Since at least the enactment of No Child Left Behind in 2002, standardized test scores have served as the primary measures of public school effectiveness. Yet, such scores fail to measure the ultimate goal of education: maximizing happiness. This exploratory analysis assesses nation level associations between test scores and happiness, controlling…

"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) Waiving Away High School Graduation Rate Accountability?: State NCLB Waiver Proposals Threaten to Weaken…

Gaining a perspective in the development of a vision is the first step principals must take in becoming visionary leaders for their campuses. What, then, does it mean for principals to gain a perspective for the development of their visions? The purpose of this paper is to consider one aspect of becoming a visionary principal and that aspect is…

Effective evidence-based action requires getting the right data into the right hands at the right time to help make decisions. The Data Quality Campaign (2011) has provided suggestions to state education agencies for effectively using data within state longitudinal data systems. One suggestion is to identify "the variety of ways available…

In 2005, the governors of all 50 states made an unprecedented commitment to voluntarily implement a common, more reliable formula for calculating their state's high school graduation rate by signing the Graduation Counts Compact of the National Governors Association (NGA). Five years later, progress is steady. Twenty-six states say they have…

Nicholas C. Donohue is the new president and CEO of the Quincy, Massachusetts-based Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the largest philanthropy in New England devoted exclusively to education. Donohue has been a classroom teacher, a university trustee, and commissioner of education for the state of New Hampshire. Most recently, he served as special…

In 2002, the Bush administration adopted the Children's Defense Fund's (CDF's) mission to "Leave No Child Behind" as a motto. This report details the CDF's assessment of the state of children in the United States, examines how the Bush administration has translated the President's promise to "leave no child behind," and lays…

This research provides lengthy proof of a principle of social science known as Campbell's law: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." Applying…

This document consists of the 2002-2003 issues of a quarterly newsletter intended to communicate the major developments within each sector of the child and youth indicators field. The newsletters feature regular sections on the community, state, and national scenes, and include sections of resources and data. The Summer 2002 issue includes…

This research provides lengthy proof of a principle of social science known as Campbell's law: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." Applying…

The broad array of data presented each year in the "KIDS COUNT Data Book" is intended to illuminate the status of America's children and to assess trends in their well-being. By updating the assessment every year, KIDS COUNT provides ongoing benchmarks that can be used to see how states have advanced or regressed over time. Readers can…