In this report, the authors present some initial findings on the early implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in California. They report on their interviews with educators in all regions of the state, and on their views of how implementation is proceeding in their schools and districts. The authors then review some of the key…

In 2009, the federal government committed over $3 billion nationwide to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools. The U.S. Department of Education intended for the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to spur dramatic change.This report looks at the results of a field study of the first-year implementation of those grants…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the economic stimulus bill, channeled an unprecedented $100 billion into the nation's public education system. These funds were intended not only to avert teacher layoffs and stabilize state and local education budgets in the short term, but also to encourage reforms that…

Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") initiative works with more than 1,100 schools in 30 states and the District of Columbia to improve school and classroom practices and prepare more students for success in postsecondary studies, training and careers. This brief report analyzes student…

This report looks at the early efforts of states to implement the elementary and secondary education provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The findings are drawn from a survey of officials in state education agencies and governors' offices in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Key findings concern the financial…

In 2005, all 50 state governors made an unprecedented commitment to voluntarily implement a common, more reliable formula for calculating their states' high school graduation rates by signing the National Governors Association (NGA) Graduation Counts Compact. Four years later, progress is steady. Twenty states now report that they use the Compact…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) requires states to develop high-quality academic assessments aligned with state academic standards. The Department of Education (Education) has provided states with about $400 million for NCLBA assessment implementation every year since 2002. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined: (1)…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that all students be assessed academically in mathematics and reading, and for purposes of adequate yearly progress (AYP), participation rates in statewide assessments must be 95 percent for all students. Federal law requires states to have at least one alternate assessment to evaluate the performance…

The "29th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2007" follows the 2006--i.e., the 28th annual report--in sequence. The "29th Annual Report to Congress" is, however, the first to have three volumes. In the 28th and earlier editions, volume 2 consisted of data tables…

The Supplemental Educational Services (SES) provision of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 creates an opportunity for eligible students to receive free effective academic support services outside of the regular school day. The SES provision is relatively new and little information is currently known about the efficacy of such services. The…

This report presents trends on the implementation of Title I parental choice options from the National Longitudinal Study of No Child Left Behind (NLS-NCLB) and the Study of State Implementation of Accountability and Teacher Quality Under No Child Left Behind (SSI-NCLB). The report uses data from state-level interviews; surveys of a nationally…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association representing the technology leadership in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is SETDA's ninth annual report on select educational technology activities. This year's report includes…

This report describes the attitudes of district school board members about the implementation of school reforms based on the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). Information on attitudes toward KERA was gathered by a mail-out, 11-page questionnaire sent to a random sample of 600 local school board members. The questionnaire asked for the…

A large and growing body of research supports the critical relationship between early childhood experiences and successful life-long outcomes. Assessing the readiness of children as they enter school is a high priority. This report describes findings from Year Two of the assessment of school readiness with a larger random sample of children…

As states have become more active in establishing curriculum content standards and related assessments disappointingly little attention has been paid to policy efforts that create learning opportunities for students to meet the new standards. This study examines one state policy designed to bolster the opportunity to learn by mandating additional…