Quality in early childhood education (ECE) is central to equitable child development and preparation for formal schooling and has been widely studied by researchers and of interest to policy makers. As the federal pre-k program, Head Start is a key ECE context to understand quality and its implications for equity. One central measure of classroom…

The state of Florida has taken an unprecedented approach to teacher professional development in its Race to the Top (RTTT) Program application by proposing to promote an international innovation that originates in Japan, "lesson study," as a statewide teacher professional development model. Since winning the US$700 million RTTT funding…

Following a 2011 report by the National Research Council (NRC) on successful K-12 education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), Congress asked the National Science Foundation to identify methods for tracking progress toward the report's recommendations. In response, the NRC convened the Committee on an Evaluation Framework…

States participating in the four federally-funded assessment consortia are required to establish a "common definition of English Learner." This includes the two Race to the Top academic assessment consortia and the two Enhanced Assessment Grant English language proficiency (ELP) assessment consortia. This paper provides guidance that…

This study focused on school-level approaches to assessment and accountability policies and practices. A national random sample of 131 (34.22%) principals from juvenile correctional schools for committed youth (JC) responded to a mail and on-line survey. No statistically significant differences existed between respondent and nonrespondent schools.…

Most states are participating in the initiative led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop and adopt voluntary common core state standards that will outline what elementary and secondary school students are expected to learn in English language arts and mathematics. Implementing these…

Administrators in America's rural school districts are uniquely challenged to meet increased achievement expectations despite decreasing resources. Mandated reform initiatives, population decline, and the complex formulas used to distribute tax-based funding have disproportionately affected rural schools. In this mixed-methods study, researchers…

K12 Inc. enrolls more public school students than any other private education management organization in the U.S. Much has been written about K12 Inc. (referred to in this report simply as "K12") by financial analysts and investigative journalists because it is a large, publicly traded company and is the dominant player in the operation…

It is proposed that the mandate for evaluation of Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I projects has served to establish models for evaluation design, implementation, and utilization of findings in a large urban school system. Contrary to the experience with evaluation of the "national" Title I program, local efforts were…

In U.S. K-12 public education, incentive pay for educators remains firmly fixed as a high-interest policy topic and has recently become a popular reform initiative in many school systems. The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), created in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Education, is at the forefront of this policy movement and has provided hundreds of…

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…

This report, developed pursuant to Title X, Section 1001 (d), of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, is organized in three parts. Part I is an account of the nature, scope, and volume of federally sponsored programs in colleges and universities of the United States and the institutions which participate in them. This description is…

The report on arts education presents findings of a survey of state education agencies. Requested by the U.S. Office of Education, the survey was designed to provide background data for the federal government's activities in coordinating arts education policies and programs. The survey was sent to all 50 states with 100% response. Questions…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role, practices, and status of Parent Advisory Committees (PAC) as required by Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and the extent of PAC involvement in the educational decision making process in selected school districts in Texas. The sample consisted of 637 Title I PAC…

The Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) promotes and supports rigorous, nonpartisan program evaluation and education policy research primarily, but not exclusively, for educational, human services, and non-profit organizations. The Center is located at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. It is associated with the IU School…