The evolution of the federal role in education policy has entailed increasing activism in matters traditionally controlled by states and school districts. However, the expanding federal role has not resulted in a zero sum game for states and localities. Focusing on the policy-implementation process, this article examines recent state and local…

This article describes the process of replacing a modest Master's level school leader preparation program with an innovative Ed.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The new doctoral program is intensive, highly selective, intellectually rigorous, and field-based. The authors provide side-by-side comparisons of the difference…

During the last several decades, educational reform in Sweden has been at once contentious, fast paced, and uneven as control of Parliament and educational policy shifted between left- and right-wing political factions. These political power shifts within Parliament created tension between national and local municipal governments and provoked…

This is the second of three reports from MDRC's evaluation of the Success for All (SFA) scale-up demonstration, funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) competition. The report presents updated findings on SFA's implementation and impacts in the scale-up sites participating in the evaluation. The i3 evaluation…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

The centennial volume of "Review of Research in Education" ("RRE") takes a "retrospective, prospective" approach on a diverse range of education research topics spanning the last 100 years. While using historical trends as foundations for their chapters, the authors also look ahead to the most challenging issues and…

The Common Core State Standards provide a unique opening for K-12 and higher education institutions to work together to ensure that high school students are better prepared for postsecondary education. The college and career readiness assessments will provide educators the opportunities to intervene with students while still in high school to…

The "Made in Durham" report sets out a vision that every young person in Durham should have the opportunity to achieve a postsecondary credential and begin a rewarding career by the age of 25. Its central premise is that all Durham's youth and young adults are entitled to a first-rate education and training system that prepares them for…

The purpose of this research is to identify factors that influence the functioning of a school working as a Professional Learning Community (PLC) and to analyze the links between these factors and the school's progression. This research was developed within the context of an interpretative research paradigm. The primary data collection tool…

Although career and technical education (CTE) Programs of Study (POS) were introduced in the Perkins IV legislation, neither the spirit nor the elements of POS are new in the history of CTE as a vehicle for high school reform. POS have evolved over several decades of efforts to create effective transition programs from secondary to postsecondary…

In the past few years, many students have begun to lose interest in science and information and engineering technology courses because they find them too boring and hard to learn. To strengthen this field of education and stimulate students' motivation and interest in learning, this study introduces a theoretical pedagogical framework based on…

New "autonomy initiatives" aim to increase schools' decision-making authority as a strategy to leverage school improvement. These policies build on lessons of previous reforms such as site-based management in ways that bode well for their success. However, how are these policies actually faring in implementation? The authors addressed that…

In the last two decades, there have been various calls for reform in teacher education programs to address the needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and students with disabilities. Consequently, many teacher education preparation programs are reviewing and redesigning their programs to meet the needs of the…

Over the last 20 years, international attempts to raise educational standards and improve opportunities for all children have accelerated and proliferated. This has generated a state of constant change and an unrelenting flood of initiatives, changes and reforms that need to be "implemented" by schools. In response to this, a great deal…

The purpose of this case study was to identify the challenges and opportunities that school principals face when leading the implementation of dual language immersion programs as instructional strands. This case study also sought to determine what skills and strategies principals utilized to facilitate the change process for all the stakeholders…