The reports and publications highlighted below offer both high-level and detailed evaluations of state and national education systems using a broad range of issues, from test scores and teacher quality to data systems and funding structures. Again, please note that the opinions expressed in the following works do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of Advance Illinois.
The Center For The Future of Teaching and Learning
This report finds that California's teacher development system is not adequately aligned with high school reforms that seek to increase rigor, make instruction more relevant and foster more personal and supportive learning environments for students. The research further indicates that high school teacher knowledge and skills differ substantially by school poverty level. The report also includes the latest available data on demand, supply, qualifications and distribution of the state's K-12 teacher workforce. The findings of this report are concurrent with the trends found for Illinois in Advance Illinois' 2009 Report, We Can Do Better.
This report highlights the priority policy needs of rural public schools and the communities they serve, and it describes the complexity of rural education for policymakers. According to the report, Illinois ranks 14th in the nation in the number of rural students, at 241,000, less than 12% of all public school students in the state. But Illinois ranks 7th in the percentage of rural students qualifying for special education services. Rural instructional expenditures per pupil are very low, and transportation costs take up an inordinate share of spending per pupil.
This report focuses on whether students who receive special education services graduate at levels below their non-disabled peers. In Chicago, 45 percent of students with disabilities graduate within four years and 50 percent graduate within five years, compared with four-year and five-year graduation rates of non-disabled students that are 67 percent and 70 percent respectively. Using previous CCSR research that showed freshman year performance can be an important indicator of a student's likelihood to graduate, this report examines these indicators and more in context to students with disabilities in Chicago.
This study concludes that The No Child Left Behind Act has significantly boosted mathematics achievement, but no evidence exists that it has done the same for reading. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed large increases in math scores for 4th graders and moderate ones in that subject for 8th graders. The gains in math were concentrated among white and Hispanic students, students eligible for free- or reduced-price lunches, and students at all levels of performance. This study carries significance as NCLB Act is expected to undergo significant changes soon and continue to push accountability and improvement in student achievement.
The New Teacher Project (TNTP) provides a unifying framework and practical strategies that will enable states to respond to Race to the Top with a bold and coherent teacher effectiveness agenda. TNTP believes top applications will differentiate themselves by placing a strong emphasis on teacher effectiveness in two of the four key assurance areas: great teachers and leaders and turning around struggling schools. Many of the strategies are in line with Advance Illinois belief and stance on improved data systems, teacher evaluations, and increasing human capital pipelines to Illinois most struggling schools.
This report outlines ten steps state policy makers and school district leaders can take now to invest in teacher quality and equitable access to ensure students of color and low-income students benefit from an increase in effective teachers. The report highlights steps such as producing better information on teacher effectiveness, eliminate state policies that sustain the status quo in local districts, and fixing counterproductive hiring and placement processes. The report is released as states across the country, including Illinois, are putting together proposals for Race To The Top funding.
Since 2001 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has closed 44 schools for reasons of poor academic performance and underutilization resulting in the displacement of students to other schools.This report examined the academic achievement of over 5,000 CPS displaced elementary students.The findings reveal that eight in 10 displaced students transferred to schools ranking in the bottom half of the system, according to standardized test scores.Essentially students transferred from one low performing school to another and the change did not, on average, improve student achievement.Robin Steans commented on the findings of this report in the Chicago Tribune and emphasized that good schools matter and the quality of the receiving schools is key.
This report highlights the key components of Furman Browns Generation School Model (GSM) for school design. The GSM emphasizes the strategic use of people and time by recruiting top teaching talent and organizing the talent into grade- and subject-based teams. The model stresses collaboration and small class sizes with extended time spent on core subject content. In light of Illinois recent increase on the charter school cap, the window is open for innovation such as the GSM to penetrate Chicago Public Schools.
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
This Chicago installment of a new series entitled, Profiles In Excellence, highlights the impact of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) in Chicago Public Schools. In the past decade the number of National Board Certified has grown exponentially from 11 to 1,200 with a 90% retention rate. The expansion of talent in the nations third largest public school system has resulted from a coalition of public and private organizations committed to developing and retaining top teaching talent for Chicago students. In his role as U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan has focused on building human capital in schools and praised the work of NBCTs in Chicago.
