
Children and Youth;Education and Literacy;International Development
The Center for Global Safe Water at Emory University and UNICEF collaborated to create a capacity-building programme: the WASH in Schools Distance-Learning Course. Case studies by the graduates from 13 countries and one regional office are included in this report.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: Africa (Central);Africa (Northeastern) / Sudan;Africa (Southeastern) / Malawi;Africa (Western);Africa (Western) / Nigeria;Asia (Central) / Afghanistan;Asia (Southern) / Nepal;Asia (Southeastern) / India;Africa (Western) / Sierra Leone;Asia (Southern) / Sri Lanka;Asia (Central) / Kyrgyzstan;Eurasia / Georgia;Asia (Southeastern) / Myanmar;Africa (Southern) Angola;Asia (Southern) Bhutan

In the coming years, states will need to make the most significant changes to their assessment systems in a decade as they implement the Common Core State Standards, a common framework for what students are expected to know that will replace existing standards in 45 states and the District of Columbia. The Common Core effort has prompted concerns about the cost of implementing the new standards and assessments, but there is little comprehensive up-to-date information on the costs of assessment systems currently in place throughout the country.
This report fills this void by providing the most current, comprehensive evidence on state-level costs of assessment systems, based on new data from state contracts with testing vendors assembled by the Brown Center on Education Policy. These data cover a combined $669 million in annual spending on assessments in 45 states.
The report identifies state collaboration on assessments as a clear strategy for achieving cost savings without compromising test quality. For example, a state with 100,000 students that joins a consortium of states containing one million students is predicted to save 37 percent, or $1.4 million per year; a state of 500,000 students saves an estimated 25 percent, or $3.9 million, by joining the same consortium.
Collaborating to form assessment consortia is the strategy being pursued by nearly all of the states that have adopted the Common Core standards. But it is not yet clear how these common assessments will be sustained after federal funding for their development ends in 2014, months before the tests are fully implemented. The report identifies a lack of transparency in assessment pricing as a barrier to states making informed decisions regarding their testing systems, and recommends that consortia of states use their market power to encourage test-makers to divulge more details about their pricing models.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States

Children and Youth, Education and Literacy
Analyzes state policy options for incorporating direct assessments of children into the design, implementation, and evaluation of quality rating and improvement systems and other quality improvement efforts to determine the impact on child outcomes.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Western)-California

Children and Youth, Education and Literacy, Parenting and Families
Reviews research about the impact of Early Head Start programs on the health and development of poor children under age 3 and their parents' knowledge and parenting, trends in enrollment, program options, and characteristics of teachers and enrollees.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States

Reviews the implementation of a schoolwide reform model that offers teachers incentives to improve student achievement and classroom performance. Examines its impact on student test scores and on teacher retention within schools.
August 1970
Geographic Focus:

Children and Youth, Education and Literacy, Immigration
Examines gaps in school readiness among low-income children, especially those in immigrant and linguistically isolated families; the type of early care and education they receive; and the need for targeted center-based preschool programs to close gaps.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Western)-California

Children and Youth, Education and Literacy
Examines how the state's licensed early childcare and education providers would rate according to the proposed system based on ratio and group size, teaching and learning, family involvement, staff education and training, and program leadership.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Western)-California

Children and Youth, Education and Literacy
Offers data highlights from the 2010 Program Information Reports, including trends since 2006 in the characteristics of the various Head Start programs, teachers, and enrollees, as well as the programs' impact on access to medical and dental care.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States