Achieve and the U.S. Education Delivery Institute have developed a practical Common Core Implementation Workbook for all states in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). This workbook uses a proven performance management methodology known as "delivery" to lay out clear action steps for states and…

This paper describes the impetus for creating the Expanding Opportunities Interagency Inclusion Initiative and achievements to date in identifying and implementing effective and efficient inclusion strategies in the participating states. In March 2004, the Child Care Bureau (CCB) (renamed the Office of Child Care) and the Administration on…

Guided by a new framework, the NAEP science assessment was updated in 2009 to keep the content current with key developments in science, curriculum standards, assessments, and research. The 2009 framework organizes science content into three broad content areas. Physical science includes concepts related to properties and changes of matter, forms…

With the passage of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and subsequent amendments, states and jurisdictions have made great strides in the provision of services to young children, ages 3 through 5 years, with disabilities. As of Fall 2009, America's…

State arts agencies (SAAs)--key players within the U.S. system of public support for the arts--face growing economic, political, and demographic challenges to the roles and missions they adopted when founded in the mid-1960s. This report, the fourth and final in a multiyear study, looks at state arts agencies' efforts to rethink their roles and…

Bit by bit, the U.S. Department of Education is trying to pull down the walls that have traditionally separated general and special education. One facet of the plan is the department's support of "response to intervention," or RTI, an educational technique that bolsters the skills of academically struggling students before they fall so…

Scientifically based federal legislation now requires states to develop and implement policies for referring children less than 3 years old with substantiated cases of abuse or neglect to state Early Intervention systems. This legislation is a critical first step, but further attention is needed to translate it into scientifically based practice.…

Interviews with representatives of nine municipal agencies involved in air-quality education were analyzed for concepts and skills perceived as important for citizens in addressing air-quality concerns. Interviewees focused mainly on general air quality-related understandings (60.2%), although cognitive skills (22.0%) and specific concepts (17.8%)…

Many of our schools are situated in communities characterized by high levels of disadvantage, presenting a range of challenges. One possible response is to acknowledge this disadvantage and to try to address some of the problems it raises for students. Another is for the school to be proactive, recognizing the challenges faced by the community and…

This article presents the results of an exploratory study into the effects of School Self-Evaluation (SSE) used by eight Education Inspectorates in seven European countries. This study reveals that in the countries where SSE is strongly incorporated into the school inspection system, there is a rather substantial degree of steering by the…

This article reviews Sally Lubeck's international contributions. It describes her role as "rapporteur" for the OECD review of early education and care services in the UK, one of 20 such reviews commissioned by the OECD. It discusses the continued relevance of her observations and comments on provision in the UK. The article goes on to…

Individuals actively and continually construct the knowledge required for their working lives. Two outcomes arise from this constructive process: (i) individual change (i.e. learning) and (ii) the remaking of culturally-derived practices comprising work. These arise through a relational interdependence between the contributions and agency of the…

Since the 1940s, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and its predecessor agencies have contracted with state approving agencies (SAA) to assess whether schools and training programs offer education of sufficient quality for veterans to receive VA education assistance benefits. SAAs are created or designated by state governments but are…

This article presents a two-round discussion that centered around the question: "How well has UNESCO framed its own proposed role in meeting Education for All objectives as well as the roles of other UN organizations, national governments, and civil society actors?" The participants reviewed the most recent draft of UNESCO's "Global Action Plan"…

This issue contains nine papers dealing with influencing public policy through advocacy and lobbying. "Influencing Public Policy" (Rajesh Tandon) looks at opportunities nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have for influencing public policy and constraints to advocacy. "Recent Changes in the Global Aid Environment" (Sunimal Fernando) considers…