Interpreting "Race to the Top" The New Teacher Project This report analyzes each state's current competitiveness for "Race to the Top" fund. NOTE: The study ranks Illinois as 'somewhat competitive' but the study's survey did not include the recent laws passed by the General Assembly to improve its longitudinal data system and to create a task force around turnaround schools. Quote: "Districts and states face the challenge of responding to the guidelines with a smart teacher effectiveness agenda. To that end, TNTP has assembled a tool for education leaders and policymakers interested in pursuing Race to the Top reforms."
One State's Roadmap for "Race to the Top" National Council on Teacher Quality This study, which is quite technical, finds that teachers perform better when they see their peers doing better. The authors call it a "spillover" effect. NOTE: you have to pay $5 to download this study unless you're already a member or a journalist.
Using Data to Improve Instruction Alliance for Excellent Education This policy brief provides a in-depth discussion of the use of data to transform teaching and learning. This is critical information as Illinois looks to develop a strategy for "Assessment for Learning," a component of the Race to the Top guidelines, which is called for in Advance Illinois' report, We Can Do Better.
Using Data to Improve Instruction This policy brief provides a in-depth discussion of the use of data to transform teaching and learning. This is critical information as Illinois looks to develop a strategy for "Assessment for Learning," a component of the Race to the Top guidelines, which is called for in Advance Illinois' report, We Can Do Better.
We live in a world driven by data. Data allows marketing firms to determine which words will make us buy more. Data provides doctors with the probabilities for diagnoses. Fantasy sports aficionados use fancy statistics correlated with mountains of data to buy the perfect player. But while the use of data in education has increased, it is still more art than science. Despite the fact that we constantly assess our children, we dont do a good enough job aggregating that data and turning it into useful information. And now, as new assessment systems are expected to roll out across the country, the data collected needs to be harnessed, not just for accountability, but to help manage instruction. Despite millions of dollars spent on new data systems, this reality remains elusive.
Center for Reinventing Public Education This report provides a vision of Performance Management for Schools within a School District. It provides a framework for accountability and support which goes beyond the typical hands-off approach to school choice options such as charters and contract schools. This provides a new way of thinking about accountability for districts, but can also be applicable to state policy.
New York Principals and their new Accountability System NYC Public Advocate's Office Not a typical research report, but an interesting survey on the use of ARIS, the Achievement Reporting and Innovation System. As more districts adopt reporting systems and the state looks to develop a strategy for this development, understanding the success and failures of other states and districts will be critical.
Multi-State Review of Teaching Standards REL West/Institute of Education Sciences The key word is review. This paper offers few opinions, but reviews the wide variety of teaching standards across six states, including Illinois (the others are California, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas).
Teaching Students and Each Other National Bureau of Economic Research This study, which is quite
technical, finds that teachers perform better when they see their peers doing
better. The authors call it a "spillover" effect. NOTE: you have to
pay $5 to download this study unless you're already a member or a journalist.
Impacts of Comprehensive Teacher Induction Mathematica This report provides the second
year results for mentoring and induction programs and finds that these programs
do not seem to improve teacher effectiveness. While the New Teacher Center has responded that problems in the study
make it less informative, it once again demonstrates that programmatic
solutions do not provide systematic benefits.
Reinventing Chicago High Schools Mikva Challenge Education Council Responding to a request by Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman, the Mikva Challenge's Education Council offered their proposals for ways to 'reinvent high schools in Chicago.' Performance Management in Portfolio Districts Doing School Choice Right Project and National Charter School Research Project "Under pressure from state standards-based
reform and No Child Left Behind, and
with increasing competition from schools of choice, urban school districts are
looking for ways to offer a high-performing mix of schools that meet the
diverse needs of their communities. Many districts see themselves as portfolio
managers, operating some schools in the traditional way, hiring independent
groups to run other schools, and holding all schools accountable under the same
performance standards." The report concludes: "a portfolio strategy
transforms the role of district central offices and makes most of their current
functions unnecessary. Districts committed to portfolio strategies will need to
eliminate many existing central office structures to avoid mixed signals about
whether schools will be judged on performance or compliance. Those savings
could pay the operating costs of portfolio oversight once a districts basic
capacity has been built.This is the first in a series of reports on portfolio
school districts."
