"Benchmarking 2009: Trends in Education Philanthropy" is Grantmakers for Education's (GFE) second annual study of grantmaking trends and priorities among members. As a national network dedicated to improving education outcomes through philanthropy, GFE members are mindful of their role in fostering greater knowledge in the field. They believe it's…

As representatives of the public's interests in public charter schools, authorizers lie at the foundation of a quality charter school sector. The core functions of authorizing--charter school approval, oversight and evaluation--are essential in promoting and upholding charter school quality. To carry out these functions professionally and…

The nation's biggest athletics departments are quietly trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for separate sports endowments, heating up the competition for donors and raising questions about institutional priorities during the economic crunch. At least eight programs hope to bring in more than $100-million each to defray the rising costs…

Eduardo Marti has seen good times and tough times. He's watched as community colleges have evolved and adapted to a rapidly changing world. But these days, the president of Queensborough Community College (QCC) in New York City is clearly concerned. A crumbling economy, budget cutbacks, and spiking enrollment have conspired to create the perfect…

It is time to educate corporate America on the need to finance higher education by using a need-based giving standard. Corporations need to realize that two-year colleges significantly affect their work force and economy. Only 25 percent of the jobs in the United States require a degree from a four-year college, yet up to 75 percent of the jobs…

The $787-billion economic-stimulus legislation that President Obama signed into law this week contains large sums of money for students and researchers. But the final version of the plan excludes billions of dollars that Congress had considered giving to various higher-education programs. The author's assessment is that the law, as enacted, will…

This article summarizes and evaluates two "Off-the-Shelf" school finance reforms that gained then waned in popularity over the past several years. The 65 percent solution claims that requiring all public school districts to allocate 65 cents of every education dollar "to the classroom" would drive substantial additional resources to children…

Instead of putting the entire achievement burden on schools, what would it look like to hold a whole community responsible for long-range student outcomes? This report explores the concept of "shared accountability" in education. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act ushered in a new era of accountability in American education: for the…

What drives governments with similar revenues to publicly provide very different amounts of goods for which private substitutes are available? Key examples are education and health care. This paper compares spending by Brazilian municipalities on pre-primary education--a good that is also provided privately--with spending on public infrastructure…

The audience for this guide is state, local, and program leaders who want to learn more about federal funding sources that can support early literacy programs and systems reform. Funding available through federal programs can help address the underlying causes of children failing to learn to read by the end of third grade, such as limited access…

President Barack Obama submitted his third budget request to Congress on February 14th, 2011. The detailed budget request includes proposed funding levels for federal programs and agencies in aggregate for the upcoming 10 fiscal years, and specific fiscal year 2012 funding levels for individual programs subject to appropriations. Congress will use…

As part of the evaluation of the Strategic School Funding for Results (SSFR) project, American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted surveys of principals, teachers, and members of School Site Councils (SSCs) to gather information on the attitudes and perspectives regarding the implementation of key components of the SSFR model in Twin Rivers…

In 2009 the Obama administration announced a focused commitment to turn around 5,000 of the United States' chronically lowest-performing public schools as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This commitment came with $3 billion in funding for the School Improvement Grant program, or SIG, along with new guidelines to ensure…

This study was based on convergence of two educational theories: 1) that professional development improves teacher quality and instructional practices and therefore positively affects student achievement and 2) allocation of school resources positively affects student achievement. It is a common educational belief that professional development…

There's a lot of work happening all over the country to "turnaround" schools. Federal stimulus programs, including Title 1 Improvement Grants and Race to the Top, have caused many states and school systems to focus on how to address schools trapped in a cycle of failure and "turn them around." On the school level, there are…