Join Us for Our New Center Webinar on Using CBM for AYP!
On Wednesday, December 12 at 2:00 pm ET, we will be holding the next in a series of webinars, entitled "Using CBM for AYP and other Data Reporting." This webinar will be presented by Dr. Michelle Hosp, one of our Center Trainers and Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. We hope to see you online!

Participate in Our Discussion Board!
Do you have follow-up questions from the 2007 Summer Institute?  General questions about student progress monitoring (SPM) or SPM tools? Implementation suggestions to share with your national colleagues?  If so, we encourage you to browse and participate in our online Discussion Board.  Learn how others are implementing SPM in their classrooms, schools, districts, and states.  If you have a specific progress monitoring question, please view our Frequently Asked Questions about Curriculum-Based Measurement page to see if our Center Trainers have addressed your concern.   

Tracy Justesen Nominated as OSERS Assistant Secretary
Late last month, President Bush nominated Tracy Justesen to serve as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education. Mr. Justesen currently serves as Deputy Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) at the Department of Education. Prior to this, he served as an Attorney-Advisor in the Disability Rights Section at the Department of Justice. The U.S. Senate now must approve the President's nomination.

NCES Expands SER Website
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has just expanded the State Education Reforms (SER) website. This website was first based on the report "Overview and Inventory of State Education Reforms: 1990 to 2000," and is updated periodically to incorporate new data on state education reform activities. The SER website, which draws primarily on data collected by organizations other than NCES, compiles and disseminates data on state-level education reform efforts in four areas: 1) standards, assessment, and accountability, 2) school finance reforms, 3) resources for learning, and 4) state support for school choice options. Specific reform areas include student and teacher assessments, adequate yearly progress, statewide exit exams, highly qualified teachers, open enrollments laws, and charter schools. To view the site, please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/

Rapid Assessment Found to Improve Student Achievement
Comparisons of student achievement effect sizes suggest that systems in which student performance in math and reading is rapidly assessed between 2 and 5 times per week are 4 times as effective as a 10% increase in per pupil expenditure, 6 times as effective as voucher programs, 64 times as effective as charter schools, and 6 times as effective as increased accountability, according to an article published in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Evaluation. Rapid assessment, which is a form of student progress monitoring, is defined by the article's author as "systems that provide nonjudgmental testing feedback [to teachers] immediately after each test." To read the entire article, The Cost-Effectiveness of Five Policies for Improving Student Achievement, Stuart Yeh, American Journal of Evaluation, 2007; 28: 416-436 (a small fee is charged), go to http://aje.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/28/4/416

High School Center Releases Document on RTI
The National High School Center has recently released a new document, entitled "Meeting the Needs of Significantly Struggling Learners in High School: A Look at Approaches to Tiered Intervention," that explains the need for and challenges of implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) at the high school level. This brief introduces the RTI model, illustrates two RTI approaches, discusses implementation issues, and provides a list of resources for more information. http://www.betterhighschools.org/docs/NHSC_RTIBrief_08-02-07.pdf 

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