Report Round-up: May 25, 2012

Need some reading for the long weekend? Here are some of the most recently released reports that caught our eye!

Common Core State Standards & Career and Technical Education: Bridging the Divide between College and Career Readiness – Achieve, the Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE), and the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc)

This report lays out a blueprint for increased engagement between state education leaders and the career and technical education (CTE) community.

The Condition of Education 2012 – U.S. Department of Education

The Condition of Education (COE) is a congressionally mandated annual report that summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available statistics. The Condition of Education 2012 contains 49 indicators, plus a Closer Look.

The Broadband Imperative: Recommendations to Address K-12 Education Infrastructure Needs – State Educational Technology Directors Association

This report concludes that it will take a concerted national effort to expand broadband access to students both in and out of school in the coming years. Four recommendations are offered to spur that effort.

Searching for the Reality of Virtual Schools – The Center for Public Education

In this report, the Center for Public Education describes various ways digital learning is offered to students, from individual online courses to full-time virtual schools. In addition, they examine current state and district policies that govern its administration, including funding and accountability; and they discuss what is known — and more importantly, what is not known — about the effect of online learning on student outcomes. They conclude with a list of questions for state and local policymakers to ask when considering policies to expand online learning.

What teacher preparation programs teach about K-12 assessment – National Council on Teacher Quality

NCTQ’s evaluation of teacher preparation programs we asked three basic questions about the coursework taken by prospective teachers:

– Does it teach them about the many types of assessment — and require that they learn how to develop at least a small share of them?
– Does it provide them with the tools to dig into assessment results on their own and with their peers to figure out what students have learned?
– Does it build their capacity to use data to map out the instructional path to take in their next lessons?

The report provides answers to these questions as well as recommendations on how all programs can improve.