The Career and Technical Education (CTE) playbook series has explored strategies and processes states can use to strengthen CTE program quality and provide students with pathways to postsecondary credentialing and middle- and higher wage career opportunities. In the first three CTE Playbooks, ExcelinEd provided a high-level view of how states can…

This self-assessment tool provides a framework for examining key aspects of a State infrastructure that are useful for promoting high quality inclusive practices, programs and policies. The sections of the self-assessment are organized by the nine state recommendations of the "Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in…

For decades, when California's state leaders have wanted to see local school districts respond to shifts in policy and expectations they relied on the state-controlled school finance system to leverage local change. Through the use of categorical programs and earmarked funding, they created incentives for districts that complied and penalties for…

"Linking Resources to Results" explores the deliberate approach--including specific goals, a clearly articulated grantmaking strategy and benchmarks for measuring progress--the Chicago Public Education Fund used to help the Chicago Public Schools recognize, reward and deploy high-quality teachers. The case study is intended to help…

The most sweeping federal education law in decades, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, requires states to administer standardized exams and to punish schools that do not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the fraction of students passing these exams. While the literature on school accountability is well-established, there exists no…

"Accountability mandates"--the explicit linking of school funding, resources, and autonomy to student performance on standardized exams--have proliferated in the last 10 years. In this paper, we examine California's accountability system, which for several years financially rewarded schools based on a deterministic function of test…

There are very real barriers to using people, time, money, and technology well in today's public schools systems. To begin to break down these barriers, the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) has created a framework to prioritize seven urgent restructuring priorities. The authors have found that these areas represent the largest opportunities for…

Billions of education dollars are trapped each year. At this time of continued budget shortfalls when every dollar spent on education must yield maximum returns in student outcomes--states are frequently tying the hands of districts. While funding adequacy and equity must remain a priority for states, ensuring that limited resources are used as…

There has developed moderate discussion in European higher education about the use of performance indicators for both accountability and evaluation purposes. This paper begins by summarizing governmental expectations, institutional objections, and several of the controversies surrounding performance measures. We then report on using performance…

Recommendations that would improve the quality of undergraduate education and that impinge on the budget at the state and institutional levels are examined. The current role of the budget in promoting student learning and development and how budget policies can be changed to foster higher quality learning are discussed. (MLW)

This book is the culmination of extensive discussion among a panel of economists led by Eric A. Hanushek. The panel argues that improvement of schools depends more on better uses of resources than on the provision of added funds. The book outlines a plan to improve school performance without increasing expenditures. Specifically, it calls for more…

The importance of a state role in assessing and improving undergraduate education and possible initiatives that states can pursue are discussed. Two roles for states are identified: (1) state regulatory and funding mechanisms should create an appropriate climate and concrete incentives for inducing institutional self-improvement; and (2) state…

The importance of legislative initiatives to improve postsecondary education is discussed, along with mechanisms that legislatures have used to induce change in higher education, and guidelines for action. Structural obstacles to improvements that have confronted most public colleges include lack of clear priorities, fragmented responsibilities,…

A historical mode of inquiry to inform public policy discussions on accountability and economic efficiency in the public schools is presented. "Payment of results," a method of accountability instituted in the English elementary education system during the last-half of the 19th century, which was based upon governmental grants dependent…

Chapter 1, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, authorizes federal assistance for state and local programs of education for disadvantaged elementary and secondary school pupils. Its appropriation for fiscal year (FY) 1989 is $4.6 billion. Chapter 1 has been reauthorized and comprehensively revised by the 100th Congress,…