In this article, the authors found that the economic circumstances of military families are good, certainly much improved compared with even a decade ago. The military context is nonetheless challenging, with long hours, dangerous work, frequent transfers, and stressful absences during deployment. Service members receive relatively high pay and…

According to Chadwell (2009), South Carolina leads the nation in single-gender classrooms as a means to offer parents school choice. South Carolina teachers who recognize and know the gender differences between girls and boys can ensure that students reach their full potential as it relates to education. The concern is that there are a number of…

Increasing demands for design rigor and an emphasis on evidence-based practice on a national level indicated a need for further guidance related to successful implementation of randomized studies in education. Rigorous and meaningful experimental research and its conclusions help establish a valid theoretical and evidence base for educational…

Federal and state guidelines for school reform dominate the landscape of public education. Florida and its school districts, as a Race to the Top state, are in the process of fully implementing a value-added model of teacher evaluation. Effective school leaders are calling upon the theoretical framework of transformational, visionary and…

Tennessee has undertaken several wide-ranging reforms aimed at educator practice and effectiveness over the past several years, including the launch of a new teacher evaluation system, modification of teacher tenure policy, and initial implementation of Common Core State Standards. This report from the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE)…

This summary presents highlights of the "Minnesota Early Childhood Risk, Reach, and Resilience Report." The report describes potential risks to the healthy development of young children and the extent of coverage of publicly-funded services to meet their early learning, health, and basic needs. It also includes new and emerging…

Since 1998, the Iowa Department of Education's Division of Community Colleges and Workforce Preparation (Division) has compiled and published "The Annual Condition of Iowa's Community Colleges," commonly known as the "Condition Report." The intent of this report is to provide clear, objective data about Iowa's community…

This study provides a framework for institutions of higher education to measure to what extent their emergency preparedness plans align with the National Response Framework (NRF). The author used alignment with the five principles of the NRF as a proxy to measure emergency preparedness at colleges and universities and to answer the following…

The Reading First (RF) Program was first and foremost designed to improve young students' reading skills, as reading proficiency is critical to students' success in school. Students must be able to read and comprehend text well in order to master subject matter taught in various content areas. Disproportionately large numbers of minority and…

This commentary describes a national bullying prevention effort, called Stop Bullying Now!, which aims to increase awareness of the problem of bullying and related research findings, and disseminate evidence-based approaches to prevention. Drawing on the special issue's main theme of the social context of bullying, the author describes the process…

Two years after Congress made the federal government's largest one-time investment in the nation's public schools, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--the economic-stimulus package--has prevented massive teacher layoffs, spurred states to devise sweeping education overhaul plans, and invigorated the national conversation about turning…

The author reports on the federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 in which President Barack Obama singled out education as an area crucial to the country's economic future. He called for bolstering programs he deems critical to his vision for a renewed Elementary and Secondary Education Act and proposed new ones in research, early-childhood…

Proposed new federal rules governing the meals served to school children across the country each weekday are causing a stir among food industry groups, cafeteria managers, parents, and students. The skirmish is over the U.S. Department of Agriculture's efforts, prompted by the recent passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, to rewrite the…

The Benjamin Gilman International Scholarship Program, founded in 2000 as a means to fund study abroad for low-income students, has become the largest federally funded scholarship program for study abroad at the undergraduate level, with more than 2,300 recipients in academic year (AY) 2010-2011. Interviews with former Congressman Benjamin Gilman,…

Across the nation, 48% of schools have failed to meet No Child Left Behind's testing targets (Center of Education Policy, 2011). In 2011, more schools had not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) than in any previous year, according to stateby-state data for the 2011 school year. Out of a total of 980 schools 461, or 47%, did not make AYP in…