Quality of Professional Practice

School improvement efforts in the U.S. should focus on rethinking the use of time.

In this study a representative sample of 880 elementary and secondary teachers currently teaching in 33 schools across the state of Arizona were asked about their perceptions of how their ELL students were faring under current instructional policies for ELL students.

Will state and federal testing programs advance the goal of school readiness for all children?

The widespread and systematic use of standardized observation in classrooms from pre-kindergarten to third grade has the potential to address major shortcomings in educational services provided to young children.

This article is reprinted from the March/April 2007 issue of the Harvard Education Letter.

In Building a Science of Classrooms, Hamre, Pianta, Mashburn, and Downer present a scientific framework to assess classroom quality from PreK through Third Grade.

Phillips, Gormley, and Lowenstein compare and contrast characteristics of Tulsa UPK classrooms to a sample of state-funded PK classrooms in seven states in Classroom Quality and Time Allocation in Tulsa’s Early Childhood Programs.

The final report of the National Early Childhood Accountability Task Force, Taking Stock: Assessing and Improving Early Childhood Learning and Program Quality, recommends developing a comprehensive assessment system to improve child outcomes.