The purpose of this study was to examine the efficiency of Texas public school districts through Data Envelopment Analysis. The Data Envelopment Analysis estimation method calculated and assigned efficiency scores to each of the 931 school districts considered in the study. The efficiency scores were utilized in two phases. First, the school…

This brief summarizes findings on class size from over 25 years of work on the Tennessee Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) randomized, longitudinal experiment, and other Class-Size Reduction (CSR) studies throughout the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, Great Britain, and elsewhere. The brief concludes with recommendations. The…

Background/Context: The academic success and failure of low-income youth, and Black and Latina/o youth in particular, has received significant attention in the educational literature, particularly in relation to school dropout. Over the last decade, several studies have demonstrated that student-teacher relationships, committed teachers, and…

This paper presents the results of a study investigating the short- and long-term effects of secondary schools upon student academic success and development. A questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of 15% of Cypriot students who graduated in June 2004 and June 2005 from secondary schools. A good response rate (i.e., 66%) was…

This paper examines the competitive effects of a unique school choice program implemented in the late 1990s, Wisconsin's open enrollment program, which allows families to send their children to schools outside their home district. In contrast to other school choice programs, districts not only face negative consequences from losing students and…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…

This article uses an educational effectiveness approach to model the impact of student, school, and educational system characteristics on several cognitive and non-cognitive student outcomes related to citizenship education. Using multivariate multilevel analysis, data from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational…

Studies of small-scale "model" early-childhood programs show that high-quality preschool can have transformative effects on human capital and economic outcomes. Evidence on the Head Start program is more mixed. Inputs and practices vary widely across Head Start centers, however, and little is known about variation in effectiveness within…

This report is in response to the requirement of RCW 28A.150.550 that the State Board of Education, with assistance from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTECB), the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC), and the Washington…

Current school reform debates often connect schools' autonomy to opportunities for pedagogical innovation. Scholars have argued that in charter schools, this theory does not always hold. While charter schools offer choices for parents, the array of possibilities is narrower than advocates envision. This article reports on an historical examination…

In their second collaboration, Wilcox and Angelis tell the stories of high school educators who embody best practices in their day-to-day activities--practices that consistently lead to higher student academic achievement across the core subjects for "all" students. This book shares results of a multi-case study of how some high schools…

How can schools be better designed to enable equitable academic outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse children from communities lacking in economic, political and social power? Putting forward a robust "science of performance" model of school change based on a specified process of research and development in local contexts, this book:…

The extent to which teachers and school directors are held to account may play a central role in determining education outcomes, particularly in developing and transition countries where institutional deficiencies can distort incentives. This paper investigates the relationship between an expanded set of school inputs, including proxies for the…

The phrase "data-based decision making" has been used so often in discussions about school improvement efforts that it has become almost a mantra. However, it's "how" data is used that really provides the critical link between practice and school improvement. "Data-Based Decision Making 2.0" is designed to help principals take on the role of…

The public educational system has failed to adjust practices, policies, and procedures to ensure systematic, equitable access to a rigorous education for all youth, including those from diverse linguistic and racial backgrounds (Delpit, 1995; G. Gay, 2010; hooks, 1994; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Lindsey, Roberts, & Campbelljones, 2005; Nieto,…