Online Education Beats the Classroom U.S. Dept of Education An intriguing conclusion from a meta analysis of the available research: "On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes�measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation�was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face."
"Nation’s Report Card" reveals worrisome achievement gap for Illinois The National Center for
Educations Statistics The NCES released its report on the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) tests. Often
referred to as the “nation’s report card”, the NAEP tests provide a chance to
compare test scores and achievement gaps across states. This report from
NCES offers a look at state and national achievement gaps between black and
white students, and how those gaps have changed over time. While in reading, Illinois’
racial achievement gap is no different than the national average, the state is
one of only 4 in the nation that has a larger gap in math at both the forth and
eight grade level.
Putting Middle Grades Students on the Graduate Path Everyone Graduates Center From the report: "The middle grades, broadly defined as fifth through eighth grade, need to be seen as the launching pad for a secondary and post-secondary education system that enables all students to obtain the schooling and/or career training they will need to fully experience the opportunities of 21st century America." The study outlines key indicators to look for in middle grade students to make sure they don't fall off the path to graduation. Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University This new report finds a wide variance in performance of charter schools in 16 states across the country. The study cites 'sobering' results that charter school performance is, in some cases, indistinguishable from traditional schools and, in some cases, worse. But, the study notes that charter school effectiveness varies widely state-by-state, and that variations in state policies are associated with those variations.
Untapped Potential Everyone Graduates Center Recent graduates from Philadelphia�s public high schools had higher
employment rates and higher annual earnings than their classmates who
dropped out of school, but many of these working graduates still did
not earn an annual income above the federal poverty line, according to the study, by the Everyone Graduates Center at
Johns Hopkins University. This is a reminder, the report suggests,
that although it is essential to increase the city�s high school
graduation rate, �without additional postsecondary education, the
effect of a high school diploma on lives and livelihoods may be rather
limited.� Diplomas and Dropouts American Institutes for Research The report examines graduation rates across
schools with similar levels of admissions selectivity. The researchers divided schools
into the six admissions selectivity groups and finds significant variation in the graduation rates across 1,300 U.S.
colleges and universities, even dramatic variation among institutions within the same selectivity category.
The Widget Effect The New Teacher Project This study describes how school systems �treat all teachers as interchangeable parts, not professionals. Excellence goes unrecognized and poor performance goes unaddressed. This indifference to performance disrespects teachers and gambles with students� lives.� The study looked at 12 school districts, including three in Illinois, that range in size, geographic location and teacher evaluation approach. But, the study concludes, the outcomes are strikingly similar across the districts.
Here and Now 2: Change We Can Measure IFF This new report by the IFF (formerly known as the Illinois Facilities Fund) examines citywide and community area changes in the number of performing schools in Chicago's 77 neighborhood areas between 2004 and 2008. It also documents the contribution of charter and other new schools under Renaissance 2010. Like the 2004 Here and Now study, this study is based on the premise that all Chicago students should have academically performing schools within or near the community area in which they live.
Lost Opportunity: A 50 State Report on the Opportunity to Learn in America The Schott Foundation The report�s data indicate that, nationally, students from historically disadvantaged groups have just a 51 percent Opportunity to Learn, when compared to White, non-Latino students. The effects of these inequities are disproportionately concentrated in a few states. California and New York each account for 15 percent of the nation�s Opportunity to Learn inequity impact. Texas accounts for an additional 12 percent. Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania account for 5 percent each. New York�s share of the economic effect of inequity is nearly three times its percentage of the national population.
Parsing the Achievement Gap Educational Testing Service This Policy Information Report follows up on a 2003 report Parsing the Achievement Gap: Baselines for Tracking Progress. The updated report identifies 16 factors related to academic performance ranging from birth weight and hunger to lead poisoning, parental involvement, and teacher quality. The report concludes that while a few of the gaps in achievement have narrowed, overall, there has not been much progress.
This new report looks at the path to college for students in academically advanced programs -- graduates of the city's seven Selective Enrollment schools, those who completed International Baccalaureate programs, and graduates who had taken a sequence of at least six honors and two Advanced Placement classes. The study reveals that nearly two-thirds of these students graduate with access to selective four-year colleges, yet fewer than half of these students enroll in colleges that match their qualifications -- and about 17 percent didn't enroll in any college after graduation.
