The purpose of this study was to understand how contributors to national media, education publications, and arts education publications interpret aspects of teacher evaluation enacted in response to Race to the Top. Using Stone's (1989) policy framework, researchers coded articles for intended and inadvertent causes. Analysis indicated that…

Race to the Top (RTT) is a first-of-its kind $4.35 billion competitive grant program designed to spur state-level education innovation to boost student achievement, close achievement gaps, and prepare students for college and careers. Originally authorized in 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, RTT encourages states to develop…

Background: In 2009, the Obama Administration announced its intention to rapidly "turn around" 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. To do so, it relied on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program to provide temporary funding for states and schools, and to mandate drastic, school-level reforms. Most of these reforms require…

Drawing from empirically based and theoretical literature in the field, this review examines Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and the accountability provisions found in Title One of the NCLB legislation. States have the ability to statistically manipulate their AYP implementation, which may give a false impression to the public that AYP is a…

Locally controlled public schools are one of the cornerstones of our nation's democracy, yet many schools are not preparing students for success. Far too many students are not graduating, and many of those who do graduate are woefully unprepared for college or a meaningful career. Successfully initiating and sustaining meaningful improvements in…

U.S. educators and policymakers are concerned about the poor performance of the public schools, particularly schools that serve students from low-income families. Although education is primarily a state function, the federal government also has a longstanding interest in improving education for disadvantaged students, and it targets funding to…

Merit pay programs for educators--sometimes referred to a "pay for performance"--attempt to tie a teacher's compensation to his/her performance in the classroom. While the idea of merit pay for classroom teachers has been around for several decades, only now is it starting to be implemented in a growing number of districts around the…

This monograph focuses on the main populations and topics in the college readiness literature. The population of U.S. youth who are traditionally aged high school and college students dominates research; for the most part, the authors concentrate on literature about this population. Within this broad parameter, the review is centrally concerned…

The authors of this memo to President-elect Barack Obama state that many in Congress are now proposing that the federal government intervene to address a range of problems in education by creating new programs and federal subsidies, including public school infrastructure and construction, funding for runaway college tuition costs, and the costs of…

This monograph contains (1) five papers on issues raised in a study by Ron Corwin on the Teachers Corps program as an instrument of educational change, (2) a summary of educators' and sociologists' responses to the papers, and (3) an essay by the editor on possibilities for educational change and institutional reform. The first paper is by Melvin…

The career education movement of the 1970s was based on the premise of preparation for career success and motivation for educational success. What evidence exists of its effectiveness shows that it may be a workable formula to apply to today's demands for work-related educational reform. (SK)

In examining the book "The Changing Politics of Education," the author attacks neo-conservative revisionism that claims that the goals of national policy are either impossible to achieve or undesirable because they frustrate popular will. (Author/IRT)

This essay serves as an introduction to a group of papers addressing different issues involved in developing a suitable definition of educational adequacy. After characterizing the congressional mandate underlying this series of reports, identifying the fields represented by the reports' authors, and describing the specific questions these…

This article summarizes the special issue's reports (EC 232 346-353) on federally sponsored research on special needs students, with emphasis on the relationship of policy to educational change. The summary is organized into the following categories: what has been learned?, what has not been learned?, and what do we need to know?. (DB)

The authors highlight three important areas in which changes significant for American education are likely to occur in the 1980s. They discuss the implications of shifts in the American population, emerging developments in educational technology, and the federal role in education. (Author/SJL)