"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Governor Bush Signs Middle Grades Reform Act, Sends 250 Reading Coaches into Florida Middle Schools; (2) The…

When one sees the new Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST), the first thing one will likely to notice is the building's impressive design. The school looks more like a Silicon Valley biotech firm than a typical new Colorado high school. Indeed, the innovative structure, modeled on a similar facility in San Diego, has already garnered…

For the past few years the Florida School Code has set the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) performance requirements for promotion of 3rd graders and graduation for 10th graders. Grade 3 students who do not score at level 2 or higher on the FCAT SSS Reading must be retained unless exempted for special circumstances. Grade 10 students…

The Texas Study of Students at Risk (TxSSAR) is a comprehensive evaluation examining the effectiveness of three state-level programs with the common goal of helping students at risk of failure to achieve academically. The study comprises investigations of the Optional Extended Year Program (OEYP), the Texas After School Initiative (TASI), and the…

This report summarizes evaluation results for AISD's Summer Opportunity to Accelerate Reading (SOAR) program during summer 2001.

Summer Opportunity to Accelerate Reading (SOAR) 2002 was AISD's summer reading program serving 2,251 students completing kindergarten through grade 2 in June 2002. Among students with valid reading scores, 86% made reading gains during the program.

Title VI provides federal funds to states under the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965" (ESEA) as amended by "Public Law 103-382" in 1994. Title VI is intended to contribute to the improvement of elementary (including preschool) and secondary educational programs in both public and private nonprofit schools and…

This report examines college enrollment of students working and/or attending public post-secondary institutions in Texas for the AISD 1997-1998 senior cohort.

This chapter provides an overview of statistical issues arising in work on educational assessment and school accountability, organized around some of the most consequential misunderstandings. The article proceeds via a series of nine vignettes describing misunderstandings of statistical uncertainty in educational assessment and school…

Contemporary schools are faced daily with the challenge of identifying the instructional needs of migrant learners who are having notable difficulty learning. Given this reality, it is important to consider contemporary questions of special and general education practices. To explore these questions, this article draws from observation in a…

Behind this discussion of minority achievement is a story of one who transcended poverty and rose to the top of American education. Carol Swain advises that a student from a poor family should not be penalized because her parents are not able to involve themselves in school. This and other recommendations on policy reflect a profoundly personal…

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement ("CCSSE") this year celebrates five years of helping community colleges better serve their students. With its unrelenting focus on using data to improve students' educational experiences, "CCSSE" has established itself as a leading voice in community college improvement efforts. More important,…

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement ("CCSSE") this year celebrates five years of helping community colleges better serve their students. With its unrelenting focus on using data to improve students' educational experiences, "CCSSE" has established itself as a leading voice in community college improvement efforts. More important,…

This research anthology is the fourth volume in a series sponsored by the Special Interest Group Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans (SIG-REAPA) of the American Educational Research Association and National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education. This series explores and explains the lived experiences of Asian…

The American economist, Frank Knight (1921), introduced risk as far back as the early 1920s with his analysis of profit legitimisation. In the profession of law, by the latter part of the 19th century risk had entered into mainstream social law in Europe (Ewald, 1991). Risk discourse seems to have regained popularity since the 1970s. Despite the…