The annual budgeting process is a valuable opportunity for districts to systematically examine both resource use and programming. They can then use the findings to optimize resource use and improve program efficacy in ways that will lead to increased student achievement. Bo Yan and Thomas Aberli discuss three root causes for districts' inability…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic intensified disparities for underserved populations as accessing resources became more difficult. Dairy Council of California launched the Let's Eat Healthy initiative to address nutrition security through collaborative solutions in the school environment. Implications For School Health Policy, Practice, and…

This document is part of a Bridgespan Group research project that focused on the question: "How could a philanthropist make the biggest improvement on social mobility with an investment of $1 billion?" In answering this question, the authors have sought to understand "what matters most" for improving social mobility outcomes.…

Discussions about improving public education often focus on outcomes without considering how schools and districts can accomplish those outcomes. Research shows that using a continuous improvement process has proven successful in healthcare, manufacturing, and technology, and may hold potential for use in education as well. This brief defines and…

After several years in which only superficial outcomes measures were used to evaluate grants funded by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), the Illinois State University Center for the Study of Education Policy piloted a new approach by which real project assessment could be embedded in Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) project designs…

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of public charter schools whose stated mission is to help underserved students enroll in and graduate from college. Prior studies (see Tuttle et al. 2013) have consistently found that attending a KIPP middle school positively affects student achievement, but few have addressed longer-term…

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a national network of public charter schools whose stated mission is to help underserved students enroll in and graduate from college. Prior studies (see Tuttle et al. 2013) have consistently found that attending a KIPP middle school positively affects student achievement, but few have addressed longer-term…

This bnef document describes research and evaluations that have demonstrated that school-based health centers represent cost-effective investments of public resources.

"Investing in Innovation" provides a snapshot of trends in the states and identifies a wide range of strategies now employed. California's big investments, such as $3 billion for stem cell research, have already grabbed national headlines. But states like Arizona, Indiana and North Dakota, which haven't historically been big research and…

A professor at the Air Force Academy (Colorado) recounts that institution's 3 years of experience with total quality concepts. The model that guided initial quality education and training activities is described and evidence of progress reported. He concludes that the right kind of investment in quality is well worth the cost. (DB)

Defining videotex and teletext as the most revolutionary innovations in communication since the invention of movable type, this paper describes The Interactive Videotex Project of public television station KPBS in San Diego, California. Following a brief overview of videotex and teletext technologies, the paper discusses (1) the development of the…

A localized system for the evaluation of investment in vocational education in Ohio is described in this four part manual. Following an instruction introduction to the manual, part II provides a description of the analytical framework for this system. Vocational education is analyzed as an investment and an explanation of the criteria used in the…

The first full year of the Indian Financing Act of 1974 was fiscal 1976, after which $91 million had been appropriated for the Revolving Loan Fund, the Loan Guaranty and Insurance Fund, and the Indian Business Development Grant Program. The Revolving Loan Fund, consolidated from 4 previous funds, was underutilized. Only $13.3 million was loaned to…

The Indian Financing Act of 1974 was vital legislation to Indians, previously prevented from obtaining credit from non-Indian lenders who customarily categorized Indians as poor credit risks or set interest rates prohibitively high. Problems in preparation of the administrative regulations delayed initial implementation of the Act until December…

A project was developed to gain more insight into family financial problems, to identify these problems, and to formulate educational strategies to deal with and help solve these problems. This project was conducted in three phases, which included community outreach, development of educational materials, and evaluation. Three communities with…