Public school board members are charged with the responsibility and accountability to provide governance-level advocacy for equity and excellence in public education. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of school board members in three K--8 school districts in the midwestern part of the United States regarding the 50+ year Race-Based…

School districts continue to strive to enhance students' academic achievement. Various studies and literature highlight the significance of the role of non- academic subjects, which in Ontario, Canada, are referred to as learning skills. Teachers in Ontario are mandated to report on six learning skills three times in a school year within their…

There is a wide gap between what research evidence identifies as effective reading intervention and what is currently offered in schools. This effectiveness study reports the results of a long-term research/school system partnership that is implementing reading intervention for children with reading difficulties in Canadian community schools. In…

This nonexperimental survey research investigated whether enrollment, location, expenditures, percentage of free and reduced lunch and percentage of minority students influenced Georgia's superintendent and board chairperson satisfaction. In addition, this study investigated whether respondents' satisfaction could predict student achievement.…

As a teacher in the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) for the past 16 years, this author has grown used to dismal budget cut news arriving each February. Although cuts are always frustrating and their results burdensome, his school has been able to "hang on" reasonably well. This year, however, the budget cuts were extreme. The school's…

On 10 December 2007 the Akron City School Board--following the precedent set by many school systems across the United States and the world--instituted a policy of mandatory school uniforms for all students in grades K-8. The measure was met with mixed reviews. While many parents supported the measure, a small group of parents from a selective,…

In all the elementary schools in the county, benchmark assessments were given six times a year in math and three times in reading; they were modeled after the questions anticipated on the Maryland School Assessment (MSA). Although results were sent to the school board, there were no cosmic consequences for the hourlong tests; they were supposed to…

Action Potential Science Experience (APSE) is a five-day summer camp offering science opportunities for K-8 students. The focus of the APSE curriculum is to teach science concepts and methods while challenging the participants to solve an overarching problem from the popular-culture context. The participants in the APSE entitled Burger 'N Fries…

In 2002, the Council of the Great City Schools evaluated the Dayton Public School System. The Council noted that the district was in crisis, stating bluntly that achievement was low, funding was tenuous, buildings were dilapidated, and the public was looking at its options. The organization proposed a series of major instructional and budgetary…

The Detroit Public Schools (DPS) have been battered by substantial outside forces over the last decade. The school system was taken over by the state; its elected school board was dissolved and replaced by an appointed body; its many operating systems were privatized; its citizenry were encouraged to flee to charter schools; and its resources have…

On September 23, 2008, Latino state legislators from throughout the United States participated in a Legislative Hearing on Pre-K and the Early Grades on Capitol Hill. The nation's leading experts on Latinos and early childhood education presented new research and information on programs and policies that work. Their testimony provided an in-depth…

With reports that some of the nation's finest universities have been handing out A's like lollipops at Halloween, the lowering of standards in higher education has become a hot topic. But grading standards in primary and secondary education have received remarkably less attention. There are two major questions related to grading standards. First,…

This report describes statistical indicators developed by the Council of the Great City Schools and its member districts to measure big-city school performance on a range of operational functions in business, finance, human resources and technology. The report also presents data city-by-city on those indicators. This is the second time that…

This article examines how a small group of high-socioeconomic status (high-SES) parents organized community opposition to the integration of a special-needs student into a grade 3 classroom in an urban elementary school in Ontario. Using data gathered in a participant observation study, this article shows how parents came to believe that existing…

The purpose of this document is to present, in summary fashion, statistical information on the status of public education in Miami-Dade County. Information is provided in the areas of organization, educational programs and services, achievement, and other outcomes of schooling. Also included are multi-year statistics on student population,…