This Spotlight explores key aspects of MTSS implementation, including its relationship to special education and effectiveness in improving student outcomes. Discover how MTSS can be used to support social-emotional learning, address discipline disparities, and ensure equitable access to resources and support. By combining data-driven…

Former President George W. Bush finished his tenure without having won congressional renewal of his No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy. With President Barack Obama now at the helm, NCLB is up for debate. Brown Center Director Grover "Russ" Whitehurst examines Reading First, a key component of NCLB, that aims to ensure that all children…

In December of 2009, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced that the latest state revenue forecasts predict that the state of Indiana will spend $1.8 billion more than it receives in tax revenue collections through July 2011. Therefore, Governor Daniels announced that he will cut at least $300 million from K-12 education spending in the next…

The first public schools established in America were originally created with the intent to give all children access to an education. An equal education for all meant that a child's parentage and social standing did not, theoretically, dictate his or her future. Today the American public school system has greatly expanded and diverged from the once…

This paper argues that young Hispanic (or Latina/o) children (ages 3 to 8 years) should be of particular interest to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in education. Young Hispanic children constitute an urgent demographic imperative. Young Hispanic children are not only the largest racial/ethnic group in the U.S., but also the youngest…

This Education Policy Brief reviews the status of remedial education at the postsecondary level by examining state and national data and considers why college-level remedial programs are necessary. This Brief also examines the costs and systems of delivery for these programs, and strategies to lessen the need for remediation. Contents include: (1)…

Everybody knows what happened to educational reform in the Los Angeles Unified School District. As former mayor Richard Riordan once told the author, "That's simple; LEARN failed." Indeed, the Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Reform Now, which in the 1990s created a massive civic reform coalition, fell far short of building a…

How do effective programs deliver academic content? Can after-school programs help students master a broader base of content? What strategies can help programs and systems deliver content effectively? What is realistic to expect of programs? Program content is closely linked with our understandings about the purpose of after-school programming.…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue looks at changes in cohort composition. The analysis addresses the changing composition of the Achieving the Dream student cohorts from 2002 to 2005. The data show that at Achieving the Dream colleges, the percentage of Hispanic students increased over the four cohorts…