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The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-12 English language arts/literacy and mathematics, released in 2010, have been adopted by 49 states and territories; the District of Columbia; and the U.S. Department of Defense schools, which serve the children of U.S. service members around the world. The widespread adoption of the CCSS is a major step forward, yet significant work remains for states to successfully implement the new more rigorous and relevant academic standards--notably, the adoption of new tests to measure students' progress against the CCSS. This paper reports on states' challenges and progress in creating and launching assessments of students' learning that are aligned with the CCSS.

This document represents the first of two volumes presented in "Study of the Impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives Program" (Norman L. Webb and Iris R. Weiss). In an effort to evaluate the impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSIs) on student achievement and the lessons that could be learned from the National Science Foundation's effort to reform mathematics and science education on a statewide basis, research studies identified the technical strategies, the political strategies, and the interactions with funders that were critical factors in the attempt to effect significant change in student learning over large populations. Documents were received on 21 of the 26 SSIs. More intensive data were collected via telephone interviews of key personnel in seven of these states and during site visits in six other states. Among a number of lessons learned were the following: It was vital to incorporate enough flexibility within the design so that information produced by research, evaluation, and monitoring could be effectively used (technical lesson); the creation of partnerships with policy organizations significantly advanced policy work (political lesson); and, SSI leaders and funders needed to develop a shared, in-depth understanding of the reform strategies as these fit the local context (interaction with funders). The following are appended: (1) SRI International Evaluation Reports; (2) Abt Associates Inc. Monitoring Reports; (3) Coding Scheme: Chronology and Components; (4) Coding Scheme: Strategic Planning, Decision-Making, and Thinking; (5) Coding Scheme: Key Challenges; (6) Interview Protocol for Telephone Interviews and Site Visits; (7) Case Report: Arkansas Statewide Systemic Initiative; (8) Case Report: Maine Statewide Systemic Initiative; (9) Case Report: Michigan Statewide Systemic Initiative; (10) Case Report: Nebraska Statewide Systemic Initiative; (11) Case Report: Puerto Rico Statewide Systemic Initiative; and (12) Case Report: Vermont Statewide Systemic Initiative. [For Volume II of this report, see ED497577.]

This case study examines how rural K-12 single-unit schools in Vermont have responded to the twin pressures of higher state-level standards, required under the 1984 Public School Approval (PSA) policy, and limited fiscal resources. Chapter 1 provides background information on the study population, economic and educational conditions in Vermont, and PSA standards and review processes. In chapter 2, a literature review considers the diverse, special characteristics of small, rural schools. Chapter 3 describes inputs, process indicators, outcome indicators, and qualitative characteristics of the 10 K-12 schools studied and summarizes the impact of PSA on their finances and curricula. This section also discusses how two comparable schools coped somewhat differently with school improvement mandates and limited funding. The results indicate that rural schools are facing the challenge of small size and fiscal constraints with distance learning, independent study, cross-disciplinary teaching, and multi-age groupings. Chapter 4 considers various strategies for improving educational quality at an affordable cost, including funding strategies, financial management, school-community cooperation, distance learning technologies, the 4-day school week, and integrated services. The last chapter concludes that the PSA has had a substantial impact on K-12 schools in terms of personnel appointments, curricular revisions, and facility improvements, but that these gains may be short-lived if the contingent fiscal problems are not solved. Appendices include K-12 schools statistical data, school site statistical profiles, and school site visitation summaries. Contains 101 references. (LP)

