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• November 2, 2011: Two new CEEP Education Policy Briefs were released today. Revamping the Teacher Evaluation
  
• October 27, 2011: "The Impact of Charter Schools in Indiana after a Decade"
  
• September 28, 2011:  "Understanding the History of the Current Funding Formula and Its New Components"
  
• September 1, 2011: School Choice Issues in Indiana: Sifting through the Rhetoric
  
• September 1, 2011: The Limits and Possibilities of International Large-Scale Assessments
  
• August 26, 2011: Graduation Rates and Dropout Prevention in Indiana
  
• August 11, 2011: Running a Race Against Ourselves
  
• June 23, 2011: Update on Indiana School District Referenda: Legislative Changes and Primary Election Outcomes of 2011
  
• June 9, 2011: Panel Discussions of Today’s Issues in Education Policy and Education Law
  
• February 8, 2011: The results of the seventh Public Opinion Survey on K-12 Education in Indiana were released today
  
  

November 2, 2011:  Two new CEEP Education Policy Briefs were released today.
Revamping the Teacher Evaluation Process explores the provisions for how teachers in Indiana must be evaluated in light of the education reform package that passed the 2011 state general assembly.  The brief summarizes the new legislation and its direct changes to evaluation policies and practices.  Literature in teacher evaluation is reviewed, and the brief highlights important issues for school corporations to consider when selecting an evaluation system.  Five teacher evaluation models, the RISE Evaluation and Development System that is being developed by the Indiana Department of Education, are then described and considered within the context of the legislation.  Conclusions and recommendations for school districts are outlined by the authors.

Click HERE to find a PDF version of this education policy brief.  Click HERE to see the media release issued by Indiana University about the policy brief.

Emotional and Behavioral Disorders:  Promoting Prevention and Positive Interventions in School Settings.  The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) called for educators to include positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) within their school environments.  This brief provides an update on the PBIS efforts in Indiana by showcasing an Indianapolis school district’s endeavors in the implementation of PBIS; explores strategies for schools to expand efforts to identify children and adolescents with internalizing disorders and to develop and implement interventions within school settings; examines the national debate and Indiana’s policies on the use of physical restraints and seclusion in the context of school settings for dangerous and disruptive students generally and with students with disabilities in particular; and discusses implications and recommendations for educational policy.

Click HERE to find the full policy brief in PDF format.  Click HERE to find a PDF version of the related Fast Facts sheet. 

October 27, 2011:  "The Impact of Charter Schools in Indiana after a Decade", was the topic of CEEP’s first Education Policy Chat of the 2011-12 academic year. The panel included: Teresa Lubbers (Indiana Commissioner of Higher Education), Kevin Teasley (founder and CEO of the Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation), Gretchen Gutman (Associate Vice President for Government Relations at Ball State University) and Russ Simnick (President of the Indiana Public Charter Schools Association).

Click HERE to view the streaming video of the chat.

September 28, 2011: Terry Spradlin, Director for Education Policy & HSSSE, gave a presentation on Tuesday, September 27, titled "Understanding the History of the Current Funding Formula and Its New Components" to school board members and superintendents from across Indiana. More than 250 people attended his sessions. This presentation was a part of the 2011 Indiana School Boards Association/Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents Fall Conference.

Click HERE to find a Powerpoint presentation. 

September 1, 2011:  School Choice Issues in Indiana: Sifting through the Rhetoric is the title of a new Education Policy Brief issued today by CEEP.  The brief assesses the status of school choice laws and policies from across the nation, reviews the new options for school choice adopted in Indiana, and looks at their legal, fiscal, and policy ramifications.

Authors of the brief presented their findings and recommendations today during a meeting of the Indiana Public School/University Partnership, also called “Partnershare.”  Partnershare formed to stimulate school improvement by bringing together researchers from Indiana University and educators from many of Indiana’s public school corporations to share information and ideas for the advancement of education.

Click HERE to find a PDF version of the policy brief.  Click HERE to find a PDF version of the related Fast Facts sheet.  Click HERE to see the media release issued by Indiana University about the policy brief.

September 1, 2011:  The Limits and Possibilities of International Large-Scale Assessments, a new CEEP Education Policy Brief, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the three most popular international assessments. These assessments are frequently used to compare educational progress between countries. They often influence major education policy decisions. The brief addresses how these three particular international assessments function and how they are relevant to American education. The authors also include suggestions for further reading about international large-scale assessments.

Click HERE to find the full policy brief in PDF format..

August 26, 2011:  Graduation Rates and Dropout Prevention in Indiana was the subject of a CEEP presentation yesterday to the Interim Study Committee of Education Issues at the Indiana State House.  The presentation was led by Terry Spradlin, CEEP’s Director for Education Policy.

