In response to the school accountability movement and the move toward market-oriented education policies in recent decades, many schools and districts have felt increased pressure to find effective ways to boost student achievement. However, many districts--largely those serving low income black and hispanic students in urban settings--have still…

College graduation rates for minority students are often shockingly low. Most institutions have significantly lower graduation rates for black students than for white students. This report demonstrates that these high-failure rates are not inevitable: Some institutions are graduating black students at a higher rate than white students. The report…

Four years after the enactment of the "No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)," the revolutionary changes to the education system called for by President Bush are almost implemented. States have put in place rigorous new accountability systems and will implement reading and math assessments covering all students in grades 3-8 by the end of the…

In the U.S.-affiliated Pacific, the U.S. Department of Education (U.S. ED) and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) are responsible for assisting State educational agencies (SEAs) in the development of planning and accountability systems to meet the requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB) requirements and…

Presently, state and federal school accountability efforts require greater attention to performance measures, such as the graduation rate, which serve as key indicators of a school's success in educating its student population. AZLEARNS, Arizona's school accountability system, includes a school classification system based on a set of performance…

The state-administered grant program authorized under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), enacted as Title II of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, is the major source of federal support for adult basic and literacy education programs. The purpose of the grant is to provide educational opportunities to adults sixteen and…

Until now, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has focused everyone's attention on reading and math--and on whether schools are making "adequate yearly progress" in those two core subjects. Although some states incorporate additional subjects into their own accountability systems, reading and math have dominated most discussions of state…

The Department of Education is a leader in improving the quality of education and raising expectations of what students can accomplish. The Department has promised to leave no child behind in order to ensure that all Americans can use their knowledge and skills to lead productive lives, enhance communities, and participate fully in the economy. To…

Current formula funding practices in the South and implications for the future are analyzed. Formula funding systems are used in 12 of the 14 states belonging to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). Changes that have occurred in the formulas of each state since 1973-74 are described. Data from 1977-78 academic year are compared to the…

On April 5, 2002, the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) entered into a compliance agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to bring the state into compliance with the provisions of the following federal laws: Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1994, P.L. 103-382 and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)…

This report reviews implementation of Phase 1 of the New York City Board of Education's Performance Driven Budgeting (PDB) initiative from 1997-00. This initiative generated a new element in school-based planning for instructional improvement, explicitly linking school-level budgeting and efforts to improve student and school performance. The…

This document presents the 50th semiannual report on the activities and accomplishments of the Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Department of Education (Department). During this reporting period, the OIG issued 123 audits, inspection reports and memoranda, and closed 95 investigations. As detailed in this report, this office continues to…

This summary examines public opinion research about teacher quality and strategies for improving U.S. teaching quality. Researchers examined surveys of teachers, school board members, principals, students, and the public. This review investigates: what constitutes quality teaching; how to define good teachers; the importance of teacher quality;…

This document reflects Federal Student Aid's solid progress in meeting strategic objectives since becoming a Performance-Based Organization. Specifically, the plan addresses continuing efforts to increase program integrity, improve customer service and achieve measurable results in the management and administration of the Title IV student…

As a follow-up to an earlier ECS report on the extent to which states were prepared to implement President Bush's education plan, this report provides an in-depth examination of three major Bush plan initiatives: assessing student performance, motivating and assessing low-performing schools, and providing school-choice options. The report begins…