Education First’s resource library offers curated resources, toolkits, policy memos and templates that have served our clients around the country and are now available to support you. Use these resources to guide your strategic planning, to stay fresh on hot-topic reform areas, to improve your planning and implementation at the state or local levels and to inform grantmaking strategies and investments in areas that will improve student outcomes. Don’t see something you need? Contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
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What Does a High-Quality Assessment Look Like?
As states transition to new college- and career-ready standards, leaders need to be sure that the assessments they choose not only reflect those standards, but...
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Common Core in the Districts: An Early Look at Early Implementers
This report, written in partnership with the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, provides a close look at how four pioneering districts are striving to put the...
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Targeting Growth: Using Student Learning Objectives as a Measure of Educator Effectiveness
Student learning objectives (SLOs) are specific learning goals for a group of students that teachers in non-tested grades and subjects can use to measure student...
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Student Learning Objective (SLO) Library
Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) are content- and grade/course-specific learning goals that educators can use to measure what students learn over a period of time. In...
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Engaging Educators: A Reform Support Network Guide for States and Districts
States and districts need to engage educators as they develop, implement and improve reforms. Unfortunately too often educators are engaged too late, once the reforms...
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Implementation of the Common Core State Standards: A Transition Guide for School-level Leaders
In this guide we outline a set of indicators for school-level success in implementing the Common Core State Standards. We found that high-quality transition plans...
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Educator Evaluation Communications Toolkit
We developed this toolkit to provide state leaders with tools and resources on how to better communicate about educator evaluation systems with key audiences, with...
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Promoting Evaluation Rating Accuracy: Strategic Options for States
In this publication we summarize the findings of a group of state leaders, district officials, school leaders and teachers and external experts as they examine...
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Making High-Quality Teacher Evaluation Manageable
Written as many Race to the Top states were fully implementing new educator evaluation system, this guide proposes a framework for engaging teachers in evaluation...
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Moving Forward: A National Perspective on States’ Progress In Common Core State Standards Implementation Planning
In this report, we examine the readiness of all 50 states and the District of Columbia in three areas related to Common Core State Standards...
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Common Core State Standards Tool for Legislators
In this tool we provide a set of questions legislators can ask to know if their state is on track with both implementation of the...
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The Path to Scale: Ideas for Navigating Non-Profit Growth
In 2012 we worked with the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation to organize a two-day session to help education grantees learn more about...
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Making Oregon a Great Place to Teach: Recommendations from Oregon’s Distinguished Educators
We collaborated with a group of award-winning Oregon teachers and The Chalkboard Project to identify steps for supporting and strengthening teaching in the state. We...
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Engaging Higher Education in College Readiness Reforms: A Practical Guide for States
As more and more states adopt college and career ready standards, K-12 and higher education collaboration will no longer be a choice, it will be...
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Common Core State Standards Implementation Rubric and Self-Assessment Tool
We partnered with Achieve to develop this self-assessment tool for state leaders to gauge the strength of their plans to implement Common Core State Standards....
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Transition to TEAM: First-Year Reflections on Implementing a New Teacher Evaluation System in Tennessee
In 2011, Tennessee became one of the first states to implement a comprehensive teacher evaluation system: The Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM). In this brief...
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Preparing for Change: A National Perspective on Common Core State Standards Implementation Planning
This report details the progress many states made during the first year of Common Core State Standards implementation. Drawing on survey data we collected from...
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Year 1 Race to the Top in Massachusetts: An Education Progress Report
In 2010 Massachusetts received a $250 million award through the federal government’s Race to the Top education grant competition. The following year we collaborated with...
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Embracing Change: How Outside Support Can Set Low Performing Schools on the Path to Success
States and districts are under increased pressure to turn low-performing schools around. In this paper, we review research on how experienced external partners and experts...
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Organizational Growth and Change Management: Emerging Challenges and Lessons Learned
In 2011, we worked with the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation to organize a day-long session to help education grantees probe the specific...
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Building to Scale: Best Practices for Using Evaluation to Improve Programs and Increase Impact
In 2010 we organized a day-long session for the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation to help their education grantees develop plans for quantifying...
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Promising Practices in Accountability: Report to the Chalkboard Project, Confederation of Oregon School Administrators, Oregon Business Association, and Stand for Children
In this report we synthesize promising practices in state accountability systems and identify states making progress by implementing these practices effectively. We compare those identified...
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Conflicting Missions and Unclear Results: Lessons from the Education Stimulus Funds
Federal stimulus spending for both economic recovery and education reform has not matched its ambitious intent. In this paper, we explore how the unprecedented flow...
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Challenges and Considerations in Scaling Nonprofit Organizations
In 2009, we organized a day-long session for the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation to give their grantees the opportunity to think deeply...
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