Since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law, educators have faced challenges trying to protect the common good of a public education while, at the same time, developing and/or reviewing proposals to provide for the school choice option of NCLB. In the debate over market-driven education versus traditional public education, many times, the…

The members of the Large Countywide and Suburban District Consortium--a group of large, highly diverse, and successful districts across the country--have made great strides in achieving college and career readiness for all students. While they are succeeding, the consortium proposes that more could be done to accomplish their objectives through…

Renewal proposals for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the current version of which is the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, are still being discussed by congressional lawmakers and staff. Capitol Hill aides and U.S. Department of Education officials have suggested that a current federal regulation governing alternate testing for…

This article analyzes challenges states identify in implementing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) with the Obama administration's proposals for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization. Drawing upon information from six states, this study shows that the Obama administration Blueprint for Reauthorization of ESEA responds to a number…

States seeking waivers under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act are hoping to replace what is widely considered an outdated, but consistent, school accountability regime with a hodgepodge of complex school grading systems that are as diverse as the states themselves. That's the picture that emerged from an "Education Week" analysis of…

The Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) State Grants Program is currently operating professional development grants for California teachers at 40 sites statewide. This is as large a cadre of projects as the California Postsecondary Education Commission has operated since the ITQ Program began with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.…

Every year, the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants Program issues a Request for Proposals (RFP) to award funds provided annually from the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In recent years, each RFP has focused on a specific objective tied to state priorities in teacher quality. Six grants were awarded in 2008: (1) Bell Gardens Science…

A number of activities are progressing in the Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) program, the federally funded program that the Commission administers to provide professional development to California educators. This program is part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), and continues the work that began as the Eisenhower Teacher…

State and local educators encountered both opportunities and obstacles in their first year of implementing the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In 2009, the ARRA, better known as the economic stimulus package, provided $3 billion for SIGs to help reform persistently low-achieving…

Two proposals in the bill currently circulating to reauthorize No Child Left Behind seem to be shoe-ins for making their way into federal law. The impetus behind both proposals is to help poor kids by making sure that districts spend as much money on them as gets spent on rich kids. Going against the grain, the National Council on Teacher Quality…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides several funding opportunities that can assist states in designing, developing, and implementing statewide education longitudinal data systems. These new and enhanced information systems will enable states to track student progress within and across the secondary and postsecondary education…

Funded through Title II-D of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Massachusetts Department of Education's Technology Enhancement Competitive grant program (fund code 170) supports school districts in the development of two-year sustainable projects that use technology to: (1) Improve student academic achievement; (2) Assist every student in becoming…

This off-reservation boarding school serves over 600 students in grades 4-12; approximately 85% of the students reside in campus dormitories. After having documented significant improvement on a number of outcomes during a previous High Risk Youth Prevention demonstration grant, the site submitted a Therapeutic Residential Model proposal,…

One important issue that is receiving attention at both the national and state levels is the need to improve teaching in science and mathematics and to address the shortage of qualified science and mathematics teachers in California schools, particularly secondary schools. There is a growing sense of urgency that our national competitiveness…

The federal Improving Teacher Quality State Grants Program--Title II-A of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001--provides funding for partnerships between Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to support professional development for teachers. The California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) administers…