The list of 61 finalists for the latest Race to the Top competition shows that the U.S. Department of Education was successful in enticing high-scoring applications from districts in rural America and in states that had not shared in the Race to the Top bounty before. But whether the ultimate winners, which will be announced this month, will be…

States seeking waivers under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act are hoping to replace what is widely considered an outdated, but consistent, school accountability regime with a hodgepodge of complex school grading systems that are as diverse as the states themselves. That's the picture that emerged from an "Education Week" analysis of…

City University of New York's (CUNY) new community college, planned almost entirely by administrators and slated to open in 2012, seems designed to shunt its student body into narrow, mostly terminal career-technical programs with the promise of an associate's degree at the end. But to what purpose? To "reimagine community college education…

The research summary "Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students" presents the research background for the Obama administration's proposals for comprehensive, community-wide services in high-poverty neighborhoods, extended learning time, family engagement and safe schools. While these policies have broad and common-sense appeal, the research…

This paper presents the "Report to the Legislature: Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Strategic Plan". This was a year of transition in public education. After former commissioner David Driscoll retired in August 2007, Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Nellhaus filled in as acting commissioner for nearly nine months until newly…

The middle grades are a time of change for adolescent learners. Middle schoolers are in the process of refining their social skills and their self-concept. They begin taking responsibility for their education and making decisions about their own learning. They start planning for college and careers, understanding for the first time how their…

Author examines some of the fundamental issues raised by the proposals for a 16 plus examination. (Editor/RK)

Author considered a restructured plan for secondary education - the universal high school. (Author/RK)

The first lecture of this series focuses on the role of today's professor, caught in the middle of two campus revolutions, one of which he is the beneficiary and the other, the target. The second lecture considers the importance of understanding the future in preparing youth for it, and the extent to which the future is knowable. Current…

This paper summarizes several policy issues that were discussed during the years 2003-2005 periods while Dr. Upali Sedere was serving as Senior Policy Adviser and COP of USAID financed Equip-2 program with Education Development Center, Newton, Massachusetts. All data were from the Malawi School Census carried out by the Ministry of Education with…

This document describes the workshop, its objectives, and its participants; presents activity plan proposals for the pilot schools; and evaluates the effectiveness of the workshop in achieving its objectives. Four appendixes include (1) a list of the workshop participants; (2) a schedule of the work conference program; (3) the activity plan…

This proposal for effective educational change is concerned primarily with the establishment of more appropriate systems for structuring the educational process in Europe following the developments in educational philosophy during the 1960s. Designed specifically to apply to the educational system in Norway but based on principles applicable to…