Like other institutions, the country's education system is challenged by systemic racism. Sixty-five years after Brown v. Board of Education, schools remain largely segregated by race. Predominantly White school districts receive far more funding compared with districts that serve mostly students of color. Black and Brown children are more likely…

The Center for the Study of Education Policy utilized several grants to develop principal preparation program tools to assist programs in the implementation of the new standards and requirements for the licensure of school principals and assistant principals. Also, with the help of another grant in partnership with several PK-12 school districts,…

The Measuring Early Learning Quality and Outcomes (MELQO) initiative began in 2014 in anticipation of a new global emphasis on early childhood development (ECD). Led by UNESCO, the World Bank, the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, and UNICEF, the initiative aims to promote feasible, accurate and useful measurement of…

This report documents the second year of implementing Cycle-based Budgeting at Jefferson County Public Schools (Louisville, KY). In addition to aligning another $24.3 million new spending with the district's strategic plan, $20.3 million of existing spending was rolled into the process. Next, the challenges faced by the district to review 105…

Educational interventions typically are complex combinations of human actions, organizational supports, and instructional resources that play out differently in different contexts and with different kinds of students. The complexity and variability of outcomes undermines the notion that interventions either "work" or "don't…

In this paper, Leading Educators and the Aspen Institute propose a roadmap to empower teachers to lead from the front of the classroom. This paper outlines key phases that system administrators will need to consider as they build teacher leadership systems that address their highest priorities. For each phase, the Aspen Institute offers a…

The Financial Empowerment for Student Success (FESS) Initiative was a two-year initiative focused on increasing student success through the provision of financial services. Achieving the Dream, Inc. and MDC, Inc. joined together, with funding from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, to support three Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges to…

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a scientifically-based framework for developing curricula that acknowledges learner diversity as a function of human variability. While it is possible to implement UDL without advanced technologies, it is easier and more efficient to provide multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression…

The dual pressures of the national college completion agenda and diminished public investment in higher education have led to a growing reliance on performance-based policies. Using a policy implementation framework, this qualitative study examines the implementation of a performance-based budgeting model at a broad-access urban research…

Private higher education is growing, especially in developing and transitioning countries. Rapid growth frequently comes with concerns about quality. This article explores challenges and opportunities for higher education quality among private universities in Bangladesh. By presenting a vertical case study that explores interactions among actors…

To build collective capacity within organizations, schools and districts across the world have implemented coaching as an effective method for systemic reform. Vermont in particular has a wide variety of coaches, including instructional coaches and systems coaches, as well as a variety of interpretations of the coaching practice. Many schools…

The four case examples presented in this brief are drawn from the Gardner Center's substantial experience conducting rigorous research in research-practice partnerships. The first case describes a partnership approach that enhances a school district's capacity to use integrated longitudinal data to tackle persistent problems of practice and…

Over the period 2007-2013, a series of undertakings were made to introduce fundamental elements of decentralized education finance to Egypt. In 2009, 8.4M Egyptian pounds (EGP) of the Government of Egypt's (GOE) budget was decentralized to every primary school in three pilot governorates. By 2013, EGP 1.2B of the GOE's money had been decentralized…

In Zambia, as elsewhere throughout sub-Saharan Africa, orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) face multiple physical, emotional, social and psychological challenges which often negatively affect opportunities for educational attainment. REPSSI (Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative), in collaboration with, the University of Cape Town and other…

Experts Bernhardt and Hébert's latest book demonstrates strategies to ensure your entire staff works together to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate a schoolwide prevention system with integrity and fidelity. Each step in this important resource is designed to help administrators, teachers, and other educators improve the learning of every…