State and local educators encountered both opportunities and obstacles in their first year of implementing the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In 2009, the ARRA, better known as the economic stimulus package, provided $3 billion for SIGs to help reform persistently low-achieving…

South Carolina made a significant step forward in middle level education reform by enacting middle level teacher certification in 2001. This qualitative case study documents the process through which the state legislation developed, with a particular focus on how middle level teacher certification arrived and remained on the public policy agenda…

Proposals to make high school more rigorous continue to surface in the states. Governors, lawmakers, and blue-ribbon panels are championing the plans, which are fueled by local and national concerns about economic competitiveness and jobs. But the agenda is growing to included calls for better middle school preparation, more flexible options for…