Website Ranks K–12 Reading, Math Programs Under ESSA Standards

Image Credit: Evidence for ESSA.

A new website launched by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) offers insights into K–12 reading and math programs. The website provides up-to-date and reliable information to help education leaders better understand how these programs compare under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The Evidence for ESSA website “uses [the] expertise and authority of the center’s faculty, as well as scholarly studies, to determine an academic program’s effectiveness under the new law,” The Hub reported. It sorts through research databases, locating “school-based, scientific studies and categorizes the programs that have been reliably and scientifically tested.”   

Math and reading platforms can be searched by elementary and middle/high school levels. For example, users can look up a math program specifically for the elementary school level to see whether it meets the new ESSA evidence standards. Programs are ranked using language found in the law — either “strong,” “moderate” or “promising,” depending on the quality of their ESSA alignment.

The results can be filtered by:

  • Grade level;
  • Programs designed for the whole class or struggling students;
  • Community type (rural, suburban, urban or not specified);
  • Ethnic group; and
  • An array of features, including cooperative learning, family engagement and more.

Director of the CRRE and School of Education Professor Robert Slavin told The Hub that the website functions as a consumer report of sorts, with an overall goal of helping state chiefs, district superintendents, principals and other education leaders determine how vigorously a program has been vetted.

"But there are many other people — parents and teachers, for example — who could use this information to advocate for particular programs that they think would be better for their kids. And we hope they will," Slavin said.

The Evidence for ESSA website is now live.

About the Author

Sri Ravipati is Web producer for THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • tutors helping young students with laptops against a vibrant abstract background

    K12 Tutoring Earns ESSA Level II Validation

    Online tutoring service K12 Tutoring recently announced that it has received Level II validation underneath the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The independently validated study provides evidence of K12 Tutoring's role in creating positive student outcomes through effective academic intervention and research-based solutions.

  • elementary school boy using a laptop with a glowing digital brain above his head and circuit lines extending outward

    The Brain Drain: How Overreliance on AI May Erode Creativity and Critical Thinking

    Just as sedentary lifestyles have reshaped our physical health, our dependence on AI, algorithms, and digital tools is reshaping how we think, and the effects aren't always positive.

  • student reading a book with a brain, a protective hand, a computer monitor showing education icons, gears, and leaves

    4 Steps to Responsible AI Implementation in Education

    Researchers at the University of Kansas Center for Innovation, Design & Digital Learning (CIDDL) have published a new framework for the responsible implementation of artificial intelligence at all levels of education, from preschool through higher education.

  • a cloud, an AI chip, and a padlock interconnected by circuit-like lines

    CrowdStrike Report: Attackers Increasingly Targeting Cloud, AI Systems

    According to the 2025 Threat Hunting Report from CrowdStrike, adversaries are not just using AI to supercharge attacks — they are actively targeting the AI systems organizations deploy in production. Combined with a surge in cloud exploitation, this shift marks a significant change in the threat landscape for enterprises.