ACSA has entered into a partnership with the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education to provide groundbreaking resources for members from The USC Answer Lab. “We want to provide our members with information that they can use immediately to create opportunities for students, teachers, staff and fellow administrators,” said Wesley Smith, ACSA executive director.  Founded by Morgan Polikoff, an associate professor of education at USC Rossier and co-director of the Center on Education Policy, Equity and Governance, the lab aims to connect policymakers and educators with the newest and best evidence to support school leadership and students. “Educational leaders need to make tough decisions all the time. Often, these decisions could be informed by research, but rarely does this actually happen,” Polikoff said. “The goal of the Answer Lab is to change this. We’re so excited to have partnered with ACSA to produce the first three Answer Lab briefs, and we’re hopeful these and future briefs will be useful to ACSA members.” Three briefs from The Answer Lab are currently available on the ACSA Resource Hub. They include:

• What is the best way to provide professional learning to teachers when they lack key content knowledge in mathematics?
• Which instructional practices can improve academic achievement among students with disabilities?
• What proactive school and district polices/practices can best promote a positive school climate and reduce the need for student disciplinary referrals?