This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Mina Dadgar, Kim Austin, Richard M. Cangro, Susan Mundry, Martin R. West, James A. Maher, Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver, Kathy Reeves Bracco, Karin E. Lange, and Marie Broek.
(2014). easyCBM Norms. 2014 Edition. Technical Report #1409, Behavioral Research and Teaching. Previous norms for the easyCBM assessment system were computed using scores from all students who took each measure for every grade and benchmark season (fall, winter, and spring). During the 2013-¬14 school year, new national norms were developed to more accurately (proportionately) represent reading and mathematics performance by two variables: region and student demographic. Five hundred students were proportionately and randomly sampled from each of four regions of the country (Midwest, West, Northeast, and Southeast). Percentiles by region are displayed in tables at the top of each page (pp. 15-¬170) for every season, grade, and measure available on easyCBM. To assist in navigating through all of the tables in the document, each page contains a heading at the top right listing the season, grade, and measure. In addition, the index of all measures found on pages 6¬-7 serves as a guide through the document. A set of norms using a stratified random sample of students by gender and ethnicity-race (white female, white male, non-white female, non-white male) was also developed. Race and ethnicity were aggregated, as the count of students with complete data for both categories was insufficient for disaggregation. In this process, Hispanic students were counted as "non-¬white" even when lacking a race designation other than "white." Ethnicity-¬race codes from the most recent Common Core Data published by the National Center on Education Statistics (2010-¬11) were used in this process. Like the norms developed by region, these norms based on gender and ethnicity-¬race are displayed in tables at the bottom of each page by season, grade, and measure. In order to provide a deeper look at scores for every region and/or gender¬-ethnicity-¬race included in the norming process, tables providing summary statistics (mean and standard deviation) for each region and each demographic group included in the stratified random samples used to generate norms are included at the center of each page. All the literacy norms included in this document were calculated based on score values present in 2012¬-2013. The mathematics measures changed for 2013-2014, so the norms for both the CCSS [Common Core State Standards] and NCTM [National Council of Teachers of Mathematics] aligned math measures were calculated using 2013-¬2014 data. For those who seek a more detailed explanation of how all norms were calculated, a detailed explanation is included in a technical report along with the norm summary tables on pages 8-¬14. This document serves as an extension of the summary tables presented in that section. [More] Descriptors: Curriculum Based Assessment, Test Norms, Geographic Regions, Sex
(2012). History Lessons Blend Content Knowledge, Literacy, Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review. For years, educators have been trying to free history instruction from the mire of memorization and propel it with the kinds of inquiry that drive historians themselves. The common core standards may offer more impetus for districts and schools to adopt that brand of instruction. A study of one such approach suggests that it can yield a triple academic benefit: deepen students' content knowledge, help them think like historians, and build reading comprehension. The Reading Like a Historian program, 75 free secondary school lessons in U.S. history, is getting attention as teachers adapt to the Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts. Those guidelines, adopted by all but four states, demand that teachers of all subjects help students learn to master challenging nonfiction and build strong arguments based on evidence. Searching for ways to teach those literacy skills across the curriculum, while building content knowledge and thinking skills, some educators have turned to that program. Designed under the tutelage of history educator Sam Wineburg, it has been downloaded from the website of the research project he directs, the Stanford History Education Group, more than 330,000 times in the past two and a half years. Teachers trained in the approach focus heavily on four key skills: (1) "sourcing," to gauge how authors' viewpoints and reasons for writing affect their accounts of events; (2) "contextualization," to get a full picture of what was happening at the time; (3) "corroboration," to help students sort out contradictory anecdotes and facts; and (4) "close reading," to help them absorb text slowly and deeply, parsing words and sentences for meaning. [More] Descriptors: History Instruction, Content Area Reading, Literacy, Thinking Skills
(2014). Core Leadership: Teacher Leaders and Common Core Implementation in Tennessee. In the summer of 2012, thousands of teachers across the United States attended several days of professional development workshops. The workshops, which focused on the Common Core State Standards, were part of a Tennessee Department of Education initiative in teacher leadership. The department recruited and trained 200 highly-effective teachers to guide its implementation of the new, more rigorous academic framework, and 13,000 educators learned from these "Core Coaches" in the summer of 2012. The coaches also served as resources for their schools, districts, and regions during the school year. When describing the Core Coach initiative, Tennessee education officials and practitioners paint a picture of cyclical reform. By empowering a select group of coaches to lead the Common Core implementation, the state sought to build a pool of instructional leaders who could support other teachers while