Many early care and education (ECE) institutions--including Head Start, state quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS), and school district pre-K programs--use classroom quality observations in their quality improvement or monitoring processes. As many states expand their ECE programs, they grapple with questions about how best to use data…

This article reviews the historical context in which Canadian legislation and policy for children with special needs has evolved. The potential for the rights of students with special needs in light of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is outlined. The role of the Federal and Provincial governments in legislation and policy vis-à-vis…

As numerous studies from 1906 on have confirmed, children lose ground in learning if they lack opportunities for building skills over the summer. Nonetheless, summer learning loss comes up but rarely in the national discussion of education reform. By the end of summer, students perform on average one month behind where they left off in the spring.…

Nearly every high-priority item in national, federal, state, and local discussions about education--and policy proposals across the political spectrum--requires high-quality longitudinal data to inform its design, implementation, and evaluation. This factsheet shares Data Quality Campaign's (DQC's) analysis of what "Data for Action 2011:…

From the 1980s to the present, educational accountability in the United States has grown dramatically. Such accountability in U.S. school districts, although driven primarily by external demands, has internal manifestations as well. The chapter traces the historical development of internal evaluation in American school districts, then highlights…

Although a growing body of research points to the critical need to foster reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills for students in order to ensure their success in college, careers, and life, these efforts have tended to focus more on developing literacy skills in the early years, often ignoring secondary students. The outcome has…

Nearly every high-priority item in national, federal, state, and local discussions about education--and policy proposals across the political spectrum--requires high-quality longitudinal data to inform its design, implementation, and evaluation. This factsheet shares Data Quality Campaign's (DQC's) analysis of what "Data for Action 2011:…

This report is one of three volumes that describe the second phase of a study that examined the implementation of four federal change agent programs related to education. Phase 2 of the study focused on what happens to local projects in the two largest change agent programs--ESEA Title III and ESEA Title VII--when federal funding stops. This…

Citing the nation's need for an environmentally aware citizenry, the author discusses federal and international efforts toward environmental education, particularly UNESCO's First Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education, held in Tbilisi in October, 1977. She proposes methods by which the United States could implement the…

One important implication of the study is that educational policy goals must more closely reflect the student's perceptions of what they want if such ambitious programs are to succeed. (Author)

This packet of questionnaires and guides is designed to garner information about public opinion concerning policy for guiding the National Institute of Education's (NIE) curriculum activities. The following questions are focused on: (1) How should NIE define "curriculum"? (2) Should NIE help develop new curricula? (3) Should NIE evaluate…

This publication is part of a series of reports that describes the results of the first year of a study of federally funded programs designed to introduce and spread innovative practices in public schools. Over several years, the study will examine innovative educational projects funded under four federal programs, including Title III of the…

Any system for the sponsorship, support, or design of educational projects (such as curriculum projects) has intrinsic biases as to style and content. To test the thesis that these biases are virtually inevitable and precede considered policy, two simplified models of systems support can be used: the "Culture Ministry" approach and the "In Situ"…

The Experimental Schools (ES) program is one of a series of federally funded projects designed to stimulate and study planned change within local educational agencies. This paper presents the goals and methods of the ES program and of research being conducted under its jurisdiction. It considers exclusively issues in the design and implementation…

This guide was produced to help schools and school districts reduce the amount of waste they generate It shows how to start a waste reduction program or expand an existing one. The booklet shows how such programs can benefit schools, communities, and the environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling waste. Each section--schools, school…