Race to the Top's success ultimately must be measured by its long-term impact on student learning. Because simultaneous change in multiple systems takes time, it is too early to make that determination of success now. However, it is not too early to learn from the positive achievements of and challenges faced by Race to the Top states. This report…

Race to the Top's success ultimately must be measured by its long-term impact on student learning. Because simultaneous change in multiple systems takes time, it is too early to make that determination of success now. However, it is not too early to learn from the positive achievements of and challenges faced by Race to the Top states. This…

This year's joint report highlights the progress made in education since the special session of the 106th General Assembly (2010), which included passage of the First to the Top and Complete College Tennessee Acts. Both Acts provide a framework for collaboration between all state systems of education, addressing the overarching need to produce a…

Fingertip Facts is a compendium of some of the most frequently requested data sets from the Utah State Office of Education. Data sets in this year's Fingertip Facts include: SAGE Testing, 2014; 2013 Public Education General Fund; 2014-15 Public School Enrollment Demographics; Public Schools by Grade Level, 2013-14; Number of Licensed Educators;…

This Annual Plan presents the major initiatives and priorities the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's taxpayers and students. The Department continues to face significant challenges in FY 2016 that impact its…

There is a slowly emerging literature that seeks to understand how the Great Recession affected other parts of the economy; however, there is no research that examines the effect of Great Recession (or any other recession) on schools. Given the fundamental role of education in human capital formation and growth, it is essential to understand the…

The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program was first authorized in 2001 under Title I section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and provides formula-based federal funds to states that then competitively award these funds to districts applying for SIG on behalf of their low-performing schools. These schools use the funds…

The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the economic stimulus package, provided an extra $3 billion for school improvement grants (SIGs) under section 1003(g) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Along with this funding increase, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance…

At no time in recent history has the importance of adult education been greater and the funding more threatened. Despite the fact that as many as 93 million adults in the U.S. may need basic skills services to improve their economic prospects, funding for these services is stagnating at the federal level and being slashed in statehouses and state…

Since its creation in 1965, Head Start has provided high quality early education and comprehensive support services to three- and four-year-olds in poor families. In addition to early learning opportunities, Head Start's comprehensive early childhood development program provides children and families with access to a range of services such as…

The Oklahoma Early Childhood Program uses public and private funds to enhance and expand high quality early care and education opportunities for children birth through age 3. The George Kaiser Family Foundation initiated the pilot in 2006 by matching state general revenue with private donations. Since that time, other private funders and providers…

This publication provides a snapshot of the rules for including student growth data in evaluations of teacher performance in selected Race to the Top grantees. The information was collected in response to a technical assistance request to the Reform Support Network (RSN) from the Georgia Department of Education, where education leaders charged…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the most appropriate item response theory (IRT) measurement model for aphasia tests requiring 2-choice responses and to determine whether small samples are adequate for estimating such models. Method: Pyramids and Palm Trees (Howard & Patterson, 1992) test data that had been collected from…

Faculty learning communities (FLCs) are collaborative collegial groups of faculty and other teaching staff who are interested in and committed to the improvement of their teaching to accommodate a diverse student population through group discourse, reflection and goal setting. In this article, we describe our FLC experiences that were supported by…

This Southeastern state was awarded one of the first two Race to The Top (RTTT) grants the U. S. Department of Education funded. A key piece of the state's winning application was a legislative mandate to implement an intensive, quantitative, and accountability driven teacher evaluation system beginning with the 2011-2012 school year. The new law…