Compensation of most US public school teachers is rigid and solely based on seniority. This paper studies the labor market effects of a reform that gave school districts in Wisconsin full autonomy to redesign teacher pay schemes. Following the reform, some districts switched to flexible compensation and started paying high-quality teachers more.…

Teachers are one of the most important inputs in the production of student achievement, and their impact persists throughout adulthood. Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers to the profession is thus a policy issue of highest importance. More attractive compensation packages are often proposed as a possible tool to achieve this goal. In…

California's alternative education options for youth vulnerable to dropping out of school have been established at different historical points and for different student age and target populations. For purposes of this brief, "alternative school" is defined as belonging to one of six legislatively authorized types of public (non-charter)…

The opposing principles of local control and increased standardization are a prominent tension in the United States' education system. Since at least the early 1990s, this tension has taken shape around the accountability movement, defined by educational reforms that hold schools, teachers, and students accountable for performance on new…

Restrictions on collective bargaining are spreading. But while reformers are right to question current labor practices in education, they're wrong to believe that bargaining prohibitions will solve the problems. A smarter approach would begin by putting down the sledgehammer wielded in Wisconsin and picking up a scalpel by pushing for laws aimed…

The popular narrative of Wisconsin's collective bargaining battle started out being about money. Should public employees pay more toward their healthcare? Can school districts offset state aid cuts using the additional revenue from employee healthcare contributions? Does collective bargaining have a cost? This article gives an overview of…

Based on a review of state documents and interviews with state and local officials in six Midwest Region states, this qualitative study describes state education agency policy development and planning for response to intervention approaches to instruction. It also looks at the support provided to districts and schools implementing response to…

Based on a review of state documents and interviews with state and local officials in six Midwest Region states, this qualitative study describes state education agency policy development and planning for response to intervention approaches to instruction. It also looks at the support provided to districts and schools implementing response to …

This publication is intended to help improve the educational planning and evaluation practices of the several hundred small- to medium-sized Wisconsin school districts that do not have a centralized planning staff. Although it was prepared specifically for school districts in Wisconsin, its content is just as useful and applicable to districts in…

Examines Wisconsin's school finance system in light of recent legislation and the education clause in the state constitution. Argues for judicial involvement to correct the finance system. Available from Marquette Law Review, 1103 West Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53233. (IRT)

Wisconsin has a local options competency-testing policy for public schools: participating districts receive state assistance, but are subject to regulations on test development and use. This paper examines influences on school district program adoption, focusing on local support for any testing program and superintendents' attitudes toward state…

Surveys of Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin school board members indicate significant impact of state collective bargaining legislation on perceived ability of board members to perform legislatively prescribed duties. (Author/JBM)

This data supplement, which covers 1976-77, updates the statistics and information contained in EA 009 930. Both parts of "Planning for Better Education in Wisconsin" were compiled by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to provide information needed by local school boards, administrators, advisory committees, and agency school…

The purpose of this handbook is to provide suggested guidelines and pertinent information that will be helpful to Wisconsin Agency School Committees in assessing the effectiveness of present school districts, developing effective long-range plans for district organization, and evaluating educational planning in school districts. This volume, in…

In order to achieve an understanding of the present and future role of the Cooperative Education Service Agency (CESA), in Wisconsin, this chapter first places the development of that agency in its historical perspective. The programs and services CESAs provide today, as well as those they could provide, are then set forth in some detail. Next,…