becoming better teachers themselves, as well as more influential leaders. Along the way, the thinking went, they would help more and more teachers improve as well, resulting in improved instructional quality across the state. The state's experience highlights the opportunities and challenges of leveraging teacher leadership to drive state-level change. To assist system administrators as they pursue their own teacher leadership initiatives, this profile from Leading Educators and the Aspen Institute details the steps Tennessee took to design and implement its Common Core Coach initiative. Specifically, it examines the initiative's opportunities and challenges within the context of a blueprint for teacher leadership. That blueprint provides a guide for implementing teacher leadership that advances student achievement, and it highlights key phases for system administrators to navigate as they leverage teacher leadership to address their highest priorities. Phases include: (1) Designing for Impact; (2) Leaders are advised to know their content; (3) Measures should be clearly defined before implementation; and (4) Systems should build strategically by designing clear teacher leader roles and responsibilities. Central to the blueprint is the idea that effective teacher leadership marries form with function in order to create transformative change in schools.[This paper would not be possible without the writing and editing contributions of Walter Stern, Chong-Hao Fu, Maria Bourgeois, and Steph Bates.] [More] Descriptors: Teacher Leadership, State Standards, Program Implementation, Capacity Building
(2014). Gliding into Understanding, Science and Children. A rich science learning experience not only captures students' attention but also motivates them to investigate and solve problems and investigate how scientists carry out their work. This article describes how secondary science coordinator Patrick Brown's found success teaching students the nature of science by engaging them in tried-and-true investigation of paper airplanes (Silvis 2010). The paper airplane investigation relates to students' personal experiences and interests and cultivates enthusiasm by allowing students to develop ideas about forces, motion, and interactions, supporting "NGSS" standard 3-PS2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions (NGSS Lead States 2013). This focus on a third-grade disciplinary core idea and performance expectation was based on preassessments of student knowledge. The students held incomplete views of the forces acting on objects in motion. As a strategy for heightening interest and engagement, teachers can use the 5E instructional model (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate). The 5E model is beneficial for students because it highlights the importance of exploratory opportunities before explanations (Bybee 1997). Students that master this content can "Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object" (3-PS2-1). As students progress through activities, they use the eight "NGSS" scientific and engineering practices, especially Asking Questions and Defining Problems, Planning and Carrying Out Investigations, and Engaging in Argument From Evidence, and the crosscutting concept Patterns (NGSS Lead States 2013). Finally, the lesson includes many chances to bridge "Common Core State Standards" ("CCSS") for Literacy and Mathematical Practices (NGAC and CCSSO 2010) with science content. As a result of the combined 5E and "NGSS" focus on the paper airplane activity, students developed deeper conceptual understanding and a greater ability to perform controlled science experiments for the remainder of the school year. [More] Descriptors: Science Instruction, Scientific Principles, Hands on Science, Physics
(2014). Teachers versus the Public: What Americans Think about Schools and How to Fix Them, Brookings Institution Press. A comprehensive exploration of 21st Century school politics, "Teachers versus the Public" offers the first comparison of the education policy views of both teachers and the public as a whole, and reveals a deep, broad divide between the opinions held by citizens and those who teach in the public schools. Among the findings: (1) Divisions between teachers and the public are wider and deeper than differences between other groups often thought to contest school policy, such as Republicans and Democrats, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, or African Americans and whites; (2) The teacher-public gap is widest on such issues as merit pay, teacher tenure reform, impact of teacher unions, school vouchers, charter schools, and requirements to test students annually; (3) Public support for school vouchers for all students, charter schools, and parent trigger laws increases sharply when people are informed of the national ranking of student performance in their local school district; (4) Public willingness to give local schools high marks, its readiness to support higher spending levels, and its support for teacher unions all decline when the public learns the national ranking of their local schools; and (5) On most issues, teacher opinion does not change in response to new information nearly as much as it does for the public as a whole. In fact, the gap between what teachers and the public think about school reform grows even wider when both teachers and the public are given more information about current school performance, current expenditure levels, and current teacher pay. The book provides the first experimental study of public and teacher opinion. Using a recently developed research strategy, the authors ask differently worded questions about the same topic to randomly chosen segments of representative groups of citizens. This approach allows them to identify the impact on public opinion of new information on issues such as student performance and school expenditures in each respondent's community. The changes in public opinion when citizens receive information about school performance are largest in districts that perform below the national average. Altogether, the results indicate that support for many school reforms would increase if common core state standards were established and implemented in such a way as to inform the public about the quality of their local schools. These and many other findings illuminate the distance between teacher opinions and those of the public at large. In partnership with the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance and the journal, "Education Next," the authors surveyed nationally representative samples of teachers and the public as a whole annually between 2007 and 2013. [More] Descriptors: Public Opinion, Educational Attitudes, Educational Change, Public Schools
