Earlier this year, in "Subprime Learning: Early Education in America since the Great Recession," the current state of early education in the U.S. was surveyed by examining progress over the last five years . It was found that while the public, political, and research consensus is stronger than ever, the field remains in dire need of…

The pressing need to improve achievement in American schools is widely recognized. In "Tests, Testing, and Genuine School Reform," Herbert J. Walberg draws on scientific studies of tests and their uses to inform citizens, educators, and policy makers about well-established principles of testing, current problems, and promising evidence-based…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "The High Cost of High School Dropouts": New Alliance Brief Says Dropouts from the Class of 2009 Represent…

Background: Through its Children First initiative, New York City policymakers promoted collaborative inquiry as a process for helping administrators and teachers use student data to improve instruction and raise student achievement. Since 2007, city schools were expected to engage higher proportions of faculty in the inquiry work each year.…

This guide is designed to help districts and schools evaluate reform efforts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including School Improvement Grants. It includes practical, how-to tips for conducting program evaluations, whether one takes a "do-it-yourself" approach or seeks outside assistance to evaluate reform…

Recent commission and task force reports calling for significant improvements in American education are considered in this set of three papers, and methods for implementing the recommendations are suggested. In his paper, Glen Harvey reviews the reports, noting the extent to which they fail to consider change implementation research and commenting…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a congressionally mandated national assessment program, can provide valuable data to educational policy makers in Massachusetts and other New England states concerning the status of their educational reform initiatives and performance standards. The three purposes of this paper are: (1) to…

Recent commission and task force reports calling for educational improvement may carry more weight than their content deserves because of their sources. The findings of these commissions vary since each commission has its own concept of education, its own political purposes, and its own sources of data. Still, their general recommendations stress…

Information about education in Oklahoma beginning with the 1989-90 school year and continuing through December of 1990 is presented in a concise and usable format. This document is an overview of information useful to the public. Sections include: (1) common education recognitions and achievements; (2) 1990 school legislation; (3) educational…

This document reports on a study designed (1) to develop a plan for school improvement using information obtained from an attitude survey, (2) to examine the implementation of the plan, and (3) to evaluate the results to determine if improvements had occurred. Attitude surveys were conducted of students, parents, supporters, and staff in the…

This document, which draws heavily on lessons learned during 11 years of the Southern Regional Education Board's High Schools That Work initiative, is intended to help state leaders review their existing system for assessing accountability in vocational education or plan such a system. The document begins with a discussion of the purpose of…