Center for Standards, Assessment, and Accountability

Grade Level: Early Learning

Deeper Learning: Policies for a 21st Century Education

From the Introduction: “This report is aimed at supporting state boards of education that are working on providing significantly more students with deeper learning opportunities and facilitating board-level conversations on key related topics. The report provides foundational principles that underlie deeper learning, explores issues, provides state examples, and includes worksheets that boards can use to facilitate […]

Moving from Compliance to Agency: What Teachers Need to Make Professional Learning Work

This resource reports on research conducted by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) and Learning Forward. It seeks to uncover the reasons why teachers’ experience with professional learning has been generally unhelpful at facilitating their classroom work that impacts student learning. In the introduction, the report states, “we have come to believe that to transform […]

A Review and Analysis of the Research on Native American Students

This article reviews recent research on the achievement gaps of Native American students compared to white, Latino, and black students, focusing primarily on empirically rigorous research studies. An important finding drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of kindergarten students (ECLS-K) is that “Native American children start kindergarten with lower reading skills than white, black, and […]

Planned Language Approach (PLA) for Early Childhood Programs

The Planned Language Approach (PLA) is a research-based system of services within an early childhood program designed to ensure high-quality, effective language and literacy instruction for dual language learners (DLLs) and children who speak only English. This website provides guides, organizational tools, and videos that can be used to develop programs, promote professional development, and […]

Dual Language Learner Toolkit

Early childhood programs must be prepared to promote positive experiences and high-quality education for dual language learners by emphasizing students’ strengths and providing individualized learning supports. This toolkit is a collection of dozens of resources for educational agencies with step-by-step guidelines for structuring our educational systems to promote home language benefits while ensuring the development […]

Supporting English Language Learners with Next-Gen Tools

This paper highlights existing technological tools that can be used to support instruction of English learners (EL). These tools fall into two categories: EL-specific products and the other communication and translation tools. The collection of technological tools highlighted in this paper was developed through interviewing over 25 experienced EL practitioners, experts, education technology leaders and thought leaders across the United States. In […]