(2014). Historical Fiction, the Common Core, and Disciplinary Habits of Mind, Social Education. The Common Core State Standards call for the increased presence of nonfiction in the school curriculum and for students' exposure to narratives characterized by textual complexity. At first glance, these recommendations may discourage classroom teachers from continuing the longstanding instructional practice of using historical fiction to enrich students' understanding of historical events (e.g., the American Revolution through books like Esther Forbes's "Johnny Tremain" and Christopher and James Lincoln Colliers's "My Brother Sam is Dead"), historical figures (e.g., Ben Franklin through Robert Lawson's "Ben and Me"), and historical concepts and settings (e.g., legal segregation and discrimination during the Great Depression through Mildred D. Taylor's "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" and Pam Muñoz Ryan's "Esperanza Rising"). This author states that to abandon this pedagogical practice because of the Common Core would be misguided, as research has demonstrated that historical fiction draws students into the study of the past. Unlike twenty-first century social studies textbooks, recently published historical fiction is often characterized by textual complexity. These weighty texts feature historical settings and are characterized by sophisticated vocabulary, rich intertextuality, polyphonic narration, and experimentation in form; they are far more textually complex than any textbook on the market. Moreover, they are conceptually complex, asking readers to wrestle with the often fraught relationship between historical past and contemporary present. The strongest argument for historical fiction's continued utility in social studies curricula, however, goes to the heart of the Common Core's central premise about literacy: that is, that each academic discipline approaches texts, whatever their subject or form, in distinct ways and for different purposes. The implication, of course, is that the process of learning to read well must necessarily encompass the experience of reading in a range of disciplinary modes, which is commonly called "content area literacy." [More] Descriptors: History, History Instruction, Fiction, Academic Standards
(2008). Teaching Reading Sourcebook, Second Edition, Consortium on Reading Excellence (NJ3). The "Teaching Reading Sourcebook, Second Edition" is a comprehensive reference about reading instruction. Organized according to the elements of explicit instruction (what? why? when? and how?), the "Sourcebook" includes both a research-informed knowledge base and practical sample lesson models. It teaches the key elements of an effective reading program–phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary development, fluency, and comprehension–in a practical hands-on teacher's guide. All five components correlate to the Common Core State Standards. The Sourcebook helps educators get a clear view of the current state of reading education and key literacy concepts. The teaching tips, intervention strategies, and suggestions for English learners make it a must-have for educators at every level. A list of resources, an answer key, a list of references, and an index are included. [Contributing authors include: Carrie L. Cole, Pamela Beard El-Dinary, Roxanne F. Hudson, Holly B. Lane, Jacalyn Mahler, and Paige C. Pullen.] [More] Descriptors: Intervention, Reading Programs, State Standards, Phonemic Awareness
(2012). Vision for the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Inquiry in Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for States to Use in Enhancing Their Standards for Rigor in Civics, Economics, Geography, and History in K-12 Schools. In the advent of the development and mass adoption of the common core state standards for English language arts and mathematics, state and local agencies have now expressed a need to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO or the Council) for assistance as they upgrade existing social studies standards to meet the practical goal of preparing young people for effective and successful participation in college, careers, and civic life. The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework, currently under development, will ultimately focus on the disciplinary and multidisciplinary concepts and practices that make up the process of investigation, analysis, and explanation which will be informative to states interested in upgrading their social studies standards. It will include descriptions of the structure and tools of the disciplines (civics, economics, geography, and history) as well as the habits of mind common in those disciplines. The C3 Framework will also include an inquiry arc–a set of interlocking and mutually supportive ideas that frame the ways students learn social studies content. This framing and background for standards development to be covered in C3 all point to the states' collective interest in students using the disciplines of civics, economics, geography, and history as they develop questions and plan investigations; apply disciplinary concepts and tools; gather, evaluate, and use evidence; and work collaboratively and communicate their conclusions. The C3 Framework will focus primarily on inquiry and concepts, and will guide–not prescribe–the content necessary for a rigorous social studies program. This document is designed to give states and other interested parties an understanding of how the C3 Framework is being developed and designed. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Social Studies, Geography, Civics
