Last month, I traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to conduct a unique, mixed-methods study of metacognitive skills at the International Baccalaureate (IB) World Student Conference. I surveyed global citizenship levels among IB Diploma Programme students from 19 nations who attended the weeklong, project-based learning experience. I conducted two diverse focus groups: one with students representing eight…
Doesn’t it seem that the faster we run, the further behind we get and that the more we have to do, the less we get done? And that the “flatter” the world becomes with increased globalization, the more bridges we need? Attending the Education Commission of the States (ECS) 2015 National Forum on Education Policy…
Dr. Charis McGaughy, a former EPIC director, and Dr. Andrea Venezia, a current EPIC board member, have just published Supporting the Dream: High School-College Partnerships for College and Career Readiness. The book, …
Ross Anderson, senior lead researcher at EPIC, penned an article for Eugene’s Register-Guard about ArtCore, a new arts education program to be implemented in five Lane County Schools, through a partnership between EPIC, Lane Arts Council, the Springfield Public Schools, and others. This article originally appeared in the Register Guard but has since been archived:…
In 2014, Washington State’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction contracted EPIC to facilitate the creation of course equivalent frameworks in mathematics and/or science for 20 of the state’s career and technical education (CTE) courses. EPIC prepared recommendations for course equivalency based on the group work and EPIC’s assessment of the balance of depth and…
I recently had the opportunity to travel throughout South Carolina, leading workshops in Columbia, Charleston, and Rock Hill with my colleagues Rachel Farkas and Greg Hopper-Moore. The workshops were held in conjunction with the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and the Center of Excellence for College and Career Readiness at Francis Marion University. The workshops…
Michael Brosnan interviews organizational expert Jim Collins about his research on educational leadership.
In 2012, California Senate Bill 1458 added a measure of college and career preparedness to the Academic Performance Index (API). The Public Schools Accountability Act Advisory Committee was charged with making recommendations to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education regarding measures that could serve as indicators of college and career preparedness at the high school level. EPIC was commissioned to evaluate potential measures identified by the Committee.
The goal of this paper is to present a vision for a new system of educational assessment, one designed to support the kinds of ambitious teaching and learning that parents say they want for their children. Thankfully, the public schools do not have to create such a system from scratch—many schools already exhibit effective practices upon which others can build. For that to happen though, educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders must be willing to adopt new ways of thinking about the role of assessment in education.
The author suggests five ways to handle tough, necessary conversations.