Successful district-run charter high schools, ones where there is a higher than expected achievement and graduation rate, share three characteristics: (1) a clearly articulated focus or mission for the school; (2) a rigorous academic curriculum for all students that emphasizes relevance, critical thinking, and problem-solving; (3) an emphasis on…

The "Great Recession" has caused a fiscal crisis in both public and private higher education that is unmatched in recent memory. Institutions' attention is focused on what they can cut out of their budgets. Student-service expenditures are often seen as discretionary in institutional budgets; they are viewed by some critics as…

The Community College Futures Assembly has served as a national independent policy think tank since 1995. Its purpose is to articulate the critical issues facing American community colleges and recognize innovative programs. Convening annually in January in Orlando, Florida, the Assembly provides an interactive learning environment where tough…

Keith Look, Shawnee High School principal, must steer his 82-year-old high school on the far west side of Louisville, Kentucky, through an aggressive, federally mandated effort to reverse a decades-long decline in student achievement that has given Shawnee the label of one of Kentucky's worst schools. He is one soldier in an army of principals…

This paper attempts a brief meta-reflection on quality assurance policy and practice in South African higher education, with a focus on methodology. More specifically it seeks to answer the question "What are the effects of the Higher Education Quality Committee's (HEQC) quality assurance technologies on institutional practice and how could…

This year's "Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book" consists of five sections and an appendix of additional resources and terminology. The five main sections of the report include: (1) Student Participation, Fall 2020; (2) Student Success, Academic Year 2019-20; (3) Academic and Fiscal Trends, Academic Year 2019-20; (4) Quality Assurance…

The past year highlighted and heightened California's key challenges. Millions of Californians lost jobs and income during the COVID-19 crisis; low-income families, communities of color, and women were hit hardest. As schools and universities shifted rapidly to remote learning, educators and parents scrambled to provide all students with…

Each state education agency (SEA) must address all required elements of the consolidated State plan. Although the information an SEA provides for each requirement will reflect that particular requirement, an SEA is encouraged to consider whether particular descriptions or strategies meet multiple requirements or goals. In developing its…

Fingertip Facts is a compendium of some of the most frequently requested data sets from the Utah State Board of Education. This year's Fingertip Facts includes the following data sets: (1) SAGE Testing, 2016-17; (2) 2016-17 ACT Scores; (3) 2016-17 CTE Career Pathways; (4) 2017 Public Education General Fund; (5) 2017 Public School Enrollment…

Half of all college students will enroll in remedial coursework but evidence of its effectiveness is mixed. Using a regression-discontinuity design with data from a large urban community college system, we make three contributions. First, we articulate three alternative hypotheses regarding the potential impacts of remediation. Second, in addition…

The task of recruiting and retaining ethnically diverse, qualified, and committed social workers in child welfare is challenging. Federal funding supporting BSW and MSW education has been a catalyst for university-agency partnerships across the country. An important goal of these partnerships is to prepare social work students with the knowledge,…

What kinds of challenges do educators face in increasing Native American high school graduation rates, and what kinds of adaptations to a traditional high school are understood as necessary to achieve this outcome? This case study explored these questions as part of a larger multiple case study that investigated practices and processes related to…

Background/Context: Two key uses of international assessments of achievement have been (a) comparing country performances for identifying the countries with the best education systems and (2) generating insights about effective policy and practice strategies that are associated with higher learning outcomes. Do country rankings really reflect the…

This report provides a new resource for understanding the state of urban public schools in the U.S. Geared specifically toward city leaders who want to evaluate how well traditional district and charter schools are serving all their city's children and how their schools compare to those in other cities, the report measures outcomes for all public…

A growing number of community colleges and four-year universities are seeking to improve student outcomes by redesigning academic programs and student support services following the guided pathways approach. These institutions are mapping out highly structured, educationally coherent program pathways for students to follow by starting with the end…