This 1987-88 study was conducted to identify, describe, and analyze the significant issues facing one of Vermont's five remaining schoolmarms. The primary subject of the study is a first-year one-room schoolteacher in a rural Vermont town. Chapter 1 offers a brief history of Vermont's one-room schools, a description of the town, the school, and the teacher's "typical" day. Chapter 2 addresses the question of scale. Advantages of smallness are great community involvement, high institutional flexibility, and close interaction among the students, teachers, and parents. Limitations are restricted school space, curriculum, pupil peer groups, efficiency, privacy, and resources. Chapter 3 discusses the schoolmarm's isolation and independence. Chapter 4 examines the issue of educational tradition (embodied by the retiring teacher) and change (represented by her first-year replacement), community expectations, curriculum, work values, patriotism, religion, morality, discipline, resources, and educational philosophy. The paper concludes that one-room pupils receive effective instruction, made possible by well-trained teachers, flexible standards, and better-than-adequate resources. Negative aspects include isolation, urban bias, limited educational options, and unrealistic community expectations. The document includes five tables of Vermont school statistics. (TES)

While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted conventional assessment practices, it offers an opportunity to reconsider the purposes and types of assessment used to evaluate student learning and inform instruction. Cancellation of spring 2020 student assessments and the freezing of school accountability status gave many districts and schools an opportunity to use other measures to assess students during the 2020-21 school year through thoughtful approaches designed to fit new realities, such as remote and hybrid learning. Many teachers opted for alternative assessment options such as student capstones, reflections, or portfolios. Competency- and proficiency-inspired approaches, which prioritize the substance of student work over seat time, complemented remote learning by providing flexibility for students who faced scheduling and technological hurdles. Concerns about unfinished learning focused renewed attention to formative assessment as a strategy to help teachers tailor instruction to students' needs. Parents, educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders can build on recent experiences and use these data to inform instruction -- ultimately focused on promoting deeper learning, skill or competency attainment, flexibility in student progression, and personalization of learning. In this paper, readers can explore three broad and evidence-based approaches to assessing student learning: (1) competency-based and proficiency-based assessment; (2) authentic assessment; and (3) formative assessment. [For the first paper to the Region 1 Comprehensive Center Reimagining Education Series, "Innovative College and Career Pathways to Advance Equity and Opportunity," see ED612760.]

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system leaders, researchers and others had to say on matters ranging from how to measure afterschool performance to how to boost program quality. [This conference was organized by: American Youth Policy Forum, The Collaborative for Building After School Systems, The Forum for Youth Investment, the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education & Families, and the Wallace Foundation.]

In 2009 the Obama administration announced a focused commitment to turn around 5,000 of the United States' chronically lowest-performing public schools as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This commitment came with $3 billion in funding for the School Improvement Grant program, or SIG, along with new guidelines to ensure that federal dollars are effectively invested at the district and school level. This paper takes a closer look at state grant-making strategies for federal school improvement dollars. Further, it reviews the way in which state funding practices for school improvement have changed as a result of the updated SIG requirements and how states have used their flexibility to implement a competitive grant process. Specifically, this paper details the approach that three states--Illinois, Louisiana, and Vermont--have taken in administering their grant competitions. These states illuminate the spectrum of competitiveness in the state grant-making process that has emerged as a result of the new school improvement regulations. There are five significant findings that emerged from examining these three states that call for further investigation across all states. First, it is evident that states continue to have a great degree of flexibility in implementing their grant-making strategy. Second, as other early research on SIG implementation indicates, access to SIG dollars may be more competitive in some states than in others. Third, all three states needed to provide substantial technical assistance to strengthen the quality of the applications that they received. Fourth, application rates varied substantially across the three states. Fifth and finally, the criteria that states use to monitor districts are clear but the process for grant renewal and termination could be more formal and transparent. This paper begins with an overview of how the SIG program has evolved into a more competitive process. It next takes a brief look at how all states changed their practices once the program was altered and then examines in detail how three states--Illinois, Louisiana, and Vermont--have approached the competitive grant-making process. Lastly, the paper concludes with findings and policy implications and underscores the promise of the SIG program's commitment to turn around schools and address the systemic failures that allow schools to flounder. (Contains 1 figure, 2 tables, and 98 endnotes.)

