Research and Policy Initiatives
Parents, educators and policymakers are better prepared to make informed decisions when presented with choices backed by data. The National Center for Educational Achievement, parent organization of Just for the Kids, presents a research agenda that continually creates a vision of what is possible in terms of student achievement.
Research areas include:
College Readiness/Career Readiness
Not only should schools develop students who meet state benchmarks, but also they should prepare all students for success in college or a skilled career. More...
Higher Performing Schools Criteria
The National Center for Educational Achievement identifies consistently higher performing schools in many states across the country. The schools identified demonstrate consistent and strong performance when compared to their demographic peers over three years and multiple tested grades. More...
Best Practices of Higher Performing Schools
Our approach to this type of research is to investigate higher performing schools systemically. We are certainly interested in what a particular school is doing to sustain its high performance, but we are equally interested in understanding the district context in which the school is situated. By presenting our results though the Best Practice Framework, we are able to describe the combination of district, school, and classroom activities-and the division of labor-that seem to contribute to schools' consistent higher performance. More...
Importance of Longitudinal Data Systems
The National Center for Educational Achievement firmly believes an accurate grasp of the current situation in American public schools is possible only with the use of longitudinal data. Data that tracks students from elementary to college gives researchers the opportunity to analyze trends, both good and bad, in education. Only by growing the types of data collected over time, will policymakers ever be presented with an opportunity to intervene in American public schools in timely and significant ways. More...
The Role of Teacher Preparation Programs
At the National Center for Educational Achievement, we believe that the opportunity to change what happens in American public schools starts in the teacher preparation programs. Close examination of program practices and graduates' performance in the classroom can be utilized to make improvements in those programs. These improvements will lead to highly qualified and prepared teachers for all students, no matter the circumstance. More...
2002-2005 Broad Prize for Urban Education
The Broad Prize for Urban Education is an annual $1 million award created and funded by The Broad Foundation to honor urban school districts making the greatest overall improvement in student achievement while at the same time reducing achievement gaps across ethnic groups and between high- and low-income students. More...
The Data Quality Campaign
The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) is a national, collaborative effort to encourage and support state policymakers to improve the collection, availability, and use of high-quality education data, and to implement state longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement.
The campaign aims to provide tools and resources that will assist states in their development of quality longitudinal data systems, while also providing a national forum for reducing duplication of effort and promoting greater coordination and consensus among the organizations focusing on improving data quality, access, and use.