual schools. The total number of cases used in this report is 15,950 students, representing a population of 51.5 million nonhomeschooled students in kindergarten through grade 12. This "First Look" report presents selected descriptive information. The variables examined in this report are just a few of the variables that can be examined in these data; they were selected to demonstrate the range of information available from the study. The release of this report is intended to encourage in-depth analysis of the data using more sophisticated statistical methods. [For "Parent and Family Involvement in Education: 2019. First Look--Summary. NCES 2020-076," see ED606749.]

COVID-19 presents novel and unprecedented challenges to our society. The pandemic is placing our economic system, our system of government and every sector and area of human life under great stress, and forcing us to raise to the challenge in new ways. Education is no exception. Educating students, ensuring they make progress, and safeguarding their health, welfare and nutrition has been made vastly more difficult by the presence of the virus. In Vermont, COVID-19 forced the rapid dismissal of schools in March 2020, followed by a period of maintenance of learning, while the education system worked to stand up a Continuity of Learning structure. The education community has worked incredibly hard and risen to the challenge in truly inspiring ways. The lessons learned from these experiences indicate the need to resume in-person instruction of students as soon as safely possible, while continuing to strengthen the Continuity of Learning systems and the ability to be nimble and move quickly to respond to future outbreaks of the virus. The following guidance is drafted with this in mind. It is one of several sets of guidance that will released in the coming weeks, intended to help School Districts and Supervisory Unions (SU/SDs) and independent schools prepare to reopen school in the Fall of 2020. This document is focused on safeguarding student and staff health while operating in-person instruction. [This guide was produced with the Vermont Department of Health.]

Educators employ different methods of teaching and learning to help their students succeed. One such method is personalized learning, which aims to tailor instruction to the needs, talents, and skills of each individual learner. Rapid advances in technology platforms and digital content over the last decade have enabled more widespread use of personalized learning. As a result, many schools and districts may be interested in expanding its use across various content areas and grade levels. Effective personalized learning requires the collection, understanding, and use of data across many variables. Schools and districts that are interested in implementing personalized learning need to be prepared to ensure the data access, data privacy, and time and training to use data that are necessary to making personalized learning scalable. This document is designed to assist education agencies as they consider whether and how to expand their use of personalized learning. It provides an overview of personalized learning and describes best practices used by education agencies to collect data for personalized learning; to use those data to meet personalized learning goals; and to support the relationships, resources, and systems needed for effective use of data in personalized learning. It also provides a particular focus on data considerations needed by different locations depending on their approach to personalized learning, and considers questions such as which data elements are appropriate at the district or state levels. Because personalized learning is still a developing prospect in many locations, the concepts and examples provided here are intended to help facilitate idea sharing and discussion.

This special report -- informed by the Education Commission of the States' March 2018 School Improvement Thinkers Meeting -- guides state leaders toward a better understanding of how to improve lower-performing schools. This brief contains questions in four key areas to provide a road map for digging into school improvement systems and orienting state leaders to the process and context within their state. This brief also includes links to key related resources to further assist state leaders with their school improvement efforts.

The "Trainer's Guide for the Systematic Monitoring of SDG 4-Education 2030 in Asia-Pacific" has been created to further facilitate making effective use of the "Regional Capacity Development Resource Book on Monitoring SDG4-Education 2030 in Asia-Pacific" ("Resource Book") and to support Member States in the effective organization of national and subnational training programmes. It has has been prepared for professional trainers to deliver training on the systematic monitoring requirements of the SDG 4-Education 2030 Agenda in countries of Asia and the Pacific. By following the modular contents of the "Resource Book," this document guides trainers to design and implement relevant trainings by providing resource materials with which to familiarise audiences from the education and statistical communities with monitoring, analysis and reporting of Sustainable Development Goal 4. This guide follows the themes from the "Resource Book" and it is meant to be used in conjunction with the "Resource Book" as the main reference. However, depending on the training purposes, not all topics are needed for a training. While the "Resource Book" has been written to guide the reader through one theme at a time, the training can and should be tailored. The "Trainer's Guide" should be understood as a session template with the essential topics to cover, depending on the audience, upon which the trainer can build and expand by him- or herself. The guide has been designed to make training sessions participatory and experiential, with opportunities for peer learning through the question and answer sessions, case studies, group and individual exercises and assessment activities. Instructions are provided to indicate how and when to use the provided materials in the corresponding exercises. [For the companion work, "Regional Capacity Development Resource Book on Monitoring SDG4-Education 2030 in Asia-Pacific," see ED601899.]