(2014). Probability Explorations in a Multicultural Context, Mathematics Teacher. Mathematical ideas exist and develop in many different cultures. From this multicultural perspective, teachers can use a variety of approaches to acknowledge the role of culture in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Curricular materials that "emphasize both the mathematical and sociocultural aspects" not only help teachers achieve their multicultural goals in the classroom but also help both teachers and students gain a greater sensitivity to the contributions of other cultures to the evolution of mathematical ideas (Croom 1997, p. 4). NCTM's "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000) and the "Guidelines for Assessment in Statistics Education Report" (GAISE 2007) strongly emphasize the importance of all students studying probability. The concept of probability does not develop incidentally or through maturation, so students must be provided with planned probability learning experiences that include activities and simulations, not abstractions (Shaughnessy 2003). An intriguing recommendation for instruction is to use culturally diverse games to promote students' understanding of probability (Carlton and Mortlock 2005; McCoy, Buckner, and Munley 2007; Tarr 2002). Drawing on all these recommendations, the authors designed a probability lesson based on the game LuLu (Krause 2000; McCoy, Buckner, and Munley 2007). In this article they share the activity and describe the kinds of explorations that can be facilitated in any secondary school mathematics classroom. Teachers can use this activity to attend to the Common Core State Standards for statistics and probability (CCSSI 2010). Topics outlined in the standards that can be explored in the LuLu probability lesson include compound probability; use of permutations and combinations to determine compound probabilities (S-CP.9); addition and multiplication rules for probability (S-CP.7, S-CP.8); and independence and conditional probability (S-CP.2, S-CP.3). When using this activity with a group of secondary school preservice teachers, the authors implemented the lesson over three class periods, for a total of two hours. Students first worked in a small-group setting to generate experimental data and then worked together to determine the experimental and theoretical probabilities of possible outcomes. Lulu-related classroom resources can be downloaded from http:// tinyurl.com/LuLu-Investigations. [More] Descriptors: Mathematics Instruction, Cultural Differences, Cultural Influences, Social Influences
(2014). Measuring Music Education: Music Education Assessment in Illinois, Music Educators Journal. There are many assessment initiatives and policy changes happening in Illinois concerning learning and teaching expectations that involve K-12 students, teacher candidates, and current teachers. The Illinois State Board of Education has adopted new Math and English Language Arts standards for K-12 education known as the "New Illinois State Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core." The goal is to better prepare Illinois students for success in college and the workforce in a competitive global economy. As a result of the Common Core State Standards initiative, music students are experiencing new activities in their ensembles and music classes that focus on expressing ideas through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This evolving model of Common Core implementation not only adds a new dimension of teaching for music educators, but also brings new expectations in assessing student achievement. For teacher-candidates, a new portfolio assessment is being piloted and implemented through all university programs. Illinois was one of six original states to pilot the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). The edTPA is a performance and knowledge assessment for preservice teachers that gathers and uses evidence of the qualities of teaching performance to improve teaching and teacher preparation. A common thread among initiatives in education in Illinois centers on thoughtfulness and authentic learning. Charlotte Danielson, in "Framework for Teaching," states that learning activities for students may be "hands on" but they should also always be "minds-on." Applying this concept to music teaching and learning requires music educators to incorporate activities beyond performing, as advocated by the National Standards in Music, as well as the last two reports of the Nation's Report Card: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). By incorporating all three artistic processes– creating, performing, and responding–a portfolio of student achievement in music can then be developed and assessed. In turn, this portfolio of music achievement can realistically address all three topics in this article–edTPA, Common Core Standards, and teacher evaluation based on the Danielson framework. [More] Descriptors: Music Education, State Standards, Teacher Evaluation, Student Evaluation
