Research continues to confirm that without "excellent" teachers consistently, most students who start behind stay behind, and too few middling and advanced students leap ahead. Even solid teachers who achieve one year of learning progress leave achievement gaps intact. Schools that "consistently" provide all students with…

Our nation is squandering one of its most important resources--our best teachers--and children are paying the price. We asked a simple question: "Will our nation's bold efforts to recruit more top teachers and remove the least effective teachers put a great teacher in every classroom?" We ran the numbers and discovered a disappointing…

Despite 6 years of economic growth, California's workforce investment system faces the following challenges: (1) meeting the needs of workers who do not earn enough to bring their families significantly above the poverty level; (2) meeting the needs of employers who face continuing shortages of workers with needed skills; and (3) meeting the needs…

Vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies are required partners in the one-stop system mandated by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). The following features have long characterized VR: the primary goal of integrated competitive employment for persons with disabilities; state flexibility in VR systems, approaches, and structures; case…