This brief outlines a series of proposals for using federal policy to bolster school leadership. The Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA) should highlight the unique role that principals play by targeting funding within the law to build principals' capacity as instructional leaders, culture builders and talent managers. ESEA should also…

In 1887, Congress passed the Hatch Act, which formally established and provided a funding mechanism for agricultural experiment stations in each state and territory in the United States. The main purpose of agricultural experiment stations is to conduct agricultural research to meet the needs of the citizens of the United States. The objective of…

Like the Canadian landscape and culture, the status of professional regulation for counselling and psychotherapy is a mosaic reflecting the unique cultural, linguistic and contextual realities of Canada. Statutory regulation in Canada is constitutionally a provincial/territorial matter. In the past five years, a major movement towards professional…

One component of the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act was provision for research on a national scale. In response, The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) was created to design and implement a research portfolio. Based on emphasis in the Javits Act on underrepresented populations, on issues of…

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) affirms that the construct of learning disabilities represents a valid, unique, and heterogeneous group of disorders, and that recognition of this construct is essential for sound policy and practice. An extensive body of scientific research on learning disabilities continues to support…

The federal government's role in PreK-12 education has long been contentious and continues to evolve. Many have written about education governance, but few have attempted to define an appropriate role for the federal government. That is the core purpose of this essay. The authors articulate a set of principles to guide the federal role in…

This article invites all educators to consider the implementation of the tenets of Invitational Education (IE) as a firm foundation and precursor upon which can be built an Inclusive Education climate and mindset which encourages success for all students. This eighteen month study of two professors from Ohio's Muskingum University shares from…

Legislation such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and its reauthorization, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, mandate that evidence-based practices be used in schools. In fact, NCLB requires that "scientifically-based research" be the basis for classroom practices…

Despite constraints on federal resources and authority in education policy, the federal government has a pivotal role to play in identifying a compelling, high-impact focal point that aligns policy priorities at the federal, state, and local levels. The federal government could play a critical role in expanding students' access to excellent…

In recent years, national policymakers have placed new emphasis on "school turnarounds" as a strategy for rapid, dramatic improvement in chronically failing schools, calling on education leaders to turn around performance in the 5,000 lowest-achieving schools nationwide. This goal may seem daunting, given the dismal success rates of…

The level of federal support for educational research and development (R&D) has been impacted over the years by wars and other crises, school desegregation, poverty, federal legislation and people closely associated with whatever administration was in power in Washington, DC at a particular time. While some funds for educational R&D were…

A growing number of foundations, entrepreneurs, national education groups, and public officials have called in recent months for a stepped-up emphasis on generating findings, programs, and products that practitioners find useful and that will help revolutionize the way America does school. If it takes hold, the new focus represents a break from…

Since taking office, President Obama has taken historic steps to lay the foundation for the innovation economy of the future. The Obama Innovation Strategy builds on well over $100 billion of Recovery Act funds that support innovation, additional support for education, infrastructure and others in the Recovery Act and the President's Budget, and…

This guide will help policymakers understand and define the principles behind fusing core subject knowledge and higher-order thinking skills. Recommendations that reflect these principles will help policymakers support 21st century readiness for all students throughout a reauthorized ESEA and other federal legislation.

The overarching goal of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) is to build a safer, more secure, and more resilient America by preventing, deterring, neutralizing, or mitigating the effects of deliberate efforts by terrorists to destroy, incapacitate, or exploit elements of our Nation's critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR)…