Investing the Recovery Funds for Student Success Broad Foundation This paper lays out five big ideas for investing the one-time recovery funds that, if seized, will enable parents, educators, taxpayers, and students to see real educational results by 2012 and provide the base for more dramatic improvements in the future. If states and districts focus their funds on these ideas, we believe that it will be a down payment on excellence that lays the groundwork to produce breakthrough gains in what our students learn and achieve for the next generation.
Realigning Resources for District Transformation Center for American Progress A new study "provides concrete ideas for strategic spending in three key areas�taking stock of current practices, focusing on support for quality instruction, and making transitional investments in order to give some guidance to those districts seeking to balance the acts short-term focus on preserving jobs with its long-term goals of promoting student achievement."
The Cost of the Achievement Gap McKinsey & Company Here's just one fact among many that show how serious an impact the achievement gap is having on all of us, not just those we're under-serving: According to the report, the gap between white students and their black and Latino peers costs the U.S. $525 billion. The report also says closing the low-income gap would grow the Gross Domestic Product by as $670 billion. The report goes on to say that the persistence of such gaps is the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession.
The Urban-Suburban Graduation Gap Editorial Projects in Education Research Center A new study shows that cities are still graduating students at much lower rates than suburbs. The report shows that despite some progress made by several cities from 1995-2005, the average graduation rate of the 50 largest cities is well below the national average of 71%, and there remains an 18 percentage point urban suburban gap.
Florida's Online Option Hoover Institution Virtual school offers template for reform. Combining distance learning with personalized instruction, this Sunshine State innovation supplements school district course offerings
National Commission on Teaching and America's Future A new report suggests the U.S. is on the precipice of a teacher shortage, due to high attrition rates and the retirement of baby boomers. The study suggests teaching teams as one solution to the high rate of attrition among new teachers.
A new report reinforces much of Advance Illinois' fall report, the state's achievement gap is high, our standards are low and our students are performing in the middle of students in the country.
Parents Perception vs. Student Realities Target Area Development Corp. In order for Chicago parents to be most effective in helping to improve their local schools, they need accurate information about the current challenges faced by Illinois students and an understanding of the processes by which change can come. Unfortunately, most of the information acquired by parents about ongoing school issues is received in second-hand fashion from the news media and individual teachers. In many cases, these sources provide an incomplete and sometimes, incorrect view of the education needs of Illinois students, leaving parents with critical gaps in their knowledge and disempowering them from real engagement in district-level decision-making regarding significant school changes.
The parents of Illinois and Chicago public school students are poorly informed about the real problems and challenges faced by local students. The survey report, Parent Perceptions, Student Realities in Chicago Schools, released by the Citywide Education Organizing Campaign (the Campaign), a coalition of 13 community groups convened by Target Area DevCorp, explores ways to better engage parents in decisions regarding public education.
Center for American Progress
This is an annual report from EdWeek on the use of technology in education. As the world of online education continues to evolve, brick-and-mortar schools are incorporating digital curricula and virtual teachers into their classrooms in ways that have surprised even the advocates of the online education movement.
From the Conclusion: "A large body of evidence indicates that efforts to improve student learning will not be successful without increasing the supply of effective teachers, particularly in high poverty and low performing schools. Alternative certification programs are a promising strategy for addressing that necessity. Yet, for the benefits of alternative certification programs to be realized, policymakers need to institute policies that ensure the programs are able to attract and retain talented participants and provide them with high quality preparation programs."
In the winter of 2008, the Center on Education Policy released reports examining the impact of national and state accountability systems on curriculum, instruction, and student achievement in Rhode Island and Illinois. Using classroom observations and interviews with school administrators, instructional specialists, teachers, parents, and students, CEP developed case studies of 12 schools in the two states. This report summarizes the common findings across the two states and discusses findings that were unique to each state.
Institute of Govt and Public Affairs, Univ of Illinois
This report examines the economic impact that Univ of Illinois has on the state. One finding: the university produces about $13.1 billion per year in direct and indirect economic impact on the Illinois economy each year, including the creation of more than 150,000 jobs.
