Federal incentives and requirements under the Obama administration spurred states to adopt major reforms to their teacher evaluation systems. We examine the effects of these reforms on student achievement and attainment at a national scale by exploiting the staggered timing of implementation across states. We find precisely estimated null effects,…

This article is focused on identifying the current issues in elementary education in the United States. In each of these issues, elementary educators are at the crossroads looking for solutions and directions. Based on the review of literature, the authors pinpoint the upcoming challenges elementary school educators will be facing in the future.…

Explored the implementation of middle level reform components in both high- and low-performing middle schools, seeking to identify factors linked to student achievement. Found that organizational health, which includes academic focus, teacher affiliation, and resource support, more directly influences student performance than simple implementation…

New American Schools (NAS) was formed in 1991 to create and develop whole-school designs that would be adopted by schools throughout the country in order to improve student performance. This book is a retrospective on NAS and draws together the finding from RAND research. Chapter 1, the introduction, gives an overview of NAS, RAND's purpose and…

From time to time critics of the middle level publish works that suggest that our philosophy is too much "feeling good" and not enough academic substance. Confusing this debate is the current trend of districts (especially large urban ones) to reconfigure their schools to K-8 neighborhood schools. In this article the author takes a long look at…

Project SHAPE is a two-year intervention and enrichment program for underachieving and educationally disadvantaged ninth and tenth grade students in Toledo, Ohio. Operating through teacher empowerment; curriculum development; structural organization; and student, parent, and community involvement, SHAPE's goals are developing an academically…

Research has indicated that educators view class size as a factor in improving student learning. This publication summarizes findings about some recently implemented class-size initiatives. It highlights results from Tennessee's reduced class-size experiment of the 1980s; summarizes the efforts and results from other recent state-level initiatives…

In 1991, the Minnesota Legislature enacted the first legislation in the nation to permit creation of legally and financially independent public schools called charter schools. In February 1996, the Minnesota State Board of Education authorized an 18-month evaluation of Minnesota's charter schools. An evaluation team from the University of…

Most of the middle schools in Belgium are 2-year schools that form a link between the 6 years of elementary education and the last 4 years of secondary education. In Flanders they are regarded as an example of the more global reform of the secondary educational system in a comprehensive sense. First, this document outlines the new system of…

This paper reports on a study of a desegregated Individually Guided Education (IGE) middle school which drew volunteers from throughout a large, midwestern city. Findings are based on participant observation and interviews by the author. The author concludes that the school failed to incorporate all the features of IGE, which calls for alterations…

Children who are raised in poverty currently run grave risks of educational failure. This paper approaches the issue, not through concentrating on special problems of, and programs for, the educationally at-risk, but through focusing on the educational problems of young people generally and on the effect that schools, not programs, play in…

A three-year study was conducted to evaluate the implementation of the Transitional School Model in the Des Moines, Iowa, Independent Community School District. The model was designed to provide early adolescents in grades 6-8 with a more comprehensive bridge between elementary school and high school by emphasizing students' physical, emotional,…

The School Effectiveness Structural Components Inventory (SESCI) was designed to assess structural elements in a school environment that contribute to effectiveness. The preliminary validation took place in 12 elementary schools in or near a large metropolitan school district. The schools were classified by overall school socioeconomic status, as…