The purpose of this study is to analyze overachieving and underachieving elementary schools in order to determine ways in which they differ. One hundred overachieving elementary schools across the nation were compared with 100 underachieving elementary schools. Questionnaires completed by sixth grade students, principals, and teachers of the…

The Governor's Education Study Committee in Louisiana has compiled this extensive report covering teacher salaries, financing public education, teacher certification, pupil-teacher ratios, and the professional literature on merit pay, differentiated staffing, and accountability. Using data from a statewide survey of teachers and administrators and…

This study was commissioned by the State of Rhode Island to provide a factual basis for future education policy decisions. Since Rhode Island has a higher percentage of children in nonpublic schools than any other State, the future of these schools is particularly crucial. Nonpublic schools in Rhode Island are divided into two basic types:…

By considering such traditional features as validity and reliability, as well as utility, and political and ethical considerations, this paper attempts to establish that student ratings are not credible as sources of information about teacher effectiveness. Several of the most common problems in the related literature are outlined and include how…

Results of the first year of the ongoing Confidential, Measurement-Based, Self-Evaluation Project that examines variables related to A-level English and Mathematics achievement in 10 comprehensive schools in the United Kingdom are presented. A-level results were found to be strongly predicted by teacher assessments and by prior O-level achievement…

This report by researchers from the Universities of Minnesota and Toronto examines the available evidence and offers educators, policymakers and all citizens interested in promoting successful schools, some answers to these vitally important questions. It is the first in a series of such publications commissioned by The Wallace Foundation that…

In this paper, the authors examine several factors related to class size. The purpose of the presentation is to: (1) trace the evolution of class-size research; (2) briefly describe the Student Achievement Ratio (STAR) class-size experiment; (3) summarize the early and the later student outcomes of STAR participants; (4) outline the…

In 1993, New York City tried a different way of changing failing schools. A large failing high school was closed, and in its place were created four small high schools, a small elementary school, an infant and toddler program, a day care center for children of adolescent parents, and a medical clinic. Over a period of 3 or 4 years the building was…

This second in a four-part series on why academic achievement gaps exist notes that standard explanations for why minority students trail behind non-Hispanic whites are not good enough, suggesting that no single explanation for the gap exists, but instead a multitude of factors are influential. Poverty, though not the single most important cause,…

Because private schools are often perceived to be more successful in teaching students, many reform proposals for public schools have looked to the private sector for models to emulate. This booklet contains national data that compare public and private schools along a number of important dimensions. The discussion begins with an examination of…

The federal Class-Size Reduction (CSR) Program, P.L. 105-277, begun in Fiscal Year 1999, represented a major federal commitment to help school districts hire additional qualified teachers, especially in the early elementary grades, so children would learn in smaller classes. The CSR program also allowed funds to be spent as professional…

This bulletin informs teachers about opportunities to teach overseas under the Educational Exchange Program, conducted by the Department of State. These include teacher interchange matchings, one-way teaching assignments for American and foreign teachers here and abroad, and summer seminars for teachers of modern foreign languages, the classics,…

The history of research on college teaching is traced, and methodologies used are highlighted. Topics reviewed include (1) class size; (2) lecture versus discussion; (3) student-centered discussion; (4) independent study and peer learning; (5) evaluation of teaching; (6) teaching and technology; and (7) impact of cognitive psychology. (SLD)

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…

Accountability countability, choice, equity, and social cohesion are core parts of the public debates over the charter school movement. To examine these important issues, we utilize the "1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey" to estimate the possible charter effect on public and private schools. Analyses of charter, public,and private schools…