In 1993, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) challenged New York State's school financing system on the grounds that it failed to provide students sufficient opportunity for a sound basic education in New York City. CFE prevailed in 2003, after the case went before the New York Court of Appeals, and the state's funding system was determined to be…

This paper draws on Matthew's story to illustrate the conflicting discourses of being a boy and being a student. Matthew is 12 years old and in Grade Six, his final year at Banrock Primary (a K-6 Australian State School). School is far from a happy place for Matthew--his tearful accounts of his combative relationships with his peers and his…

This book advances the new field of educational leadership--that of policy scholarship. It examines the ways in which concepts of educational leadership and management have evolved historically and culturally and reviews contemporary debates about the nature of school leadership. These debates involve cultural conservatives, New Right marketeers,…

This paper is devoted to educational reform strategy and tactics relating to the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the nation's largest teacher unions. As is widely recognized, the teacher unions are the major obstacle to market oriented educational reforms, such as school choice or contracting out…

The 1996 session of the North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation, The School-Based Management and Accountability Program (the ABCs plan), an educational reform initiative designed to improve student performance. The accountability model for the public schools in kindergarten through eighth grade is designed to provide focus on the basic…

Waldorf Education, founded by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, is based on the philosophy of critical idealism, in which teachers assist in the natural unfolding of children's preexistent possibilities. But because there has been little research on Waldorf Education, few data have been gathered on the effectiveness of its teaching methods and…

This report offers comprehensive information about the current capabilities of statewide higher education student data systems including the scope of these systems, what information is collected, and how information is used. The report provides analysis of student tracking systems and data sharing across agencies. It addresses protection of the…

This article examines the trend to eliminate school boards and place school districts under local or state government control. It outlines general problems that may lead to legal actions against school districts and suggests activities for integrating public viewpoints into school governance. (LMI)

This report presents findings and recommendations from a study conducted by the Maryland General Assembly examining options for increasing state formula aid and changing the distribution of aid to the state's 18 community colleges. Following a letter of transmittal providing background information on community college financing, the report…

This dissertation examines how stakeholders in an Appalachian Kentucky high school addressed educational problems that they targeted for reform. Set against the backdrop of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), this ethnographic study describes the challenges of effectively coupling top-down state mandates with bottom-up advocacy and…

West Virginia has been pursuing an approach to connecting students to the information highway that mirrors the model envisioned by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This policy brief aims to help schools and state agencies understand the discounts provided by the Act. U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller explains the provisions of the…

Many states give individual schools the authority to make decisions in response to local conditions while still meeting state and district goals. Providing flexibility to local decision-makers is also a potential means for improving student achievement. This report provides a snapshot of several states' recent experiences with flexibility and…

This paper describes efforts to improve education in a poor rural Mississippi school district that failed to meet minimum state educational standards. Part of the Mississippi Delta, the county school district is rural and agricultural, contains no large towns or cities, and is characterized by declining population and pervasive poverty. African…

This dissertation, which won the Dissertation of the Year Award, examines how stakeholders in an Appalachian Kentucky high school addressed educational problems that they had targeted for reform. Set against the backdrop of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), this ethnographic study describes the challenges of effectively coupling top-down…

Growing frustration with educational finance in Illinois prompted school districts to file, in 1990, a lawsuit that demands adequate funding, equitable distribution of funds, and increased economic efficiency in public education. This document includes a description of events leading up to the suit. Early attempts to improve educational equity…