The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, requires the U.S. Department of Education (Department) to provide reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified employees with disabilities unless doing so poses an undue hardship. The objective of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) inspection was to review the Department's administration of its…

This issue brief describes the programs and systems of the MDRC Center for Data Insights. Ranging from simple descriptive summaries to advanced machine learning algorithms, the Center's eight current projects aim to use institutions' increasingly rich data to provide new insights that can help refine and target their client's services: (1)…

Numerous lawsuits have been filed against school officials since the first Race to the Top (RTTT) monies were awarded in 2011, requiring school districts in participating states to incorporate student scores on standardized tests into their teacher evaluation processes. This study researched the history of standardized testing in the United States…

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education distributed $2,500,000 via a competitive grant program, the Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans, to 11 school districts. The grants and their local effects provide an opportunity to examine the new politics of diversity in public education. Participants cited a wide range of conceptions of…

Since the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, P.L. 89-10, as amended) in 1965, the major programs of aid to elementary and secondary education authorized under it have sought to provide for the equitable participation of eligible students enrolled in both public and private elementary and secondary schools. This is…

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…

The aim of this essay is to advance understandings of current efforts to democratize disciplined approaches to educational innovation and improvement in the US and other countries, with a specific focus on the macro-level policy contexts of improvement research in education. In the US, earlier analyses examined these policy contexts from a…

This article discusses Teach for America (TFA), one of the alternative education programs of the U.S. Department of Education designed to address the achievement gap of students of color in the country. Topics explored in this research include issues of racism and race in the recruitment and support of its teacher corp; how TFA educators of color…

The widespread assumption in the United States today is that traditional urban public schools are failing. Market-based solutions, particularly charter schools, are seen as the way to improve urban education. How then can we understand a large urban district where educational actors have furthered a locally popular alternative vision? This article…

This paper examines the debate in the U.S. Senate over the reasons why state governments have decreased funding for higher education. One side believes that federal mandates on states to pay for Medicaid have forced them to reduce spending on higher education. The other side believes that states unwisely reduced taxes, which decreased their…

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court decided "Brown v. Board of Education" and ordered the desegregation of students by race in public schools. Many of the states as well as the federal executive branch of government expressed some level of opposition to this order. Over time, courts have taken alternative positions on the education…

Teacher tenure rights, first established more than a century ago, are under unprecedented attack. Tenure--which was enacted to protect students' education and those who provide it--is under assault from coast to coast, in state legislatures, in state courtrooms, and in the media. In June 2014, in the case of "Vergara v. California," a…

The landmark New Jersey Supreme Court school funding case, "Abbott v. Burke", established the availability of preschool for all three- and four-year-olds living within the state's thirty-one poorest districts as a means of eradicating the effects of poverty. Longitudinal studies have shown the value of high quality preschool programs for…

The National Coalition on School Diversity has updated this review of federal support for school integration during the tenures of Secretaries Arne Duncan and John King, who both served during the Obama Administration. While much remains to be done, the Obama Administration has made concrete progress on school integration policy. This overview…

This article examines the intersection of teacher unions, school reform and the No Child Left Behind Act. Specifically, this article highlights the legal challenges that school leaders are likely to experience as they attempt to implement No Child Left Behind Act's reconstitution mandates in failing schools, while not infringing on teachers' legal…