Over the last decade and a half, during a period defined in the public consciousness by political partisanship, the legislative and executive branches have quietly forged a bipartisan consensus around the need to build evidence of effectiveness that would ensure high rates of return on investment for the nation's social programs. The establishment…

This study examined both the influence of leadership and policy development on gifted education in the Commonwealth of Virginia and how leaders of gifted education programs make sense of gifted education policy to promote effective change. Considerations of local politics, funding, networking, and input from stakeholders shaped the sensemaking…

This executive summary describes a Wallace-commissioned report that identifies the emergence of a new kind of education advocacy organization in the United States. The report also assesses how these groups influence education policy, provides an overview of their work across the country, and offers a case study of one, Advance Illinois. The report…

After more than a decade of dedicated investment, state funding to assist local California school districts in the construction, modernization, and maintenance of their school facilities has come to a halt. As the Governor, the legislature, and other stakeholders debate the future of the state's K-12 school facility funding role, a big unknown…

After decades of dedicated investment, state funding to assist local California school districts in the construction, modernization, and maintenance of their school facilities has come to a halt. As the Governor, the legislature, and other stakeholders debate the future of the state's K-12 school facility funding role, a big unknown exists:…

Adequate funding has become a critical issue for institutions of higher education, affecting outcomes such as accessibility, affordability, and quality of education. The recent economic recession has been detrimental for state funding, resulting in budget cuts for higher education in a majority of states. Overall, state funding has not kept pace…

Reflecting the changing ideological and economic perspectives of the government of the day, the expansion of higher education in England has prompted numerous reforms aimed at reshaping and restructuring the sector and its funding. Leading to student riots and sparking some of the sharpest controversies in British higher education the reforms…

This Wallace-commissioned report identifies the emergence of a new kind of education advocacy organization in the U.S., assesses how these groups influence education policy, provides an overview of their work across the country, and offers a case study of one, Advance Illinois. The report argues that these groups, and their potential foundation…

How do open and distance learning institutions review and renew themselves to ensure their continued fitness for purpose? Here we report on the work of a change team in the UK Open University, a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning created to examine, innovate and improve student support. The existence of the Centre for five years from…

As a follow-up to the release of its "Guide to Financing EnergySmart Schools", the U.S. Department of Energy's EnergySmart Schools program hosted the National Financing Roundtable on February 5, 2009. This event was held prior to the seventh Annual High Performance Schools Symposium, hosted by the Council of Educational Facility Planners…

This is a powerful critique of two decades of educational reform in New Zealand, from an educator who was deeply involved. It is also a provocative call for action. Bali Haque has been both a secondary school principal required to implement reform and a senior public servant in the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) tasked with pushing…

This policy brief summarizes the Higher Education Amendments of 2008 (HEA 2008) and the evolution of the Higher Education Act since 1965, particularly the evolution of federal and non-federal forms of financial assistance aimed at increasing educational opportunity and attainment in the United States. Because the act's extensive academic support…

Over the last decade, Colorado has emerged as a national leader in crafting innovative solutions for challenges facing its public school system. From implementing the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reforms to more recent legislation including standards and assessments for a preschool-through-college…

Four specific topics in teacher education are addressed. The first of these is the control of teacher education, policy formation, and governance. These administrative issues are considered in the light of the complex interaction between interest groups, the power of state and local control of education, and professional organizations. The second…

A comparison is made between two broad strategies for instituting reform in secondary schools: the bottom-up, process-oriented approach typified by the California School Improvement Program and the top-down content-oriented approach typified by the more recent reform effort in California, the School Reform approach. The comparison was made in…