In recent years the number of states launching research and development initiatives on through-year assessments has multiplied as states hope to address long-standing concerns about traditional summative assessments by measuring student performance multiple times over the school year instead of...
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Current systems of summative assessment have not served the needs of all students, families and teachers. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, school systems across the country face new assessment challenges. One promising innovation is through-year assessments. The idea is this:...
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How important are standard assessments? It depends on who you ask. Teachers generally agree that testing is important—but also that traditional bubble-sheet exams can feel more like an interruption than a key component of inquiry-based teaching and learning. Families want...
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What do Spotify, Fitbit and Venmo share in common? They were created via a human-centered design¹. Soon to join that list: student assessments; that is, student assessments crafted via an equitable human-centered design. In our previous blog, “Designing for Equity:...
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“When was the last time you were at a gathering and the ‘subjects’ of a study talked about it in glowing terms, because the research helped the practical work?”—Rami Nashashibi¹ At Education First, we work closely with systems leaders to...
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This case study details the Opportunity Schools initiative, Chicago Public Schools’ effort to address teacher recruitment and retention issues in its hardest to staff schools. At the heart of Opportunity Schools is a commitment to equity—ensuring that students in these...
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To the new teachers out there, are you: Excited about what this year will bring and courageously making an entrance into the education arena for the purpose of serving today’s youth? Vowing personally to provide the utmost professionalism possible whether...
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Over the past three years, Education First has been working with a diverse group of family math researchers, practitioners, parents and funders to build a movement designed to grow awareness about the importance of early math for students’ success in...
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