Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

The school district in Anne Arundel County, Md., this spring entered into what appears to be a unique contract with the local teachers' union over struggling Annapolis High School: Teachers will work year-round and make a commitment to stay at the school for three years. Designed by Superintendent Kevin Maxwell to fend off a state takeover, the…

For all the debate over the effectiveness of the No Child Left Behind Act, researchers and policymakers say that, despite the law's flaws, it has successfully identified 1,200 public schools that need help, some of them desperately so. Now the question is: How can the federal law be changed to make sure such schools get that help? As Congress…

In this conversation, triggered by display of a poster in the workplace, the author discusses migration of certified teachers away from South Africa, and cites a belief that a personal choice to seek employment in a foreign country seems inconsistent with the premise of communitarianism. Waghid argues that such teacher loss may exacerbate…

This edition of "Policy Issues" addresses teacher recruitment and retention policies in play across the country. It starts by proposing a generally accepted definition of at-risk schools and making a case for why it is so important to improve teacher quality in these schools. It then takes the reader through (1) an examination of states'…

Explores the digital divide at historically Black colleges and universities, a technology gap that keeps overwhelmingly minority populations from participating in or benefiting from the information technology revolution. Describes efforts to remedy the problem at various schools, controversy over the existence of such a divide, and mobilization of…

Science enrichment programmes housed outside traditional school settings can offer students from traditionally under-resourced schools valuable opportunities to access authentic scientific tools and practices. The present study contributes to our understanding of this potential and how it can best be realised through an analysis of the students'…

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice teacher learning in an integrated course and field experience in an urban school-university partnership. Study participants included two cohorts of preservice teachers at a large, northeastern research university who were completing a semester-long experience of site-based coursework and…

This paper reflects on a new pre-service teacher education initiative, "Classmates." "Classmates" is a collaboration between the University of Western Sydney (UWS) and the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET), South Western Sydney Region. "Classmates" aims to prepare pre-service teachers to work…

The article tracks the evolution of the English school finance system from 1988 to 2007. Three main periods are distinguished: Establishing Local Management of Schools (1988-1997); New Labour and Consolidation (1997-2002); and Centralizing Labour (2002-2007). Three key criteria are applied in assessing the system--efficiency, equity and…

International academic partnerships have the potential to enhance the participating institution's efforts to become actors in the global educational arena. The ability of partnerships to realize their objectives is affected by the relationship that the partner members have with one another and the mutual benefit each receives from the agreement.…

How many teachers stay, especially in the schools that need them most? The question has attracted widespread attention as policymakers have recognized that expert teaching is the most important school-related factor in student achievement. Data show that poor and minority students assigned to ineffective teachers lag significantly behind their…

TITLE I FUNDS TO THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO PROVIDE COMPENSATORY EDUCATION FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE-FIFTH OF THE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN PUBLIC AND NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS. EIGHTY-EIGHT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS RECEIVE FUNDS FOR PROGRAMS WHICH AID IN REDUCING THE NUMBER OF DROPOUTS, IMPROVING READING, INCREASING MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT, BETTERING…

Students, teachers, principals, and communities in areas of high poverty and high proportion of minorities are struggling to improve their test scores in this time of high-stakes testing and accountability. Discrimination, inequities, and injustices prevalent in these schools and communities are also issues that must be addressed. Ten principals…

Author argued for national funds and guidelines to help both disadvantaged schools and disadvantaged people: the concluding article in a three part series on positive discrimination. (Editor/RK)