Income-share agreements (ISAs) are an emerging idea for helping students pay for college. Under an ISA, investors provide upfront sums of money toward students' college tuition and other associated costs in exchange for a fixed percentage of the recipients' earnings after graduation. This paper--the first in a series examining private financing in…

The K-12 student population is becoming increasingly diverse in the United States. In particular, the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) rose from 4.7 million in 1980 to 11.2 million in 2009, more than doubling from 10% to 21% of the student population (U.S. Department of Education n.d.). At approximately 1.8 million, the state of…

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education distributed $2,500,000 via a competitive grant program, the Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans, to 11 school districts. The grants and their local effects provide an opportunity to examine the new politics of diversity in public education. Participants cited a wide range of conceptions of…

This qualitative case study extends the literature on urban district instructional policymaking by analyzing the ways in which normative and political pressures shaped district leaders' instructional policy decisions. Drawing on concepts from the politics of education, it shows how teachers and principals repeatedly nullified policies that aimed…

Sixty-four federal Elementary and Secondary School Counseling (ESSC) program grants were awarded in 2009. One awarded school district implemented a comprehensive school counseling program based on the ASCA National Model at three high-needs elementary schools. This case study describes a district initiative that provided prevention education for…

This article argues that the digital humanities can be seen as a humanities project in a time of significant change in the academy. The background is a number of scholarly, educational and technical challenges, the multiple epistemic traditions linked to the digital humanities, the potential reach of the field across and outside the humanities,…

Over the past two decades, community organizing has emerged as an effective force for school improvement. In the context of shrinking education funding, stubborn opportunity and achievement gaps between low-income and wealthy children and between children of color and White children, and polarizing debate on school reform, community organizing…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to share the content and early results from an interdisciplinary sustainability curriculum that integrates theory and practice (praxis). The curriculum links new topical courses concerning renewable energy, food, water, engineering and social change with specialized labs that enhance technological and…

This article presents an interview with Eric Barela, a K-12 school district internal evaluator who conducted the Title I Best Practices study for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Research and Planning Division (formerly known as the Program Evaluation and Research Branch). In this interview, the author focuses not only on the…

This case study of one middle school focuses on improving teachers' skills in data-driven decision making through analysis of student work and their own professional practice. The expectation that schools will make adequate yearly progress has pushed evaluation practice down to the teacher level, where teachers are asked to analyze and…

In January 1970, the Department of Labor restructured its Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) out-of-school program and made age limits for entering the program more restrictive. Education, skill training, and work experience were emphasized. The restructured NYC-2 program was carried out in urban or growth areas, but the original NYC-1 program was…

Educational reforms in recent decades have resulted in a proliferation of specific programs with dispersed controls and expanded levels of governance. As a result, the environmental context within which a school district operates is exceedingly complex. This case study describes the complexity of the overall system of reporting that has evolved…

A REMEDIAL READING INSTRUCTION PROJECT TO IMPROVE THE SKILLS OF HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS IS EVALUATED. CENTERS WERE ESTABLISHED AT THREE SITES TO SERVE 750 DROPOUTS REFERRED BY VARIOUS COMMUNITY AGENCIES. THE PROJECT WAS STAFFED BY SIX REMEDIAL READING TEACHERS, SEVEN COMMUNITY AIDES, AND ONE LIAISON WORKER. INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION USING A VARIETY…

This report focuses on the new intergovernmental relationships developing between cities, States and the Federal government as funds are "block granted." The first chapter discusses the historical background of federalism and the redistributive role of government, and puts the "new federalism" in perspective. The following…