Whether the goal is to identify and describe trends and variation in populations, create new measures of key phenomena, or describe samples in studies aimed at identifying causal effects, description plays a critical role in the scientific process in general and education research in particular. Descriptive analysis identifies patterns in data to answer questions about who, what, where, when, and to what extent. This guide describes how to more effectively approach, conduct, and communicate quantitative descriptive analysis. The primary audience for this guide includes members of the research community who conduct and publish both descriptive and causal studies, although it could also be useful for policymakers and practitioners who are consumers of research findings. The guide contains chapters that discuss the important role descriptive analysis plays; how to approach descriptive analysis; how to conduct descriptive analysis; and how to communicate descriptive analysis findings. The following are appended: (1) Resources Related Especially to Communications and Visualization; and (2) References. [Tom Szuba was a contributing writer for this report.]

In response to the need to develop leaders to guide the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the Carnegie Corporation of New York provided funding to WestEd to develop a framework that defines the leadership knowledge and actions needed to effectively implement the NGSS. The development of the framework entailed completing a review of the literature to identify the leadership knowledge and actions necessary for implementing new standards; convening an NGSS Leadership Summit with 21 national science education experts who have been implementing the NGSS in states and districts; and conducting 23 interviews with leaders at all levels of the system in California and Washington to gather voices from the field (many of which are included in quotations throughout this framework document). The "Framework for Leading Next Generation Science Standards Implementation" is a synthesis of information gathered from all of these activities. This new framework provides insight into the full array of what leaders need to know--and be able to do--to lead NGSS implementation, from inspiration and vision to data use and quality professional learning. Developed by science education experts and project staff, the framework is designed to provide a comprehensive vision of the leadership knowledge and the critical actions that need to be taken to plan for and implement the NGSS. It is intended to inform the work of all leaders at all levels of the system--from teacher leaders to district leaders to state education leaders--who are charged with supporting and implementing the NGSS. The framework can be used as a self-assess­ment for leaders to identify areas for their further development to prepare them to lead standards implementation, and as a planning guide to help leaders think through the critical actions that they need to take in order to lead and support others for NGSS implementation.

The Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education is a four-part resource that brings together research, promising practices, and useful tools and resources to guide educators in strengthening partnerships with families and community members to support student learning. The toolkit defines family and community engagement as an overarching approach to support family well-being, strong parent-child relationships, and students' ongoing learning and development. The primary audiences for this toolkit are administrators, teachers, teacher leaders, and trainers in diverse schools and districts. Part 2 is designed to tap into the strengths of families and community members and help families establish active roles in the school community in support of student learning. Appendix A: "Activity and tool Selection" is included. [For "Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education. Part 1: Building an Understanding of Family and Community Engagement. REL 2016-148," see ED569110. For "Part 3: Building Trusting Relationships with Families and the Community through Effective Communication. REL 2016-152," see ED569112. For "Part 4: Engaging All in Data Conversations. REL 2016-153," see ED569113.]

The Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education is a four-part resource that brings together research, promising practices, and useful tools and resources to guide educators in strengthening partnerships with families and community members to support student learning. The toolkit defines family and community engagement as an overarching approach to support family well-being, strong parent-child relationships, and students' ongoing learning and development. The primary audiences for this toolkit are administrators, teachers, teacher leaders, and trainers in diverse schools and districts. Part I is designed to guide educators into building awareness of how their beliefs and assumptions about family and community engagement influence their interactions with families and the community and how knowledge about the demographic characteristics of the families in their schools can inform educators about what might support or hinder family engagement with schools. Appendix A: "Activity and tool selection," is included. [For "Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education: Part 2: Building a Cultural Bridge. REL 2016-151," see ED569111. For Part 3: "Building Trusting Relationships with Families and the Community through Effective Communication. REL 2016-152," see ED569112. For "Part 4: Engaging All in Data Conversations. REL 2016-153," see ED569113.]

The Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education is a four-part resource that brings together research, promising practices, and useful tools and resources to guide educators in strengthening partnerships with families and community members to support student learning. This toolkit defines family and community engagement as an overarching approach to support family well-being, strong parent-child relationships, and students' ongoing learning and development. The primary audiences for this toolkit are administrators, teachers, teacher leaders, and trainers in diverse schools and districts. Part 4 is designed to help educators learn which student data are important to share with families and community members and how to share such data in a meaningful way. Appendix A, "Activity and tool selection," is included. [For "Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education. Part 1: Building an Understanding of Family and Community Engagement. REL 2016-148," see ED569110. For Part 2: "Building a Cultural Bridge. REL 2016-151," see ED569111. For "Part 3: Building Trusting Relationships with Families and the Community through Effective Communication. REL 2016-152," see ED569112.]

The Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education is a four-part resource that brings together research, promising practices, and useful tools and resources to guide educators in strengthening partnerships with families and community members to support student learning. The toolkit defines family and community engagement as an overarching approach to support family well-being, strong parent--child relationships, and students' ongoing learning and development. The primary audiences for this toolkit are administrators, teachers, teacher leaders, and trainers in diverse schools and districts. Part 3 is designed to show how cross-cultural and two-way communication enhances family and community engagement. Appendix A: "Activity and tool selection" is included. [For "Toolkit of Resources for Engaging Families and the Community as Partners in Education. Part 1: Building an Understanding of Family and Community Engagement. REL 2016-148," see ED569110. For "Part 2: Building a Cultural Bridge. REL 2016-151," see ED569111. For "Part 4: Engaging All in Data Conversations. REL 2016-153," see ED569113.]

This report presents data on students in the United States attending kindergarten through grade 12. The main focus of the report is on parent and family involvement in the students' education during the 2011-12 school year as reported by the students' parents. It also includes the percentage of students who participated in selected family activities. Demographic information about students and families is presented, including students' poverty status and parents' education and language spoken at home, as well as school characteristics, such as school size and school type. The data for this report come from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012 (NHES:2012), Parent and Family Involvement in Education (PFI) Survey. The PFI survey is designed for students who are enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 or are homeschooled for equivalent grades and asks questions about various aspects of parent involvement in education, such as help with homework, family activities, and parent involvement at school. For homeschooled students, the survey asks questions related to the student's homeschooling experiences, the sources of the curriculum, and the reasons for homeschooling. This report (NCES 2013-028.REV2) is revised from an earlier version (NCES 2013-028.REV) that was released in May 2015. This updated version corrects an error in the standard error estimates presented in table C-1. The correction was made to the standard errors reported for the estimated total number of students in kindergarten through grade 12 by school, student, and family characteristics. All other estimates and findings presented in the report remain unchanged. [For the original report, "Parent and Family Involvement in Education, from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012. First Look. NCES 2013-028.Rev," see ED556339.]

Similar to sign language and picture boards, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system. AAC systems are used to help individuals who do not have typical verbal skills to communicate with others. PECS is a behavior based intervention that teaches the learner to use visual-graphic symbols to communicate with others. Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are taught to give a picture or graphic symbol of a desired item to a communicative partner in exchange for the actual item through a six phase process. Each phase of PECS instruction builds upon the previous phase. This evidence-based practice (EBP) overview on PECS includes the following packet components: (1) Overview; (2) Evidence-base; (3) Step-by-Step Guide; (4) Implementation Checklist; (5) Data Collection Sheets; (6) Tip Sheet for Professionals; (7) Parent Guide; (8) Additional Resources; (9) CEC Standards; and (10) Module References. [This brief was co-written by the Autism Focused Intervention Resources and Modules (AFIRM) team.]

