CNA Education Focus Areas
Although CNA Education has a wide-range of capabilities and experiences, much of our work can be captured in six broad focus areas. Below we provide brief descriptions of these areas and some samples of the scope of our work in each.
Teacher Workforce
Ensuring that every classroom has a qualified teacher is one of the major provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This provision raises questions about the characteristics and supply of good teachers and how state or local programs and policies might work to improve the quality of teaching and student outcomes. CNA has over 40 years of experience analyzing issues related to the recruitment, retention, assignment and evaluation of teachers and other public employees. CNA's analysis of the teacher workforce includes studies on pay and retention, qualities of good teachers, and the pipeline for new teachers. We have also examined the effects of teacher characteristics and national certification programs on student outcomes.
Using Data to Support Decision Making
Over the last ten years, there has been a revolution in attitudes about the importance of data to support decision-making in education from policy to practice. The federal government is investing over $200 million to enable states to create longitudinal databases that link student records over time and in some cases also link students to teachers. States and localities are also creating their own data warehouses. These data could provide a rich source of information to decision making about the effectiveness of policy and programs, but they may not always support school and classroom level decisions to improve teaching and learning. CNA has considerable expertise and experience in using data to support decision-making. Our analysts have been at the forefront of using longitudinal databases for over 20 years to analyze policy proposals, monitor operations, and investigate the effectiveness of programs. Our analyses include random assignment and quasi-experimental designs to evaluate educational programs at the state and district levels. We also have considerable experience in helping educators to make better use of their data.
Transitions from Middle and High School
Students in secondary schools face many challenges and opportunities. Some students will make steady progress on their educational path through middle and high school in preparation for post-secondary education or the workforce, but others will fall off this path and dropout. Students may take an academic path leading to a four-year college or may even start pursuing college credits while still in high school. Other students may pursue career and technical education in community colleges or technical schools. Some high school graduates will need remedial courses in order to pursue college courses, while still others will perceive higher education to be altogether inaccessible. Although education is known to play a powerful role in determining lifetime earnings, much less is known about the specific institutional, social, and psychological mechanisms that determine individuals’ motivation and ability to succeed in the educational system. CNA has expertise in investigating educational pathways to success as well as barriers to individual accomplishment. Our work also examines educational policies designed to reduce the gaps in educational attainment and performance among students from various socio-demographic backgrounds.
Early Childhood Education
A large and growing body of research shows that a good start is critical for developing learning ability and promoting lifelong educational attainment. Policymakers have responded by focusing considerable resources on improving access to quality early childhood education. The proliferation of state-wide (often universal) pre-school programs, federal funding of Early Reading First and Reading First, and other programs designed to help children overcome disadvantages are evidence of the importance of this issue to the public. CNA has analyzed various aspects of early childhood education including the effectiveness of curricula and professional development programs, implications of a state program on access and utilization to pre-K education, and the quality of program offerings.
Assessment and Accountability Systems
NCLB has brought accountability systems to the forefront of education policy, but the NCLB accountability system is neither the first nor the only such system influencing education policy, resources, and practice. Many states and localities either had systems in place prior to the passage of NCLB or have instituted their own systems to run parallel to NCLB. Examining the characteristics and effectiveness of accountability systems is a major focus of CNA analysis. We have helped to design a local accountability system, examined the alignment between a state assessment and nationally recognized standards, and studied the implications of the NCLB accountability system at the state level. We also have expertise in interpreting standardized assessments and in measurement issues relating to formative assessments for learning.
Effective Use of Technology
Technology holds great promise to improve the quality of and access to education, and in response to this promise, policymakers have made large investments to increase the availability of technology and information to schools and students. Furthermore, developers of curricula and professional development services have tried to integrate technology into their delivery systems. All of this investment has inevitably led to questions about whether it is actually improving the quality of teaching and learning. Federal mandates including NCLB have grown to try to ensure the value of these investments. At CNA we are evaluating the effectiveness of technology-based curricula and associated professional development programs, and we have analyzed issues related to the organization of virtual (Internet-based) schools. We have also run a regional technical assistance center to help state agencies implement the technology provisions of NCLB.