This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from the University System of Georgia (USG)--Strong Start to Finish, one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. In March 2019, USG officially launched the Momentum Approach, which…

In 2012, the Credit When It's Due (CWID) initiative was launched by the Funders Collaborative to "encourage partnerships of community colleges and universities to significantly expand programs that award associate degrees to transfer students when the student completes the requirements for the associate degree while pursuing a bachelor's…

All of the states in this study have recently been involved in school accountability system reform. Since 2011, the states have taken advantage of a federal program to give them flexibility around certain requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 (NCLB), the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary…

The goal of this publication is to provide a snapshot of some of the publicly available resources describing efforts across Race to the Top States to ensure that turnaround schools have effective leaders. It is based on a review of Race to the Top State Annual Performance Reports, including State reports of Year 1 accomplishments and second year…

The U.S. Department of Education (Education) established the Race to the Top (RTT) grant fund to encourage states to support school reform efforts. In 2010, Education awarded 12 RTT grants totaling nearly $4 billion, making RTT the largest competitive grant fund ever administered by Education. Individual grantee awards ranged from $75 million to…

State-level initiatives on closing the achievement gap between white, African American, and Hispanic students are still in the early stages of development and implementation in several states. From these initiatives have come several new programs aimed at addressing all aspects that have been identified as causes for the achievement gap, from…

Since its inception in 1993, Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program has provided thousands of state residents the opportunity to pursue a college education. This study examines the history and recent changes to the merit-based program along with interesting consequences resulting from its implementation. This study demonstrates how the program has…

The state's Race to the Top (RTT) application requires changes to the state's evaluation/accountability system. It requires a teacher effectiveness measure, district effectiveness measure, leader effectiveness measure. Regarding the teacher effectiveness measure, RTT requires linking the data of individual students to individual teachers as part…

This is the second book in a series entitled "P-16: The Last Education Reform." It was the purpose of the authors to chronicle the growth of existing state and local P-16 councils and compacts across the United States and to look at what might constitute successful efforts and an ideal relationship between state and local efforts. The…

Discusses Georgia's Principles of Educating Teachers (POET), a statewide initiative designed to encourage middle level teacher education reform. Explores the context of middle level education in Georgia, POET's role as part of a broader reform effort called the Georgia Initiative in Mathematics and Science (GIMS), the two-phase statewide processes…

The 29th in the National Center for Early Development & Learning's (NCEDL) "Spotlight" series, this report is based on a technical report available online, and summarizes findings of a study analyzing the change strategies used in the development of pre-kindergarten programs for 4-year-olds in the states of Georgia, Illinois, New…

Noting that one of the major educational policy shifts in recent years has been the establishment of state-funded prekindergarten programs, this report details a study examining how five states (Georgia, Illinois, New York, South Carolina, and Texas) managed this educational policy shift, identified the major facilitators and major barriers, and…

How implementation of the middle schools concept affects student attainment of the purposes of middle grades education was studied in Georgia. Focuses were on academic achievement, the cost effectiveness of the Middle School Program, and any modifications needed to improve middle grades education. This study finds that students who attend schools…

A national consensus has been developing in recent years on the crisis of values faced by the United States. A measure that has recently reemerged and captured a measure of public attention is character education. This paper examines the degree to which state governments and their educational establishments have attempted to use character…

Growing emphasis on improving citizenship education at the local school system level is promoting projects which are smaller in size and cost, broader in objectives, and which motivate learning by focusing on local issues. This gradual shift from national curriculum reform programs is a result of the realization that students lack basic knowledge…