Since 2005, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute has published annual analyses of Ohio's state report card data, focusing on district and charter schools in Ohio's Big Eight urban areas: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown. For the 2017--18 school year, we provide an overview of Ohio's assessment and report…

There is strong consensus in California and in the country around the notions of equal opportunity for all children, and giving kids a chance of having it better than their parents. The reality in California is that most families lack the means and resources to provide their children with the basic building blocks of a productive life in the 21st…

This paper describes the process of principal licensure reform in Iowa. Upon adoption of the ISLLC standards, the state department of education required revision of all principal preparation programs to conform to state code and guidelines developed by an external review panel. This paper analyzes the review process and compares five programs that…

A project was conducted in Georgia to improve the quality of youth apprenticeship programs by identifying and validating a benchmarking system leading toward the establishment of a set of common, valued quality components and indicators for use by local educational agencies. Project activities were undertaken to accomplish the following: (1)…

At the request of the Superintendent of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Public School System (MCPS), Achieve conducted an evaluation of the MCPS K-12 Curriculum Frameworks and high school semester exams in English and mathematics. The review was designed to determine how well the MCPS Frameworks and exams align with Maryland state academic…

This is the third annual report on Tennessee's progress toward meeting statewide higher education goals delineated in the 1989 "Tennessee Challenge 2000" program. The report outlines the six goals, specific benchmarks for each goal, and the progress toward such goals and benchmarks accomplished over the last several years. The goals…

This is the fourth annual report on Tennessee's progress toward meeting statewide higher education goals delineated in the 1989 "Tennessee Challenge 2000" program. For the first time it also includes data on independent colleges and universities within the state. The report outlines the six goals, specific benchmarks for each goal, and…

Data from site visits, interviews and a survey of twelve high schools and one tech center in the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (OAISD) were analyzed in order to evaluate the processes that are used for course and career planning. It was found that most students and parents have some knowledge of a general course planning form (called an…