This report presents selected findings from the Public School District Data File of the 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). SASS is a nationally representative sample survey of public and private K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. School districts associated with public schools and library…

This report provides national estimates about student enrollment in distance education courses in public school districts. The estimates presented in this report are based on a district survey about distance education courses offered by the district or by any of the schools in the district during the 12-month 2009-10 school year. For this survey,…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress--commonly called "The Nation's Report Card"--tells a dismal story: Only 2% of high school seniors in 2010 could answer a simple question about the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark "Brown v. Board of Education" decision. And it's no surprise. Across the country, state educational…

In 2006 the legislators of one mid-western state passed into law a "Merit Curriculum" that requires a common set of sixteen credits for high school graduation. The policy represents a sharp break from the past, where only one credit (in Civics) was required for graduation, and where the traditional organization of the curriculum (college…

As New Orleans began to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University also began its recovery process. A new initiative in the recovery was the establishment of a public service graduation requirement for undergraduate students. Attitudes toward the requirement were assessed for 290 first-year and 257 advanced students in fall 2006. The…

"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This month's issue commences with a report stating how Achieve commissioned a first-of-its-kind national poll of American voters to determine their views on college and career readiness. The results of the survey show that there is overwhelming support for college-and…

This report complies with the requirements established in T.C.A. (Tennessee Code Annotated) Section 49-1-302(a)(10). The act directs the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to provide a report to the Governor and General Assembly, all public schools, and institutions of higher learning and their respective…

As state and national policymakers look for ways to improve the rigor of the high school curriculum and enhance student readiness for college, many are turning their attention to increasing course requirements in core academic high school subjects. Existing research shows that students who take high-level course sequences learn more in high school…

This study examined teachers' attitudes and beliefs in one over-performing urban/suburban high school of the state-mandated curriculum framework under conditions that I label a continuously uncertain reform effort or a top-down mandated curriculum involving constant mixed-messages as to its content, accountability demands, and future existence.…

Gannon University, located in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, created a middle level teacher preparation curriculum focused on sustainability. After reviewing the literature about learning, teacher preparation, and barriers to campus greening, the article describes how Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) was integrated into the middle level…

At the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, governors from 45 states joined with business leaders and education officials to address a critical problem in American education: Too few students graduate from high school prepared for the demands of college and career in an increasingly competitive global economy. Since then, to monitor and…

It's 2008, but the prospect of a new administration--and a new U.S. Department of Education--has the author thinking about 2001. What haunts the author most about No Child Left Behind's (NCLB's) sound and fury is that this legislation--far from signifying nothing--has helped lock in place the very structures of schooling that most need change. For…

As a result of globalization and the growth and complexity of both domestic and international bodies requiring accountants, the need for highly sophisticated training and specific certification is mandatory. Students seeking career positions in the field of accounting are amazingly left without the easy access to certification that one might think…

Throughout the United States, administrators and teachers in American high schools face mounting pressure to increase the academic rigor of their curriculum in an effort to prepare students for postsecondary education and workforce success. Career and technical education (CTE) courses have often been overlooked in the public debate about making…

The study sought to develop consensus opinion on the core competencies required to succeed as a female executive in the C-Suites of Alberta, Canada. The study was prompted by the significant under-representation of women in Canadian corporate executive positions and by a post-secondary institution's interest in determining whether a market exists…