In order to inform the Indiana State Board of Education's decision-making on Indiana's On My Way Pre-K Pilot program, researchers at the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University compiled existing data on ten states that have implemented pilot pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) programs and subsequently expanded these programs…

One of the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act that has gained prominence as a policy focus only in the last several years is the requirement that poor and minority children be served by highly qualified teachers to no less a degree than other, more affluent children. Under the Obama administration, the focus on "highly qualified"…

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002), there has been increased interest in using student achievement data (through standardized tests) to evaluate teacher effectiveness. Two U.S. Department of Education secretaries, Secretary Spellings and Secretary Duncan, have expressed interest in growth models and the need to…

The purpose of this case study is to describe and interpret the process through which State-level policy decisions are made for the public schools of Tennessee. The report begins with a brief treatment of the socioeconomic environment and the political culture within which education takes place. State governmental arrangements for public school…

The report condenses the yearly activities of the Tennessee Research Coordinating Unit (RCU) for Vocational Education and its efforts toward fulfilling the organization's goals: (1) To stimulate, coordinate and conduct research; (2) To collect and disseminate research and information; and (3) To improve vocational-technical education. The first…

A statewide career education needs assessment was done in Tennessee by surveying all superintendents and samples of principals, teachers, and community leaders. State employment security data and Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) scores for a sample of the state's ninth graders were secondary information sources. The primary conclusion was that the…

A study was conducted to assess the potential use of available supply/demand data in planning for secondary vocational education programs in Tennessee. Literature was reviewed for ideas and an analysis was made of the data in the Tennessee Occupational Information System (TOIS). In addition, expert opinion was collected from a selected group of 12…