Federal and local governments continue to invest billions of dollars each year in professional development for teachers. Until recently, there has been little rigorous evidence to inform the design and delivery of these programs. This brief outlines the key findings from three random assignment PD evaluation studies and proposes areas for further research.

Emerging research suggests some promising features of educator performance evaluation measures, such as additional observations of the same teacher and providing more frequent, specific feedback on classroom practice. This report, which discusses first year results of an evaluation of three performance measures for evaluating teachers and principals, found that the measures provided some information to distinguish educator performance and led to increased feedback.

Since 1999, the National Household Education Surveys Program has collected nationally representative data that can be used to estimate the number of homeschooled students in the U.S. This report provides estimates of the number, percentage, and characteristics of homeschooled students in the U.S. in 2012, and provides historical context by showing overall estimates of homeschooling in the United States since 1999.

Dropping out of high school is related to a number of negative outcomes, including lower lifetime earnings, higher likelihood of unemployment, and higher reliance on welfare. This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included $4.35 billion for Race to the Top (RTT), one of the Obama administration’s signature programs and one of the largest federal government investments in an education grant program. This final report examines how receipt of RTT grants was related to student achievement over time.

Two efforts that have impacted teachers across the country in recent years are state-mandated teacher evaluation and support systems and statewide adoption of new, more rigorous and focused student learning standards based on the Common Core State Standards. In this brief, AIR explores the level of alignment that exists between these two policies.

High-quality early care and education (ECE) provides a critical foundation for young children’s success in school and in life. Yet, in the United States, fewer than two out of three preschool-age children are enrolled in center-based ECE programs. This brief highlights promising practices used in many European countries to ensure all children have access to ECE—practices which can inform similar efforts in the U.S.

The Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes found that students attending network high schools with a mature and well-implemented approach to promoting deeper learning experienced different instructional strategies, greater opportunities, and better results on a range of outcomes than did their matched counterparts in comparison sites. This brief examines how teachers’ own beliefs about teaching, their assessment of their peers’ professional culture, and their assessment of the success of the principal in providing instructional leadership and program coherence are related to students’ reports of deeper learning opportunities in their classes.

Social and emotional skills undergird student success—and mold better citizens. Results from the Collaborating Districts Initiative suggest that even modest investments can pay off for individuals, schools, and society. In this policy brief, Kimberly Kendziora and Nick Yoder share the results of the evaluation and offer policy six recommendations for states and districts implementing SEL initiatives.