The U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Justice (DOJ) released joint guidance on January 7, 2015, reminding states, school districts and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English Learners have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential. In this context, the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) at the U.S. Department of Education is pleased to provide the English Learner (EL) Tool Kit, a companion to the Office for Civil Rights and Department of Justice "Dear Colleague Letter" (DCL). The tool kit is designed to help state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) in meeting their legal obligations to ELs and in providing all ELs with the support needed to attain English language proficiency while meeting college- and career-readiness standards. The EL Tool Kit is intended primarily for state, district, school administrators, and teachers, but may also inform other stakeholders concerned with the education of ELs. The 10 chapters of the EL Tool Kit, published in serial form over the last number of months, correspond to the 10 sections of the January 2015 DCL. Each chapter provides (1) explanations of the civil rights and other legal obligations to ELs; (2) checklists SEAs, LEAs, and schools can use as self-monitoring tools; (3) sample tools that may be used or adapted for use in SEAs, LEAs, and schools to aid with compliance; and (4) additional resources that may provide further relevant information and assistance. The tool kit does not encompass all resources about EL services, only a sample. For the reader's convenience, the tools and resources are free and accessible via the Internet. The chapters of the tool kit are: (1) Tools and Resources for Identifying All English Learner Students; (2) Tools and Resources for Providing English Learners with a Language Assistance Program; (3) Tools and Resources for Staffing and Supporting an English Learner Program; (4) Tools and Resources for Providing English Learners Meaningful Access to Core Curricular and Extracurricular Programs; (5) Tools and Resources for Creating an Inclusive Environment for and Avoiding the Unnecessary Segregation of English Learners; (6) Tools and Resources for Addressing English Learners with Disabilities; (7) Tools and Resources for Serving English Learners Who Opt Out of EL Programs; (8) Tools and Resources for Monitoring and Exiting English Learners from EL Programs and Services; (9) Tools and Resources for Evaluating the Effectiveness of a District's EL Program; and (10) Tools and Resources for Ensuring Meaningful Communication with Limited English Proficient Parents. A list of resources is included. [Synergy Enterprises, Inc. also assisted with the publication of the document.]

This toolkit is designed to guide school staff in strengthening partnerships with families and community members to support student learning. This toolkit offers an integrated approach to family and community engagement, bringing together research, promising practices, and a wide range of useful tools and resources with explanations and directions for using them. The toolkit is presented in four parts, which includes information and tools that reflect these activities. Each tool is introduced with a cover sheet that includes the purpose of the tool; the intended outcome of using the tool, the materials and time needed to use the tool; whether the tool is best used with individuals, small groups, or large groups; the tool type, and the audience for the tool. The tools in Part 4 focus on helping school staff understand what data are important to share with families and community members and how to share such data. The following are appended: (1) Tool Selection; and (2) Tool Types. [For Part 1: Building an Understanding of Family and Community Engagement, see ED550096; Part 2: Building a Cultural Bridge, see ED557975; and Part 3: Building Trusting Relationships with Families & Community through Effective Communication, see ED557977.]

This toolkit is designed to guide school staff in strengthening partnerships with families and community members to support student learning. This toolkit offers an integrated approach to family and community engagement, bringing together research, promising practices, and a wide range of useful tools and resources with explanations and directions for using them. The toolkit is presented in four parts, which includes information and tools that reflect these activities. Each tool is introduced with a cover sheet that includes the purpose of the tool; the intended outcome of using the tool, the materials and time needed to use the tool; whether the tool is best used with individuals, small groups, or large groups; the tool type, and the audience for the tool. The tools in Part 3 focus on cross-cultural and two-way communication as ways to enhance family and community engagement. The following are appended: (1) Tool Selection; and (2) Tool Types. [For Part 1: Building an Understanding of Family and Community Engagement, see ED550096; Part 2: Building a Cultural Bridge, see ED557975; and Part 4: Engaging All in Data Conversations, see ED557978.]

