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Educating for American Democracy (EAD) partnered with ETS on a symposium held in July 2021 to take stock of what is known and to provide guidance for future research, policy, and practice in measurement of civic learning opportunities and outcomes. This research note is meant to further the work accomplished at the seminar. First, this note provides a brief background about the civic learning landscape, EAD, and the symposium and then covers the role that assessment can play in promoting civic learning, summarizes some key lessons from the symposium, highlights areas that are particularly ripe for additional evidence gathering, and suggests some short-term actions for the field. Educators, policymakers, researchers, funders, and others who are committed to helping America's schools promote civic learning and democratic engagement should find this research note of interest.

Problem solving, resilience, and self-reflection remain buzzwords in education. These skills and attributes--along with others that are often referred to as "deeper learning" skills--are key to students' college, career, and civic success. Yet the barriers to deeper learning in schools serving large numbers of diverse and high-poverty student populations are significant. This report explores how three domains: (1) resources; (2) rigor; (3) and educational experiences, can be analyzed by states to ensure equitable access to deeper learning skills in the classroom.

Education is a $600 billion-a-year enterprise, but the investments states make in education will not benefit students unless they are physically and mentally present in the classroom. Too many students are not. In this report, the National Association of State Boards of Education asks policymakers to promote student engagement through a suite of policy changes. The report explores the behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement and the role peers, educators, school environments, parents and communities play in helping students become invested in their own learning. The report finds that an educational system that more meaningfully engages students will require state policymakers to act. Five policy actions are recommended: (1) Promote measures of educational success that emphasize student engagement; (2) Back an educator preparation, learning, and support continuum that empowers school leaders, teachers, and other staff to facilitate more engaging experiences for students; (3) Advance school climate guidelines that build an environment more conducive to student engagement; (4) Invest in school structures that help personalize student learning and thereby expand student engagement; and (5) Encourage collaboration between schools, parents and other community stakeholders to address students' comprehensive needs. Several states have made great progress toward these goals: Illinois routinely gathers student feedback on school learning conditions and climate, while Maryland is developing a statewide measurement system to assess school safety and student engagement. North Carolina and Delaware have established professional learning communities that foster teacher collaboration. Kansas has made headway on developing social, emotional and character development standards. Kentucky and others have invested in personalized learning strategies, and West Virginia and Connecticut seek out constructive community partnerships and have established structures for more open communications. An appendix provides video links.

Employers, postsecondary institutions, and civic leaders are urging greater focus on 21st century skills essential for college, career, and civic success: problem solving, interpersonal skills, and collaboration, among others. In response to these demands, states across the country are working to realign policies--on learning standards, assessments, and human capital strategies--to set a new course for their state education systems. Many states are reconsidering their assessment strategies and asking whether existing assessments are designed to be the barometer, resource, and engine for learning necessary to support the new demands on students. To address gaps in existing assessments, many states are considering the role of performance assessments--assessments that require students to craft solutions to problems by constructing an answer, producing a product, or performing an activity rather than selecting from a list of multiple-choice answers--within their statewide assessment strategies. By requiring students to complete multifaceted tasks, these assessments can better support 21st century learning. This report is intended to familiarize state boards of education with performance assessments and help state board members and other policymakers address some of the thorniest issues around these assessments: purpose, sustainability, reliability, accountability, policy alignment, equity, professional practice, and implementation. The report ends with a set of discussion questions so that each state can begin to analyze barriers and opportunities toward effective implementation of these assessments.

The nation's six million students with disabilities have graduation rates nearly 25 percent lower than their general education peers and significantly lower postsecondary enrollment and completion rates. For the last decade and a half, state policy leaders have decried No Child Left Behind's lack of flexibility and one-size-fits-all design for failure to meet these students' needs. With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states will have greater flexibility and responsibility for these students' outcomes, and they should take this opportunity to better meet their needs. This policy update is part of a series that suggests strategies that state boards of education can use to address the challenges and inequities facing some of the most disenfranchised, at-risk student populations in the country. While a one-sized-fits-all system affects many students that learn differently, it poses significant problems for students with disabilities through its lack of personalized learning, low expectations, lack of accommodations for assessments, and gaps in accountability and educator capacity. In this policy update, ESSA addresses all of these issues and offers states and school districts opportunities to enhance their education systems in these areas. [For the other policy updates in this series, see "ESSA and Homeless Youth. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 18" (ED571531); "ESSA and Migrant Youth. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 19" (ED571524); "ESSA and English Language Learners. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 21" (ED571532); and "ESSA and Students in Foster Care. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 22" (ED571528).]

