Another Clearinghouse

So yesterday I posted an entry about the Virtual School Clearinghouse. Well, later in the day this came across one of the NACOL forums.

New Virtual High School Database, Resource Shelf

Resource of the Week: Education Commission of the States
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
January 1, 2008 at 12:15 am · Filed under Source File, Education, Resource of the Week
http://www.resourceshelf.com/2008/01/01/resource-of-the-week-education-commission-of-the-states/

While trolling for papers and reports to post on DocuTicker, our sister site, we often encounter high quality resources that deserve some added attention. Thus, we’re pleased to introduce you to the Education Commission of the States (ECS) website, and we’ve invited Kathy Christie, Vice President, Knowledge Management & ECS Clearinghouse, to provide the details:

The Education Commission of the States (ECS) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit interstate compact created by the states and the U.S. Congress that helps governors, legislators, state education officials, business leaders and others identify, develop and implement public policies to improve student learning at all levels. ECS is the only nationwide interstate compact devoted to education. The ECS website is the nation’s most extensive website devoted to education policy. The site is organized to help users access information in the way that policymakers most typically ask for it:

“What are other states doing?”
“What should I read and/or what does the research say?”
“Where else can I get information?”
It features comprehensive packages of information on a growing number of early learning, K-12 and postsecondary issues, ranging from broad overviews to in-depth policy analyses.

Special features include:

The only comprehensive, publicly accessible database of state education policy enactments — accessible by issue area or by year (2000 to current, updated weekly)
A small but steadily growing collection of vetted research studies from which the major findings and policy implications have been culled and presented in a user-friendly fashion
50-state databases on state policies related to major issues such as high school reform, virtual schools, teaching recruitment and retention, etc.
Some recent releases of note include:

http://www.ecs.org/html/educationissues/HighSchool/highschooldb1_intro.asp?topic=vhs — A new ECS Database examines state virtual high schools. A total of 18 datapoints provide information on: (1) student curriculum and access; (2) finance; (3) teaching quality; and (4) program quality/accountability.

High School Level Accountability — This database provides 50-state information on the indicators, notifications/supports, sanctions and rewards established in state policy in response to state-level accountability initiatives. Policies relate to high school-level (not district-level) accountability.

Haven't had a chance to look it over yet, so I don't know what is does or how reliable it is, beyond what they have in this message. Let me know what you think.

Tags: virtual school, cyber school, high school, education