For decades, for-profit educational provision has been merely tolerated, often grudgingly. In the world of charter schooling, for-profit providers are lambasted and sometimes prohibited. In higher education, for-profit institutions have grown rapidly, enrolling millions of nontraditional students and earning enmity, suspicion, and now…

This paper offers seven things one should know about open textbook publishing. These seven facts are: (1) The open educational resources model, including textbooks, has emerged as a response to rising text prices, a need for greater access to high-quality learning materials, the proliferation of e-reader devices, and a trend in publishing toward…

This report has not sought to study higher education to reach conclusions about higher education. Rather, it has been to treat the industry's challenges, at their core, as problems of managing innovation effectively. The authors therefore examine the industry through the lenses of the theories that have emerged from research on innovation. Higher…

Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) is poised to take action today that will lead to serving all students more effectively. Although the challenges are significant, including deep budget cuts, the district made the strategic choice to look thoroughly at how resources are currently allocated and now has a foundation for making decisions that will…

To improve the employment rates and earnings of Americans workers, we need to create more-coherent and more-effective education and workforce development systems, focusing primarily (though not exclusively) on disadvantaged youth and adults, and with education and training more clearly targeted towards firms and sectors that provide good-paying…

The longitudinal study of the 2005-06 preschool in Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) found short-term gains during the preschool year, but limited impact by kindergarten and no average impact by the end of 3rd grade on achievement, retention rates, special education placements, or attendance. Small sample sizes limit conclusions that can be…

Effectiveness, efficiency and value for money are central concerns for the higher education sector. In England, decisions made by the current Government will effect a radical change in the funding for teaching. Institutions will be managing a reduction in public funding for teaching and the transition to the new system of graduate contributions,…

The classic question, "Should business schools teach ethics?" is not often asked anymore given the drip, drip, drip of business corruption reported in the news. Even skeptics allow that business ethics education could not hurt and might improve the ethics of business leaders. Furthermore, universities, colleges, and business accrediting…

Sometimes a proposed piece of legislation or new rule can catalyze debate about a key issue. That seems to be the case for the "gainful employment" rule currently being proposed by the Department of Education (DOE). The rule addresses a very real problem: The large amounts of debt being taken on by some students, mainly those attending for-profit…

Most analyses of teacher quality end without any assessment of the economic value of altered teacher quality. This paper combines information about teacher effectiveness with the economic impact of higher achievement. It begins with an overview of what is known about the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement, which provides…

The purpose of this study was to identify the common consequences experienced by school corporations when closing or consolidating schools. The primary focus of the study was to identify the financial and political consequences experienced by school corporations when closing a school closing or consolidating schools. Specific questions regarding…

Over 55 years ago, the Western states formed the Western Regional Education Compact and agreed to share higher education resources in the West through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Through WICHE's three student exchange programs, nearly 26,000 residents of 15 Western states are enrolled at reduced levels of…

This Special Report is a summary of the following publications: (1) "The Role of Home-Visiting Programs in Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect." "The Future of Children," 19(2), 119-146 (Howard and Brooks-Gun 2009); and (2) "Home Visitation and Young Children: An Approach Worth Investing In?" "Social Policy…

The purpose of this article is to explore quality and growth implications emergent from various incremental costing models applied to distance education units. Prior research relative to costing models and three competing costing models useful in the current distance education environment are discussed. Specifically, the simple costing model, unit…

Isabel Sawhill, Adam Thomas, and Emily Monea believe that given the well-documented costs of nonmarital births to the children and parents in fragile families, as well as to society as a whole, policy makers' primary goal should be to reduce births to unmarried parents. The authors say that the nation's swiftly rising nonmarital birth rate has…