Highly rated urban schools are often held up as models for lower-rated urban districts. These high-scoring urban schools, both district and charter, get results on Ohio's standardized tests that shine compared to results many schools get in districts struggling with the effects of concentrated poverty. Administrators, journalists, and policy…

Policy Matters Ohio looked at schools rated the highest over a two-year period in each of Ohio's eight largest urban districts. State, school, and district data were used to examine schools--district-run and charter--that were rated Excellent or higher for either the 2010-11 or the 2011-12 school year or both. The number of schools examined ranged…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience for Youth (1997 cohort) are used to examine the urban school achievement gap. Specifically, we use the Blinder-Oaxaca technique to decompose differences in Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery scores for students who attended urban and suburban schools. We find that…

The study examined the No Child Left Behind Act as it relates to the recruiting and retention of special education teachers in rural school districts. The focus of the research was to examine those factors that have influenced teachers to leave the profession or to seek employment in more urban school districts. Data for the study were collected…

Blaming unsatisfactory student achievement on the middle school concept is a case of mistaken identity. Too many middle schools have failed to fully implement the middle school concept. Based on statements from the Carnegie Council and the National Middle School Association, the middle school concept calls for improved academic achievement for all…

Students, faculty, administration, and community members of three Iowa rural school districts were interviewed to identify educational issues in their communities. The results of the Iowa investigation are compared with the results of the Claremont Graduate School investigation published in "Voices from the inside: A report on schooling from…