This 2016 report is the fourth in an annual series of National Education Policy Center (NEPC) reports on the fast-growing U.S virtual school sector. This year's report provides a comprehensive directory of the nation's full-time virtual and blended learning school providers. It also pulls together and assesses the available evidence on the…

The education reform movement has fostered renewed interest in class size. Tennessee and Indiana experiments with smaller class size in primary grades have yielded improved student behavior and achievement scores. Tennessee's new Student-Teacher Achievement Ratio Project (STAR) is a longitudinal study furthering research on small class benefits.…

This report describes an Education Consolidation and Improvement Act-Chapter 1 program for at-risk kindergarten children in four Bellingham (Washington) elementary schools. Children in the program are included in regular kindergarten classes, which meet two full days each week and every other Friday. The children also attend the Kindergarten for…

The report analyzes the effect undergraduate enhancement funding in Florida has had on the student undergraduate experience. The study involved an analysis of data obtained from the Board of Regents Instructional Activity data files, analysis of the findings of previous studies and task force reports, the results of a survey distributed to 1,031…

Researchers on the Lasting Benefits Study (LBS) are tracking students who participated in Tennessee's K-3 Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) Project (1985-89) as they continue into later grades. Project STAR was a statewide experiment conducted to demonstrate the effects of reduced student/teacher ratios (15:1) on student achievement…

Some campuses have too many students to advise on an individual basis, and faculty realize that it is impossible to do an adequate job. In such situations, advising models must be developed that allow faculty to advise students via a process different than the one-on-one model. (MLW)

Suggests three ways to encourage administrators to reduce class size in English classrooms. Describes an effective presentation to the school board, a public relations campaign to educate parents and administrators, and a grant proposal for hiring a writing resource person. (MM)

Using data on mean achievement of third and sixth graders in individual California schools, coupled with salary data for those students' teachers, this study tested whether teacher salary variables are associated with student achievement, when socioeconomic characteristics are controlled. Differences among schools in the amount of teachers' pay…

In an effort to demonstrate that open learning can be accommodated within existing funding mechanisms in British colleges of further and higher education, this paper discusses issues concerned with determining the cost of Flexistudy and open learning delivery systems. After a review of the difficulties of estimating precisely the costs of various…

Research indicates that the relationship between class size and instructional effectiveness depends on a multitude of related variables, such as age level of students, subject matter taught, and instructional methods used. Recent statistical syntheses of this research reveal that the instructional benefits of smaller classes are most significant…

To improve children's chances of early success, Chesterfield County, Virginia, piloted a junior kindergarten program for children of legal school age who are not developmentally ready for kindergarten. Designed to prevent early failure syndrome, this three-year program emphasizes accurate student placement, high teacher-student ratios, and…

To address staffing problems caused by tougher graduation requirements, Winfield High School (Kansas) recommends a rotating seven-period schedule to complement the normal six-period day. The schedule requires the same teaching load and choice of electives, reduces the pupil-teacher ratio, and increases facilities use and student contact. (MLH)

Explains the United Kingdom's educational finance system and summarizes research into educational costs and resources at the individual school level, including the Loughborough research projects in the four Local Education Authority areas. Statistical investigations show that inequalities in funding and resource allocation need to be addressed.…

Outlines statistical data relating to eight educational indicators that show aspects of education that measure the state of public schools. (MD)

Survey findings on total revenues and expenditures from 531 2-year public colleges are summarized in text, tables, and graphs. Major findings include a 1 percent decline in both total revenues and expenditures, an increase of 102 percent in total revenues per student over the past 13 years, and an increase in full-time equivalent student to…