Usefeul Links and Reports
This page contains links to a variety of websites from organizations and associations dedicated to improving education in our country.
Alliance for Excellent Education
The Alliance for Excellent Education is a national policy and advocacy organization that works to make every child a high school graduate, focusing on at-risk secondary school students in the lowest achievement quartile. This website offers publications and materials about accountability, achievement gaps, work readiness, dropout rates, national standards and school improvement.
American Diploma Project, hosted by Achieve, Inc.
The American Diploma Project (ADP) is an initiative managed by Achieve, Inc., created to ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared to face the challenges of work and college. 34 states, including Colorado, currently participate in the network.
ACT, Research and Policy Issues
This website offers policy reports, issue briefs and case studies generated by the American College Testing Program (ACT), an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides more than a hundred assessment, research, information, and program management services in the broad areas of education and workforce development.
American Association of School Administrators Publisher of “The School Administrator” magazine
The American Association of School Administrators website offers career and professional development information for school administrators as well as reports on legislation, advocacy campaigns, and links to state associations. It also offers the current issue of “The School Administrator” magazine.
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
The American Federation of Teachers website provides information on teacher salary trends, legislative action campaigns, and publications/reports including “American Teacher” monthly newspaper and “American Educator” quarterly magazine.
America's Promise Alliance is a cross-sector partnership of businesses, organizations and advocacy groups that are passionate about improving lives and changing outcomes for children. One of the organization's top priorities is ensuring that all young people graduate from high school ready for college, work and life. This website offers information on their “Five Promises” and research and reports supporting the Alliance's work.
American School Counselor Association
The American School Counselor Association website provides career and professional development resources for professional counselors as well as information for parents and school administrators.
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) provides information to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers working on youth and education issues at the national, state, and local levels. The website offers information briefs and publications on topics related to: education, youth development & community involvement, and preparation for careers & workforce development.
Association for Career and Technical Education
This website of the Association for Career and Technical Education offers research, legislative updates, promising CTE practices and state CTE profiles. It also includes links to student CTE organizations and online forums for discussions.
California Dropout Research Project
The California Dropout Research Project (CDRP) was established in December 2006 to inform policymakers, educators and the general public about the nature of the dropout crisis in California and help the state develop a meaningful policy agenda to address the problem. The website offers research, statistics and policy briefs about dropout rates in California. It also includes links to additional reports and organizations related to research or advocacy regarding dropouts on the national level.
Career Academy Support Network
The Career Academy Support Network (CASN), begun in 1998, is a center based at the University of California, Berkeley. Housed in the Graduate School of Education, the center focuses on high school reform, and in particular supports the growth and improvement of Small Learning Communities (SLCs) and Career Academies (CAs), which many high schools are using to prepare students for college and careers.
The Center for Public Education
This Web site contains a collection of resources on the use of “growth” models for education accountability, organized primarily into these categories:
- Why are policymakers talking about growth models?
- What are the different types of growth models?
- What is needed to implement a growth model?
- What are the limitations of growth models?
- How can growth models be used effectively?
Additional references and summaries of NCLB growth model pilots are also included.
Civic Enterprises is a public policy firm that helps develop and spearhead innovative public policies to strengthen our communities and country. The website offers reports and policy briefs on various topics, including “On the Front Lines of Schools: Perspectives of Teachers and Principals on the High School Dropout Problem,” Grad Nation: A Guidebook to Help Communities Tackle The Dropout Crisis,” and “One Dream, Two Realities: Perspectives of Parents on America's High Schools”
Community College Research Center
The Community College Research Center at Teacher's College, Columbia University, conducts research on major issues affecting community colleges in the United States. This website offers research reports in the following areas: Data-Driven Reform, Developmental Education, Education/Career Transitions, and Workforce Education.
The ConnectEd website is hosted by the California Center for College and Career. It provides information about the Coalition for Multiple Pathways, curriculum and policy in California.