(2014). Putting Growth and Value-Added Models on the Map: A National Overview, Teachers College Record. Background: Within the last few years, the focus on educational accountability has shifted from holding students responsible for their own performance to holding those shown to impact student performance responsible–students' teachers. Encouraged and financially incentivized by federal programs, states are becoming ever more reliant on statistical models used to measure students' growth or value added and are attributing such growth (or decline) to students' teachers of record. As states continue to join the growth and value-added model movement, it is difficult to find inclusive resources documenting the types of models used and plans for each state. Objective: To capture state initiatives in this area, researchers collected data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia to provide others with an inclusive national growth and value-added model overview. Data yielded include information about the types of growth or value-added models used in each state, the legislature behind each state's reform efforts, the standardized tests used for growth or value-added calculations, and the strengths and weaknesses of each state's models as described by state personnel. Method: This article synthesizes qualitative and quantitative themes as identified from data collected via multiple phone interviews and emails with state department of education personnel in charge of their own state's initiatives in this area, as well as state websites. These data provide the most inclusive and up-to-date resource on national growth and value-added data usage, noting however that this is changing rapidly across the nation, given adjustments in policies, pieces of legislation, and the like. Conclusions: Findings from this study provide a one-stop resource on what each state has in place or in development regarding growth or value-added model use as a key component of its state-based teacher evaluation systems. Despite widespread use, however, not one state has yet articulated a plan for formative data use by teachers. Federal and state leaders seem to assume that implementing growth and value-added models leads to simultaneous data use by teachers. In addition, state representatives expressed concern that the current emphasis on growth and value-added models could be applied to only math and English/language arts teachers with state standardized assessments (approximately 30% of all teachers). While some believe the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and its associated tests will help to alleviate such issues with fairness, more research is needed surrounding (the lack of) fairness and formative use associated with growth and value-added models. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Achievement Gains, Teacher Effectiveness, Models
(2012). Text and Truth: Reading, Student Experience, and the Common Core, Phi Delta Kappan. One of the rumors making the rounds of K-12 educators goes something like this: The Common Core State Standards do not allow "prereading"–the pedagogical practice meant to help students better understand a text they are about to read–or for that matter any classroom activities that contextualize a text through outside sources. The interesting part of the rumor is not the rumor itself: It is just a misinterpretation of the Publisher's Criteria for the standards, which clearly state that "Student background knowledge and experiences can illuminate the reading … " (Coleman & Pimentel, p. 7). What makes the misunderstanding interesting and vitally relevant to teachers is that it sheds light on some of the practices and underlying assumptions that have diluted the potency of reading education for years. Plainly stated: Prereading is no substitute for actual reading, but that does not mean that drawing on information outside the core text is a bad idea. In fact, one of the best ways to teach analytical reading is to actively tap into students' prior knowledge–the rich base of existing experiences and information that they bring with them to class each day. The Common Core allows prior knowledge, and the growing body of literature about the neuroscience of learning says it is key to the way humans build their interrelated networks of knowledge. As schools move toward full implementation of the Common Core, they must make sure that they help students leverage their prior knowledge, both to help strengthen their analytical skills and to lay a solid foundation for further learning. [More] Descriptors: State Standards, Prior Learning, Learning Activities, Reading Instruction
(2014). Teachers Can Learn to Attend to Students' Reasoning Using Videos as a Tool, Issues in Teacher Education. There is a need for research in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teacher education that addresses the challenge of building teachers' pedagogical skills in fostering the development of mathematical reasoning in students. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics provide teachers with guidance on how to promote mathematical practices that emphasize reasoning and justification through problem solving and that encourage an exploration of viable strategies, through mathematical modeling and facilitating communication in the classroom, to critique mathematical arguments (National Governors Association, 2010). For many teachers, these kinds of mathematical practices may not be what they experienced as learners, and, therefore, it is not clear to them how to engage their students in ways that enact the new Standards of Mathematical Practices. The use of video clips of children thoughtfully engaged in doing mathematics offers a new lens through which to view student learning and brings forth a question that guides the authors' work: Does teacher study of certain videos improve their ability to recognize the variety of forms of reasoning used by the children? They have been conducting research in teacher education using the problem-solving tasks and videos from prior long-term research on the development of mathematical reasoning in students. This work is part of the Video Mosaic Collaborative, which also makes videos, tasks, and related resources available via the Internet (www.videomosaic.org). In this article, the authors report the results of quasi-experimental studies conducted over three years with pre- and in-service teachers. The underlying hypothesis was that a particular video collection can serve as a pedagogical tool for deepening teachers' awareness of how students' mathematical reasoning can emerge naturally through problem solving when appropriate conditions have been established in the learning environment (Maher, 2008). This hypothesis is premised on the notion that teachers' ability to recognize children's reasoning is likely essential for tackling the bigger challenge of subsequent change in teaching practice. Thus, the authors start to address that challenge by investigating their hypothesis about the pedagogical value of certain videos. [More] Descriptors: Video Technology, State Standards, Problem Solving, Criticism
