The report of the national response to intervention (RTI) evaluation study, conducted during 2011-2012, was released in November 2015. Anyone who has read the lengthy report can attest to its complexity and the design used in the study. Both these factors can influence the interpretation of the results from this evaluation. In this commentary, we…

The authors argue that the ongoing research by the National Academies, the National Research Council, and the National Science Foundation are imperative. The findings and recommendations on what the school systems of America must do to develop specific educational programming will position the U.S. at the forefront of the world's economies if…

This essay, written by the U.S. Secretary of Education, contends that in order for the United States to accomplish the goals set out in "Goals 2000," society must make investments of technology in public schools to ensure access of students to the emerging national information infrastructure, the information superhighway. (MKR)

Policies for the provision of financial aid to elementary and secondary schools by national governments can be classified into four types: statist, in which no private education exists and only state schools are funded; separate, in which private education is privately funded and public education receives government support; supportive, in which…

Examines the dispute concerning ideas related to a national scope and sequence for the social studies curriculum. Urges social studies teachers and other interested parties to review all proposals for a national scope and sequence so that they can participate in developing an improved plan or recognize that defining a scope and sequence is…

Fewer than 20 percent of coaches have received any formal training in coaching. The situation is particularly serious in youth sports. Although several states and professional organizations have implemented training and certification standards, no national standard exists for certifying coaches or coaching education. (IAH)

Reviews the positions of the National Education Association on merit pay and on establishment of independent teacher certification boards and explains how those positions contrast with Myron Lieberman's proposal (EA 519 376) for the creation of national educational specialty boards to recognize outstanding teaching. (PGD)

Most standardized achievement tests do not provide much information that can be used in improving an educational program. Teachers and other program developers need to know what kinds of program objectives are being learned and by what kinds of students and what kinds are not being learned and by whom. Information of this sort furnishes a basis…

Since the United States has National Goals for Education, National Assessment of Educational Progress, a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, a "National Initiative" in reading and the language arts, a National Commission on Excellence in Education, why not have a National Curriculum? Two questions arise: (1) does the…

The president of the National Education Association evaluates the Holmes Group Report, praising some proposals and expressing reservations about others. She proposes a national teacher certification board to certify all entering teachers in cooperation with state boards. (Author/MT)

Reflects on the positive merits of the educational specialty board concept discussed by Myron Lieberman (EA 519 376) and urges further development of the concept, but also argues that Lieberman's proposal has little relation to merit pay and that the merit pay connection should be dropped. (PGD)

Poses an extended list of practical questions left unanswered by Myron Lieberman in his proposal (EA 519 376) for the creation of educational specialty boards to recognize outstanding teachers. (PGD)

Recommendations from the Wirtz/Lapointe report, "Measuring The Quality of Education" (ED 213 769), which evaluates National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), are presented. Six educators respond to the concern that NAEP's reports and material are not widely known or as useful to educators as they should be. (CM)

In a 1981 interview, a Cuban education advisor talks about the critical role of schools in Cuba's social and economic development. (AEA)

Argues that the real worth of wide-area computer-mediated communications networks in supporting reform and improvement in K-12 education is the opportunity to develop collaborative projects that link educators and students to provide meaningful learning experiences connected to the curriculum and that such projects are essential to make NREN an…