Depending on how you determine the starting point for the technology driving geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing, it is well over fifty years old now. During the first years of its existence in the early 1960s, the new technology benefited relatively few students who attended the handful of college programs that were actually…

As states consider increases to K-12 spending amid better economic conditions, governors on opposite sides of the partisan divide are proposing significantly different plans and arguments for the best ways to use new education aid. Two prime examples: Minnesota and Ohio, a pair of Midwestern states with chief executives intent on pumping more…

This document is a summary of the report "What Makes Great Teaching". It argues that improved teacher ­development will positively impact on pupil attainment, particular those from disadvantaged backgrounds. "Developing Teachers" presents five policy recommendations which have been signed by 17 of Britain's leading headteachers…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works with 16 member states to improve public pre-K-12 and higher education. Founded by the region's governors and legislators in 1948, SREB was America's first interstate compact for education. Today it is the only regional education compact that works…

The members of the Large Countywide and Suburban District Consortium--a group of large, highly diverse, and successful districts across the country--have made great strides in achieving college and career readiness for all students. While they are succeeding, the consortium proposes that more could be done to accomplish their objectives through…

The author reports on House and Senate bills that take different stances toward funding formula-grant programs and Obama administration initiatives. Key education programs, including Title I grants for disadvantaged students and aid for special education, would get flat funding for the 2012 fiscal year under a measure approved Sept. 21 by the…

This article analyzes challenges states identify in implementing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) with the Obama administration's proposals for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization. Drawing upon information from six states, this study shows that the Obama administration Blueprint for Reauthorization of ESEA responds to a number…

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…

Technological progress has consistently driven remarkable advances in the U.S. economy, yet K-12 education sees little technological change compared to other sectors, even as U.S. K-12 students increasingly lag behind students in other nations. This proposal considers how we can take a signature American strength--innovation--and apply it to K-12…

During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. These proposals were particularly targeted at Milwaukee, the state's largest and poorest school district. Ultimately, the only legislation enacted was a bill that modestly…

The purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs and perceptions of teachers participating in a project funded by an EETT grant for technology integration, concentrating on factors that reveal how the implementation of the 21st century hardware and staff development might have changed the atmosphere of their classrooms and teaching practices.…

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…

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…

This Digest describes several programs designed to foster successful school reform, and examines the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) Program, recently approved by Congress. Whole-school (or comprehensive) reform includes a cross-disciplinary set of nationwide and local programs, dedicated to the intellectual and personal nurturing…

This paper discusses curriculum reform in Italy. Teachers should offer a global approach to education while teaching civic education to students. Referred to as "making culture," civic education should contain content that satisfies the criteria of validity, significance, interest, and student learning. Schools should create new…