This paper examines the responses of four high schools to new accountability policies in two states, New York and Vermont. In each state, one school that was better positioned with respect to the policy and one that was a target of the policy were studied. New York's policy attaches high stakes for students though the Regents high school exit examination. In Vermont, school accountability is part of a broader policy of comprehensive finance equalization and a self-assessment action planning process. In both states theories of action assume that performance information from the accountability system will drive change. Schools were examined through interviews with key personnel, including teachers. The variations between the types of schools in response to the policies far exceeded the variation attributable to state policy design. In the high-performing schools, the policies in both cases put a spotlight on helping low-performing students. In the low-performing schools in both states there was a pattern of compliance without capacity with minimal meaningful or productive engagement on the part of the staff. The needs of the two low-performing schools suggest blind spots in the state policies with respect to theory, use of data, incentives, and short-term, school-level goals. The common patterns suggest that state policymakers need to rethink policy instruments for the lowest performing schools. (SLD)

This paper traces the historical context of the passage and implementation of Vermont's Act 230 in 1990, which initiated a new special education funding system to increase equity, predictability, and flexibility in program design as well as to ensure placement neutrality. Specific objectives of the funding system included increasing the use of prereferral services for children with diverse needs and the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular classes. The funding formula has three components: (1) a mainstream block grant to school districts based on total student enrollment; (2) an extraordinary service reimbursement providing compensation to districts for unusually high-cost individual cases; and (3) an intensive services reimbursement to help with all remaining allowable special education costs not otherwise covered. This paper relates this reform to special education policy, programs, and services; discusses the objectives for reform and the mechanics of the new funding system; reviews the results to date of an ongoing statewide evaluation; and presents a summary of interviews with state- and local-level constituents during the fourth year of implementation of the new formula. Contains seven references. (DB)

In the upper northeast corner of the United States, the commitment to competency education has grown so strong that entire states are embracing it through high-leverage comprehensive policies. Of the six New England states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont -- four have established comprehensive state policies that seek 100 percent of districts to offer competency-based diplomas; one has created a permissive policy so that any district that wants to can become competency-based without expectation that they do so; and only one, Massachusetts, continues to stay the course despite the obstacles created by the traditional time-based system. In the first section of this paper, the core concepts of competency education will be introduced. In the next section, the author looks at the question of why and how the region of New England, with some of the most high-achieving education systems, has embraced competency education. The third section seeks to glean insights from across the states. The final section provides an early analysis about the impact of state strategies toward quality and equity, scaling, and sustainability. In the appendix, readers will find a synopsis of each state strategy, complemented by short case studies of districts and schools.

This report collects the results of all available empirical studies using the best available scientific methods to measure how school vouchers affect academic outcomes for participants, and all available studies on how vouchers affect outcomes in public schools. Contrary to the widespread claim that vouchers do not benefit participants and hurt public schools, the empirical evidence consistently shows that vouchers improve outcomes for both participants and public schools. In addition to helping the participants by giving them more options, there are a variety of explanations for why vouchers might improve public schools as well. The most important is that competition from vouchers introduces healthy incentives for public schools to improve. Key findings include: (1) Ten empirical studies have used random assignment, the gold standard of social science, to examine how vouchers affect participants. Nine studies find that vouchers improve student outcomes, six that all students benefit and three that some benefit and some are not affected. One study finds no visible impact. None of these studies finds a negative impact; (2) Nineteen empirical studies have examined how vouchers affect outcomes in public schools. Of these studies, 18 find that vouchers improved public schools and one finds no visible impact. No empirical studies find that vouchers harm public schools; (3) Every empirical study ever conducted in Milwaukee, Florida, Ohio, Texas, Maine and Vermont finds that voucher programs in those places improved public schools; (4) Only one study, conducted in Washington D.C., found no visible impact from vouchers. This is not surprising, since the D.C. voucher program is the only one designed to shield public schools from the impact of competition. Thus, the D.C. study does not detract from the research consensus in favor of a positive effect from voucher competition; and (5) The benefits provided by existing voucher programs are sometimes large, but are usually more modest in size. This is not surprising since the programs themselves are modest--curtailed by strict limits on the students they can serve, the resources they provide, and the freedom to innovate. Only a universal voucher program could deliver the kind of dramatic improvement our public schools so desperately need. (Contains 4 tables and 48 notes.) [This is an updated version of the original paper, "A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on How Vouchers Affect Public Schools. School Choice Issues in Depth", published in February 2009. To access this report, see ED508324.