To see the Microsoft PowerPoint slides used for this presentation, please click HERE.

August 11, 2011:  Running a Race Against Ourselves, an article recently featured as commentary in Education Week, was written by Jonathan Plucker and David Rutkowski, the director and a senior research associate at CEEP.  Writing about the national and state education and school reform efforts across the US during the past decade, they present reasons for their conclusion that, “the dirty little secret among researchers is that these reforms will almost certainly have little to no effect on the performance of most students.”  The article has received strong media attention and discussion at national conferences.  This week it is featured in IU Perspectives on Policy.

To read the article on the Education Week website, click HERE.  To read it on IU’s website, click HERE.  To download the article as a PDF file, click HERE.

June 23, 2011:  Update on Indiana School District Referenda: Legislative Changes and Primary Election Outcomes of 2011 is the newest CEEP education policy brief.  Passing local school district referenda has become vital to meet school funding needs in Indiana.  CEEP tracks and reports on the results of these efforts, and highlights some likely impacts of these voter decisions.   The 2011 session of the Indiana General Assembly also made changes to the law governing school district referenda.  District leaders need to know and understand these changes.

With this policy brief, CEEP is also publishing Perspectives On the Key K-12 Education Legislation of 2011.  This presents the viewpoints of several Indiana education leaders on this year’s legislation.

Click HERE to see a PDF version of the new education policy brief. Click HERE to see the related perspectives of several Indiana leaders. Click HERE to see CEEP's database of all school funding referenda since 2008.

June 9, 2011:  Panel Discussions of Today’s Issues in Education Policy and Education Law are being organized and sponsored by CEEP and the IU School of Education on June 23, 2011.  The discussions will be held in the School of Education auditorium on the IU Bloomington campus as part of the 44th Annual Education Leadership Summer Conference.  Because of the importance and timeliness of the issues, these discussions are open to the public and free of charge.  There will be opportunities for questions and answers between the panelists and the audience.

The Education Policy Panel will be held from 3:30 to 4:45.  “How will the 2011 session of the Indiana General Assembly change the future of K-12 public education?” will be discussed by State Senators Dennis Kruse and Vi Simpson, State Representatives Robert Behning and Terry Goodin, Associate Executive Director of the Indiana Association of School Principals Todd Bess, and Governor Daniels’ Senior Policy Director for Education Scott Jenkins.

The Education Law Panel is scheduled from 5:00 to 6:00.  As part of “Emerging Legal Issues Within Indiana and the Nation,” the second panel will discuss some of the hot button issues the state legislature addressed this year, including collective bargaining, vouchers, and merit pay, but will also look at national issues (e.g., cyber-bullying on Facebook, etc.).  This panel will include Martha McCarthy, Chancellor's Professor, Indiana University, Ph.D.; Janet Decker, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati, J.D., Ph.D.; Suzanne Eckes, Associate Professor, Indiana University, J.D., Ph.D.; Allison Fetter-Harrott, Assistant Professor, Franklin College, J.D., A.B.D.; Michelle Gough, Indiana Department of Education, J.D., A.B.D.; and Emily Richardson, Associate Instructor, Indiana University, J.D., A.B.D.                 

February 8, 2011: The results of the seventh Public Opinion Survey on K-12 Education in Indiana were released today by the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP). The survey conducted in November and December, gauged the attitudes and perceptions of a representative sample of Hoosiers on key educational issues. Terry Spradlin, Director of Education Policy at CEEP, and Rod Whiteman, a CEEP graduate research associate, presented the results to the Indiana State Board of Education this afternoon. The results show a growing concern about how well schools are performing and provided some support for proposed changes.

In response to whether academic performance of Indiana’s public schools is better, worse, or has stayed about the same over the last 5 years, for the first time in the survey’s history more said schools are getting worse (25.9%) than getting better (20.2%). Still, “stayed about the same” received the most response (45.5%).  Reflecting a possible change in how the State of Indiana evaluates schools, this year’s survey also asked respondents to assign a letter grade to Indiana public school quality. The largest response was for a “C” grade (37.1%), with “B” the second highest response (31.4%). Hoosiers' opinion of schools is lower from the last survey in 2008 when the “Good” category—equivalent to a “B”—received the largest response, with “Fair” or “C” the second highest answer.

Click HERE to find a copy of the complete survey report in PDF format on the CEEP web site, including demographic data and methodology. Click HERE to view the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation about the survey prepared for the State Board of Education. Click HERE to see the media release issued by the IU Office of Media Relations. Click HERE to see Terry Spradlin talking about the survey results.

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