This report examines the growing need in the new economy for workers who have more than a high-school diploma, but who don't necessarily have a four-year college degree. It presents research on the job market and discusses how well Illinois' education system is faring in preparing its students for that market.
The National Assessment of Educational Performance (NAEP) is the only longitudinal, nationwide measure of student performance. The NAEP tests have been administered for more than three decades and are useful in comparing student achievement, across states and over time, in a variety of subjects. In the 2007 edition of The Nation�s Report Card, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) examines NAEP results from more than 350,000 fourth- and eighth-grade students in reading and mathematics. The report includes national and state-by-state data disaggregated by grade-level, gender, and race/ethnicity.
This Illinois-specific report presents data on student achievement measured by both the National Assessment of Educational Performance (NAEP) and the Illinois Standards Assessment Test (ISAT). Specifically, Education Watch finds that Illinois achievement gaps both between black and white students and between poor and non-poor students are among the largest in the nation; Illinois average NAEP scores also consistently fall in the bottom 50% of states. Education Watch includes statistics on educational attainment and opportunity gaps, as well.
Windows on Achievement and Inequality provides an in-depth statistical analysis of the national achievement gap from pre-school through high school. In this report, ETS goes further than most sources in presenting data on student performance and achievement gaps, examining innovative ways to look at national and statewide information and suggesting new questions to policymakers.
In 2006, the Commission on School Leader Preparation in Illinois Colleges and Universities submitted its report, School Leader Preparation: A Blueprint for Change, to the Illinois Board of Education. In this report, the Commission argued that better principal preparation is essential in improving student achievement. Subsequently, the Illinois General Assembly initiated a joint resolution to establish the Illinois School Leader Task Force to investigate and recommend ways in which to implement the Commission Blueprint. This document is their final report to the Illinois General Assembly.
This report is a continuation of earlier studies from IERC on the distribution of teacher quality statewide. The in-depth analysis of teacher quality, school poverty, and student performance yields a number of recommendations for how districts and the state might ensure that all students are taught by quality teachers.
This report investigates the accuracy of some commonly held assumptions regarding the frequent flight of new teachers from the profession. In short, this report finds that new teachers do not leave the profession at significantly higher rates than other young employees leave their professions. Additionally, IERC finds that while new teachers tend to leave their schools at significant levels, the rates of departure are constant across urban, suburban, and rural schools.
The Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) is an extension of NCES� Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) meant to provide national-level information on teacher mobility and attrition. This report highlights the data received from the TFS, presenting key findings that answer the following three questions: (1) Who is most likely to move or leave? (2) Why do teachers move or leave? and (3) Where do teachers go when they move or leave? Answering these questions is the first step in creating schools that can retain and recruit more excellent teachers.
Published in 2007 by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), the State Teacher Policy Yearbook evaluates Illinois� current teacher policies as �unsatisfactory.� The report identifies six key policy topics in need of urgent attention and compares Illinois� policies in these areas to the practices of the other 50 states (including the District of Columbia). The report also identifies nationwide best practices in each policy area and offers Illinois-specific NCTQ reform recommendations.
Andrew Calkins, William Guenther, Grace Belfiore, and Dave Lash
The Turnaround Challenge, from the Mass Insight Education & Research Institute, provides a detailed account of the nation�s lowest-performing schools and outlines an ambitious approach to turning them around. Presenting both comprehensive school-based reforms and large-scale community- and state-level changes, Mass Insight challenges state and local officials, school administrators, business leaders, teachers, parents, and students to act boldly to fundamentally reengineer the structures and systems of failing schools.
The issue of school funding in Illinois is prominent in politics statewide. In an effort to inform the public debate on this topic, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability has published Money Matters with two objectives: (1) to explain the state�s current school funding system and (2) to document the impacts of disparities in funding across the state.
Parents & Residents Invested in School & Education Reform (PRISE)
School reconstitution causes disruption for students and the community. Including parents and the community in the reform process is necessary in order to reduce the disruptions. Through training and opportunities for participation, parents can play a significant role in achieving the school vision. PRISE Reform looks to link academic research to lived experience and advocate for measurable reform.
If you would like to suggest additional research and/or publications to be added to the ones above, please contact us.