As state and district leaders evaluate characteristics of their student populations, many will find one number particularly startling: The number of homeless students has doubled in less than a decade. States can take several actions to serve these students better, some of which are incorporated in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Some of these provisions in ESSA kick in immediately. This policy update is part of a series that suggests strategies that state boards of education can use to address the challenges and inequities facing some of the most disenfranchised, at-risk student populations in the country. Efforts in successful states center on five best practices in identifying and serving homeless students and holding actors accountable: (1) States must first identify their homeless students; (2) States must turn to the question of how to use federal and state resources to address individual student needs; (3) States must address homeless students' place of residence challenges by removing barriers to enrollment and keeping homeless K-12 and preschool students in their schools of origin when it is in their best interest--addressing paperwork, fines, and fees associated with staying in their home schools and facilitating transportation; (4) State boards of education need to ensure that regulations and policies ranging from standards implementation to Advanced Placement access and credit accrual to participation in summer school and extracurricular activities include specific accommodations to ensure homeless students also have access to all the facets of a high-quality education; and (5) State systems of learning should ensure the same high expectations for learning for all students regardless of their race, disability, income, or housing status. [For the other policy updates in this series, see "ESSA and Migrant Youth. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 19" (ED571524); "ESSA and Students with Disabilities. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 20" (ED571526); "ESSA and English Language Learners. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 21" (ED571532); and "ESSA and Students in Foster Care. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 22" (ED571528).]

Representing an estimated 4.4 million students in the United States, English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the public school population and yet are twice as likely to drop out of high school and significantly less likely to attend and complete postsecondary education. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes explicit new provisions related to ELL students and more generally offers greater flexibility that states can use to serve these students better. This policy update is part of a series that suggests strategies that state boards of education can use to address the challenges and inequities facing some of the most disenfranchised, at-risk student populations in the country. State boards of education should make the most of ESSA's explicit provisions on ELL success and the added flexibility the law provides generally. No one policy will address the challenges these students face. Rather, states must build a system that addresses the gap in expectations facing ELL students, ELL student diversity, English language proficiency, and the capacity of educators to address ELL challenges. [For the other policy updates in this series, see "ESSA and Homeless Youth. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 18" (ED571531); "ESSA and Migrant Youth. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 19" (ED571524); "ESSA and Students with Disabilities. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 20" (ED571526); and "ESSA and Students in Foster Care. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 22" (ED571528).]

Edward R. Murrow's 1960 documentary, "Harvest of Shame," pricked the national conscience on the issue of migrant workers. Five years later, migrant youth were included as part of the scope of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The 2015 reauthorization of that law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), turns over more responsibility to states to help these students, who face common challenges of mobility, poverty, limited English proficiency, and limited parental involvement in their education. This policy update is part of a series that suggests strategies that state boards of education can use to address the challenges and inequities facing some of the most disenfranchised, at-risk student populations in the country. State boards of education can take the following steps, translating these opportunities into changes that help deliver greater educational equity and success for this often overlooked group: (1) step up identification and recruitment; (2) enhance educator capacity; (3) promote service coordination; and (4) increase accountability. [For the other policy updates in this series, see "ESSA and Homeless Youth. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 18" (ED571531); "ESSA and Students with Disabilities. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 20" (ED571526); "ESSA and English Language Learners. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 21" (ED571532); and "ESSA and Students in Foster Care. Policy Update. Vol. 23, No. 22" (ED571528).]

There is widespread agreement that many of California's high schools are doing a poor job of preparing their students for college and careers. The James Irvine Foundation is sponsoring a major initiative to develop "Multiple Pathways"--now called the Linked Learning approach--as a strategy for improving the performance of California high schools. To inform this effort, the Foundation asked PACE to gather evidence on the cost of linked learning programs. This report presents the results. Appended are: (1) Interview Questions; and (2) Start-up activities in five districts. (Contains 7 tables, 1 figure and 25 footnotes.)