(2014). Learning Algebra from Worked Examples, Mathematics Teacher. For students to be successful in algebra, they must have a truly conceptual understanding of key algebraic features as well as the procedural skills to complete a problem. One strategy to correct students' misconceptions combines the use of worked example problems in the classroom with student self-explanation. "Self-explanation" is the "activity of generating explanations to oneself" (Chi 2000, p. 164), especially "in attempt to make sense of new information" (p. 163) as one reads or studies. A "worked example problem," to be differentiated from "working an example problem," shows students an already completed problem and directs their attention to certain steps of the task as the focus of questioning. Self-explanation, then, specifically encourages students to identify the reasoning behind the steps that they see carried out and to explain why these steps were completed. This strategy of providing worked example problems coupled with prompts for self-explanation has recently been shown to influence students' learning positively in both traditional (Booth, Koedinger, and Paré-Blagoev 2011) and computer-based classrooms (Booth et al. 2013). A unique and powerful aspect of using worked examples in the classroom occurs with the inclusion of examples of both correct and incorrect solutions (subsequently referred to as correct and incorrect examples). Using incorrect examples forces students to think about the steps that have been carried out and the reasons why these actions are wrong and then to confront their own possible underlying misconceptions. The desired result is a deeper understanding of mathematics for all students, regardless of prior skill level. By using probing questions that require students to explain a previously worked example, teachers can ensure that students are making sense of what solving equations really entails. Students also engage in reasoning while constructing explanations and strengthen critical thinking skills while critiquing the correct or incorrect solutions. These tasks, carried out in conjunction with the Common Core State Standards, serve to promote deeper understanding of solving equations, which will help students of all ability levels prepare for higher-level mathematics. This article explores using examples in a computer-based activity, using examples in a traditional classroom, the student experience, and targeting student misconceptions. [More] Descriptors: Algebra, Mathematics Instruction, Problem Solving, Mathematics Skills
(2014). Core to College Evaluation: Exploring the Use of Multiple Measures for Placement into College-Level Courses. Seeking Alternatives or Improvements to the Use of a Single Standardized Test, WestEd. "Core to College: Preparing Students for College Readiness and Success" is a three-year initiative. The initiative's mission is to "facilitate greater coordination between K-12 and postsecondary education systems around implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and aligned assessments." Its aim is to foster shared ownership of college readiness by the K-12 and postsecondary sectors, including use of the CCSS-aligned assessments to determine a student's readiness for credit-bearing postsecondary courses. WestEd is providing evaluation services over the course of the initiative. The evaluation plan is designed to synthesize the progress of the initiative and its participating states over the next few years, with a focus on the initiative's primary goals of: (1) creating statewide definitions of college and career readiness; (2) Using the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced assessments to inform decisions about student placement into credit bearing college courses; and (3) aligning K-12 and postsecondary policies to the CCSS. The report begins with a literature review that defines multiple measures and summarizes recent research on the logistics, benefits, and challenges of using multiple measures for student placement. In addition, the literature review categorizes the primary ways in which multiple measures are currently in use, and highlights a few specific examples of how states and institutions are utilizing these different approaches. Next, the report presents profiles of seven Core to College states that are currently implementing, or planning to implement, multiple measures and/or other alternative placement measures at the local and/or state level. The report concludes with key observations and takeaways for states as they consider using multiple measures for placement in the near future. Summaries of placement policies of the Core to College states that are not currently utilizing multiple measures for placement are included in Appendix A. [The "Core to College: Preparing Students for College Readiness and Success" initiative is funded by the Lumina Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.] [More] Descriptors: Student Placement, Student Evaluation, College Readiness, Alignment (Education)