NWCC Newsletter
REL Northwest at Education Northwest in partnership with Washington STEM released a video demonstrating two evidence-based strategies for reducing elementary students’ math anxiety. Math anxiety affects day-to-day math performance and can keep students away from entire career paths.
REL Northwest at Education Northwest hosted a webinar looking at some of the challenges in rural education and the promise of educator networks as a response to those challenges. It explores successes and challenges of three networks in the country: The Northwest Rural Innovation and Student Engagement Network, the Vermont Rural Partnership, and the Ohio Appalachian Collaborative. Network leaders and members discuss promoting cross-district collaboration through job-alike groups, student engagement through place-based learning, and college and career preparation through personalized learning pathways.
The Center on Innovations in Learning (CIL) released a guide divided into two sections; the first covering evidence-based ratings for effective practices and the second offering briefs on effective practices. The strength of evidence ratings is intended to provide a broad snapshot of the degree to which each effective practice area is supported by high-quality research. John Hattie’s effect-size results are included where appropriate to provide further information on the strength of evidence in each area. These ratings are not intended to correspond to the evidence ratings provided by the U.S. Department of Education and should not be used as a guide for evaluating interventions.
The section on evidence-based ratings for effective practices covers numerous categories, including School Leadership and Decision-Making; Curriculum and Instruction; Classroom Instruction; Personalized Learning (including Digital Learning, Blended Learning, Cognitive Competency, Metacognitive Competency, Motivational Competency, and Social/Emotional Competency); Family Engagement in a School Community; Preschool Early Learning; High School: Leadership and Decision-Making; and High School: Opportunity to Learn.
The final section, offering briefs on effective practices, drills down to specific practices that have been shown to be effective in increasing student learning. Each effective practice includes an overview, questions for evaluating the practice already in place, indicators to support the effective practice, and an extensive reference list.
The Center on School Turnaround (CST) released a report highlighting what The University of Virginia Partnership for Leaders in Education (UVA/PLE) researchers and field team members have learned from a project examining how districts prioritizing their lowest-performing schools attract and recruit high-potential candidates for principalships and teaching positions. The report also describes what was learned from the project in terms of districts’ strategic and innovative approaches for identifying the fit between an applicant and a school and for supporting talent in the long term. Along with illustrative stories of promising practices from schools and districts engaged in strategic talent development, recommendations are provided based on the project’s findings regarding concrete steps and actions districts and states can take to support innovative and effective talent development in low-performing schools.
The Center on School Turnaround (CST) released a paper delving into the TSI (Targeted Support and Improvement) designation, drawing out some lessons learned from prior education reform work, and makes the case for providing support to TSI schools that is differentiated according to the particular needs of different schools and districts.
The Center on Standards & Assessment Implementation (CSAI) in collaboration with the College and Career Readiness and Success Center and the Midwest Comprehensive Center released the Standards Review and Revision Toolkit (“Toolkit”). The Toolkit includes information, examples, and associated resources to help state education agencies (SEAs) execute a research- and best practices-based standards review and revision process. SEAs may utilize the Toolkit as a whole, or reference discrete stages as their context require. The Toolkit stages may be utilized in succession to guide an entire standards review/revision process or, depending upon the needs of the SEA, may be referred to independently.
RAND released a report discussing the opportunities for supporting social and emotional learning (SEL) under ESSA, the standards of evidence under ESSA, and SEL interventions that meet the standards of evidence and might be eligible for federal funds through ESSA. Federal, state, and district education policymakers can use this report to identify relevant, evidence-based SEL interventions that meet their local needs. A companion volume (available on the website) catalogues these interventions in more detail and outlines the research that has examined them.
New America released a report calling for reforms to our apprenticeship and higher education systems to foster greater collaboration between the two while laying a foundation upon which apprenticeship programs could spread across a range of career fields. The recommendations include strategies for designing and delivering "degree apprenticeships" and for facilitating greater participation by colleges and universities in our national apprenticeship system.
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