Council for Exceptional Children
This website contains a collection of resources on a variety of teacher support facets, including collaboration, co-teaching, instructional strategies, networking and more. While the main audience is special education teachers, the majority of the content is applicable across disciplines.
Council of Chief State School Officers
This website, which is targeted to Chief State School Officers, offers descriptions of projects in areas such as: accountability, assessments, early childhood, and standards, indicators and reporting. It also includes links to state education agencies.
This website provides information on initiatives promoted by The Council on Competitiveness, a nonprofit group of CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders working to ensure U.S. prosperity. One area of particular emphasis by the Council is workforce skills.
The Education Alliance at Brown University: The Knowledge Loom
The Knowledge Loom is a place for educators worldwide to do the following:
- review research that identifies promising practices related to various themes
- view stories about the practices in real schools/districts
- learn to replicate the success of these practices
- add their own stories and knowledge to the collections
- discover supporting organizations and resources, including annotated Web links
ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually. In addition, they conduct educational research, analysis and policy studies. This website offers information about the tests ETS offers as well as research reports and resources for test takers and parents.
Education Sector is an independent think tank whose mission is to promote changes in policy and practice that lead to improved student opportunities and outcomes. This website provides research, analysis, and issue papers on many educational topics, including: Educational Choice and Charter Schools, K-12 Accountability Systems/NCLB, Teacher Quality, Curriculum and Instruction, Education and the Economy/Competitiveness, and Education Finance.
The Ed Trust is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to make schools and colleges work for all of the young people they serve. This website offers information on the Trust's initiatives as well as resources related to data, policy, and professional development.
Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies, Ford Motor Company Fund
This Web site describes Next Generation Learning Communities -- regional alliances of K–12 schools, businesspeople, postsecondary educators, and community leaders, mobilized to reform education and stimulate local economic development. NGLCs are guided and supported by the Ford Motor Company Fund.
High Schools That Work, Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)
The Southern Regional Education Board is a nonprofit organization that works with leaders and policy-makers in 16 member states to improve pre-K through postsecondary education. This website provides information about High Schools That Work, one of the Board's school improvement initiatives, along with other resources for education leaders and teachers.
Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW) is the non-profit, non-partisan affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ICW promotes the rigorous educational standards and effective job training systems needed to preserve the strength of America's workforce. This website provides information about ICW's initiatives and publications related to: career and technical education, workplace flexibility, K-12 reform, and employee relations and more.
International Center for Leadership in Education
The International Center is conducts research on the most pressing issues affecting schools. This website offers a number of useful tools, including:
- Rigor and Relevance Framework™
- Learning Criteria to Support 21st Century Learners™
- Components of School Excellence
- Curriculum Matrix
- National Essential Skills Study (NESS)
- White Papers
- Views You Can Use
Jobs for the Future is a nonprofit research, consulting, and advocacy organization that works to strengthen our society by creating educational and economic opportunity for those who need it most. This website provides resources related to learning and workforce development, including: community colleges, multiple pathways, and reinventing high schools.
Job Shadow Coalition & JA Worldwide
The Job Shadow Coalition launched this Web site to promote its year-round effort to introduce young people to the world of work through job shadowing experiences and provide useful information and resources for successful job shadowing efforts. It includes newsletters, links to partner organizations with additional information, and information for educators and employers.
The League for Innovation in the Community College
The League is an international organization dedicated to catalyzing the community college movement. This website offers information about the League's eight major missions related to: Technology, Learning, Leadership, Student Success, Workforce Development, Research & Practice, Resource Development, and Diversity & Equity.
This Web site provides a wide variety of information on service learning projects, including links to numerous tool kits that can aid in establishing service learning programs in education settings.
MDRC is dedicated to learning what works to improve the well-being of low-income people. This website offers policy information in the areas of: K-12 education, higher education, families and children, workers and communities, and health and barriers to employment.
National Association of Secondary School Principals
This website offers materials related to education legislation, school improvement and professional development for secondary school principals.