For the past five years, Vermont has been developing an innovative statewide assessment system in which portfolios of student work in mathematics and writing are a key element. The use of mathematics portfolios, particularly in elementary school, is a novel aspect of the assessment system. This study examines the elementary school mathematics portfolio assessment and its instructional impact by exploring the conceptions of problem solving, the knowledge of problem-solving strategies, the evaluation of problem-solving tasks, and the instructional practices of 20 fourth-grade teachers. Teachers indicated that the portfolio assessment program has enhanced their understanding of mathematical problem solving and broadened their instructional practices, but that they have encountered difficulty in understanding certain components of the reform and making the relevant changes. Teachers did not share a common understanding of mathematical problem solving or agree on skills that students should master. Eight figures and three tables present study findings. (Contains 13 references.) (SLD)

This paper examines the politics of special education finance reform in three states (Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) that have enacted substantial legislative change within the past 5 years. These case studies were extracted from presentations made by the three state directors of special education at a 1994 conference. Each case study includes two sections. The first section provides a brief description of the history and rationale for change in each state and an overview of the current formula. The second section comprises each state director's description of how change was accomplished and the lessons learned that pertain to the politics of special education finance reform. Following the three state profiles is a series of questions accompanied by the directors' replies. Several common elements for successful reform emerge from the three studies. These include: (1) the importance of timing in overcoming contrary pressures and successfully implementing special education finance reform; (2) the importance of public relations in successfully legislating reform; (3) the need for an understanding and resolution of the politics of the situation; and (4) the need for postreform evaluative data. (Contains 15 references.) (DB)

This paper presents a case study of a rural community exhibiting a dramatic turnaround in community support for a new school bond issue. Demographic change was partly responsible for the change in community attitudes, with two waves of immigration altering the long-term conservative orientation of this community. After a series of failed principalships, the appointment of a woman from the community who was willing to take action on a number of serious school and community problems put some former divisiveness to rest. In addition, effective school board and community leadership and state level policy changes altered the community educational climate. The paper examines the factors effecting this change in light of organizational theory, considering the case from the perspectives of structure, human resources, politics, and symbols. All causal factors are seen to create a complex web of circular, mutually interdependent relationships. The implication is that change is not necessarily caused by external conditions and even the distinction between external and internal influences may be arbitrary. The paper concludes that there is no quick, universal, or predictable way to improve rural education. Many factors influence the possibility of change in interactive and mutually causal ways, suggesting the need for differentiated and integrated strategies. This paper contains 18 references. (DHP)

Focusing on investigating processes of curricular and instructional change for the period 1976-82, the study examined change processes in 2 medium size (400-500 students) Vermont rural high schools not known for being innovative. The research framework was constructed around the change process model and accompanying subprocesses of mobilization, implementation, and institutionalization. Six weeks were spent in each school. Initial exploratory interviews were conducted with the professional staff. Questionnaires were distributed to subsets of that population according to their involvement with identified innovations. Relevant documents were analyzed, but observation was informal. Major instrumentation was drawn from Gene Hall's Concerns Based Adoption Model. The findings revealed that change occurred mainly within the framework of the subprocesses of mobilization, implementation, and institutionalization, and was usually a dynamic rather than linear process. These subprocesses became apparent through the identification of six types of voluntary innovations and two types of imposed innovations. The 80 voluntary innovations were primarily teacher adopted or developed with underlying stimuli primarily idiosyncratic and rooted in factors associated with motivating and relating to students. The principals played key supportive, facilitative and directive roles with both types of innovations and had a major effect on change through the organizational climates they helped to create and sustain. (Author/NQA)