Cities around the country are building systems that seek to make the most of public and private resources to provide widespread, high-quality, out-of-school time opportunities. Local officials are leading these efforts because participation in OST programs not only benefits young people but also the cities in which they live, with the potential to…

In 2006, six community and technical colleges in Washington State joined the innovative national reform initiative called Achieving the Dream (ATD). This report describes the progress each college made in implementing ATD's "culture of evidence" principles for institutional improvement, examines strategies implemented by the colleges to…

Since 1988, state governments have been required to collect quarterly from private sector employers gross earnings by Social Security numbers, industry of employment, and county of employment. A study was conducted of 13 states' efforts to use this wage record database as a tool for improving educational accountability and assessing the impact of…

The Franklin Pierce School District, a semi-rural, semi-urban district located south of Tacoma, Washington, was one of the Experimental School Projects (ESP) initially funded by the National Institute of Education. The Franklin Pierce ESP provides an optimal learning environment for each student, with special emphasis placed upon transient,…