This toolkit is designed to guide school staff in strengthening partnerships with families and community members to support student learning. This toolkit offers an integrated approach to family and community engagement, bringing together research, promising practices, and a wide range of useful tools and resources with explanations and directions for using them. The toolkit is presented in four parts, which includes information and tools that reflect these activities. Each tool is introduced with a cover sheet that includes the purpose of the tool; the intended outcome of using the tool, the materials and time needed to use the tool; whether the tool is best used with individuals, small groups, or large groups; the tool type, and the audience for the tool. The tools in Part 2 focus on tapping into the strengths of families and community members and helping families to establish active roles within the school community in support of student learning. The following are appended: (1) Tool Selection; and (2) Tool Types. [For Part 1: Building an Understanding of Family and Community Engagement, see ED550096; Part 3: Building Trusting Relationships with Families & Community through Effective Communication, see ED557977; and Part 4: Engaging All in Data Conversations, see ED557978.]

The Office of Special Education and Student Services asked the Office of Shared Accountability to evaluate the "Facilitated Communication Pilot." In facilitated communication (FC), people with communication impairments express themselves by typing with the aid of a communication partner, called a facilitator, who provides physical (and other types of) support. Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) committed to the FC pilot in late spring 2013 with four Grade 5 students. Each one had a paraeducator facilitator and was included in general education classes for the first time by the end of school year 2013-2014. The pilot's goal was for students to demonstrate their learning of the general education curriculum, initially through FC and longer term, through independent communication without facilitation. The goals for this study were to help assess authorship of messages (i.e., whether students' typed messages about schoolwork can be attributed to the student rather than to the facilitator), to study an approach that MCPS had not previously used, and to determine the efficacy of the pilot. The report includes a summary of the findings and recommendations and also contains the appendix: Number and Type of Language Function in Messages from Students.

As educators are increasingly called on to use data to inform improvement initiatives (and are being held accountable for doing so), there is a corresponding need for program leaders to monitor progress. Program monitoring--the systematic and continual observation and recording of key program aspects--can provide leaders with realistic assessments of progress and inform communications with staff and supporters. This reference guide examines three key components of program monitoring--planning, assessment, and communication--within the context of effective and efficient leadership. This guide is one piece of a four-part Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Pacific series on logic models and program monitoring. These guides provide a straightforward introduction to logic models for educators who are new to these concepts, and they may also serve as a refresher for educators who are already familiar with logic models and program monitoring. This guide serves as a supplemental resource to the Education Logic Model and the Program Outcomes, Measures, and Targets computer-based applications developed by REL Pacific, administered by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, and available at http://relpacific.mcrel.org. The applications are interactive tools designed to lead educators through the process of developing logic models and using program monitoring tools.

Across the nation, states and districts are in the process of building better teacher evaluation systems that not only identify highly effective teachers but also systematically provide data and feedback that can be used to improve teacher practice. The "Practical Guide to Designing Comprehensive Teacher Evaluation Systems" is a tool designed to assist states and districts in constructing high-quality teacher evaluation systems in an effort to improve teaching and learning. The guide begins with an overview of the factors influencing teacher evaluation reform today and continues with a discussion of approaches to balancing state accountability and district autonomy. The next section of the guide is structured around the following essential components of the design process as supported through research: (1) Component 1a: Specifying Evaluation System Goals; (2) Component 1b: Establishing Standards; (3) Component 2: Securing and Sustaining Stakeholder Investment, and Cultivating a Strategic Communication Plan; (4) Component 3: Selecting Measures; (5) Component 4: Determining the Structure of the Evaluation System; (6) Component 5: Selecting and Training Evaluators; (7) Component 6: Ensuring Data Integrity and Transparency; (8) Component 7: Using Teacher Evaluation Results; and (9) Component 8: Evaluating the System. Each subsection includes an overview of the component, resources and practical examples, and a series of guiding questions designed to help states organize their work and move strategically toward an evaluation system that functions to improve student learning and teacher performance. A "Summary of Teacher Evaluation Measures" is appended.

This information guide was designed to assist in resolving special education disputes, as well as to provide dispute resolution options for parents or school district staff when communications are difficult or there is a dispute that cannot be resolved. Mediation is a voluntary process that (1) brings people together to resolve their disagreements, (b) assigns a mediator who helps participants communicate with each other, so that everyone has an opportunity to express concerns and offer solutions, and (3) helps everyone better understand differing points of view. The guide also contains: Frequently Asked Questions, How to Prepare for Mediation, and Parent Centers for additional information and resources.