National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future
The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) challenges the nation to provide every child in America with 21st century teaching. This website offers information related to various topics, including: learning teams, achievement gaps, and teacher turnover.
National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center)
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality provides information on several different teacher quality issues. Resources available on this website include research syntheses, webcasts, online resources, and other content-rich documents on many topics, including: No Child Left Behind, special education, teacher recruitment and retention, and at-risk schools.
The National High School Alliance (HS Alliance) is a partnership of nearly fifty organizations sharing a common commitment to promoting the excellence, equity, and development of high school-age youth. This website provides resources related to: personalized learning environments, empowered educators, accountable leaders, academic engagement of all students, engaged community and youth, and integrated system of high standards, curriculum, instruction, assessments and support.
The National High School Center is a central source of information and expertise on high school improvement issues for the Regional Comprehensive Centers. This website provides access to tools, products, and research on high school improvement issues, including: community engagement, innovation and improvement, and dropout prevention.
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE)
The NRCCTE works to improve the engagement, achievement, and transition of high school and postsecondary CTE students through technical assistance to states, professional development for CTE practitioners, and dissemination of knowledge derived from scientifically based research. This website offers publications and resources related to CTE, as well as links to other resources and organizations.
Created in 2003 by the Office of the Governor of North Carolina and the Education Cabinet with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, NCNSP and school districts and educators have started more than 100 innovative high schools.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
The Partnership encourages schools, districts and states to advocate for the infusion of 21st century skills into education. This website provides tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change.
The Pathways to College Network
The Pathways to College Network is an alliance of national organizations committed to advancing college access and success for underserved students. This website offers a College Planning Resource Directory as well as reports related to college access, readiness, and success.
Phi Delta Kappan (PDK) is a member-based association for educators. This website offers access to the association's professional journals and magazines.
The Principals’ Partnership is a program designed to assist principals in selected Union Pacific communities to meet their leadership needs and professional growth objectives. This website provides research and professional tools related to the Partnership's mission.
National Center on Education and the Economy
The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) is dedicated to providing the policies, tools and technical assistance the nation needs to lead the world in education and training. NCEE sponsored the Skills Commission and the report “Tough Choices or Tough Times.” http://skillscommission.org/executive.htm
Skills2Compete is a non-partisan campaign to ensure our workforce has skills needed to meet business demand, foster innovation, and grow broadly shared prosperity. This website offers state statistics and research reports related to skills and the economy.
The Small Schools Project, part of the Coalition of Essential Schools Northwest, promotes the development of small schools committed to:
- Rigorous, relevant learning experiences for students
- Powerful relationships that support student learning
The State Scholars Initiative (SSI) is a national program that motivates students to complete a rigorous course of study in high school, with the goal of better preparing them for success in postsecondary education or training, as well as in their future careers.
State Higher Education Executive Officers
This website is geared to higher education executive officers but also offers state quick facts sheets and the SHEEO Online Access to Resources (SOAR), an innovative SHEEO product designed to support postsecondary education research and policy analysis. SOAR provides access to quality data and policy sources. Through a series of sourcebooks, it organizes and describes diverse resource materials, provides hotlinks to original materials, and allows users to search in different ways.
WestEd is a research, development, and service agency that works to promote excellence, equity and improved learning. This website provides information about WestEd's programs and research in various areas, including: assessment & standards, early childhood, school and district improvement, and special education.
Workforce Strategy Center (WSC)
WSC works with state and national leaders to develop effective education and employment policies that complement one another in order to better align public resources. This website offers a toolkit to assist groups with gap analysis, career pathways planning, implementation and continuous improvement. It also provides publications on various topics, including: career pathways and workforce development policy.
This website, maintained by the Corporation for Educational Technology and funded by the Indiana General Assembly through the Indiana Department of Education, contains: practice to learn holistic writing assessment using ISTEP+ and Blackburn-Cramp, authentic writing samples from grades K-12 and access to writing resources and Indiana research on instruction.