NASBE’s State Education Standard Analyzes Ways to Align a Standards-Based System

For Immediate Release: May 10, 2017

Contact: Renée Rybak Lang, renee.lang@nasbe.org, 703-740-4841

NASBE’s State Education Standard Analyzes Ways to Align a Standards-Based System

Alexandria, VA – The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gives state boards of education an opportunity to reevaluate, improve, and align policies that ensure high levels of learning for all students. The new issue of NASBE’s journal The State Education Standard explores the ways state boards of education can align education policies to student learning standards to drive a comprehensive system of improvement for all schools.

NASBE’s Robert Hull and Don Long put standards-based reform in historical context, arguing that ESSA in many respects returns education governance and reform to its roots. Morgan Polikoff, associate professor of education at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, offers five attributes state policymakers will want to consider in making changes to their accountability policies.

The issue also includes articles on the efforts of state boards, state education agencies, and districts to align aspects of their education systems with learning standards. John Smithson of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research describes fascinating research and tools that enable North Carolina and Michigan to determine the degree to which classroom instruction lines up with learning standards and state assessments. Virginia State Board Member Diane Atkinson describes the board’s collaborative efforts to create a “Profile of a Graduate,” which the board believes can prepare Virginia students better for life and work.

Douglas Anthony and Pamela Shetley revisit the efforts of Prince George’s County Public Schools to ensure that standards for what their urban district leaders are expected to know agree with student expectations, as well as state and national leadership standards.

University of Pittsburgh’s Jennifer Russell and her colleagues lay out a Tennessee initiative for training and deploying coaches statewide to scale up improvements in teaching math. Learning Forward’s Stephanie Hirsh details how state boards can equip teachers to help students meet high standards by establishing and promoting a vision for learning systems in all schools.

Read the  full May 2017 issue  of The State Education Standard and individual articles here.

The National Association of State Boards of Education represents America’s state and territorial boards of education. Our principal objectives are to strengthen state leadership in education policymaking, advocate equality of access to educational opportunity, promote excellence in the education of all students, and ensure responsible lay governance of education. Learn more at www.nasbe.org.

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