This paper draws on four case studies to perform a cross-case analysis investigating the unique and joint contribution of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) and curriculum materials to instructional quality. As expected, it was found that both MKT and curriculum materials matter for instruction. The contribution of MKT was more prevalent in…

Public policy and the popular press advocate for the use of data driven decision making by administrators in order to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and avoid No Child Left Behind sanctions. Requirements such as State Senate Bill 1 and the Student Achievement Gap Elimination (SAGE) school improvement process also emphasize data driven…

The 2010 report of the Head Start Impact Study is an important follow-up evaluation of the only national investigation that attempts to answer the question: "What are the program's impacts, as measured at the end of first grade, for children who received Head Start services when they were 3 or 4 years of age?" Overall, the study was sound…

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative provides funds for afterschool programs across the country and is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to afterschool programming. 21st CCLC-funded programs operate during nonschool hours (i.e., before and after school, summers, holidays, and weekends) and present children…

In 2000, Professor Geneva Gay wrote that culturally responsive teaching connects students' cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles to academic knowledge and intellectual tools in ways that legitimize what students already know. By embracing the sociocultural realities and histories of students through what is taught and how,…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of collaboration between public and Catholic school administrators using the involvement in the federal Title II professional development program as the subject area. Volunteer participants were interviewed using a researcher-developed and pilot study tested-interview guide. Four…

This report is prepared by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) acting in its role as the President's Innovation and Technology Advisory Council (PITAC). This report fulfills PCAST's responsibilities under Executive Order 13539 and the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-194) as amended by the…

The purpose of this hearing was to examine how charter schools can be used as a tool to drive innovation in schools. Specifically discussed was legislation introduced by Rep. Polis that would expand access to outstanding charter schools. This hearing kicked off a larger conversation about how the country can educate its way to a better economy by…

The American government set new standards mandating States to demonstrate adequate yearly progress for all students with the inception of the No Child Left Behind Act. To be eligible for the more recent Race to the Top funds, states must show, in part, a commitment to "building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform…

Perhaps no other words occur more frequently than standards in today's discourse on educational reform. There is much debate about standards. Instead of taking sides on the debate, this paper argues that the problem with standards does not lie so much in standards themselves as in how they are viewed by those who make them and those who are held…

This study tracks American states' policy choices under the No Child Left Behind Act and explores their consequences for student achievement. Using the path analysis of relationships among state-level policy input, context, and outcome variables, the study portrays a Halloween-like "trick-or-treating" game between the federal and state…

Families and individuals with developmental disabilities are leading the way in establishing innovative housing options. They are creating homes with supportive services more tailored to specific individual needs. They are developing homes with physical environments that feel more like home, or are more therapeutic. And they are taking steps…

For as long as there have been struggling schools in America's cities, there have been efforts to turn them around. But overall, school turnaround efforts have consistently fallen far short of hopes and expectations. Quite simply, turnarounds are not a scalable strategy for fixing America's troubled urban school systems. Fortunately, findings from…

Over time, accountability measurements in education have paralleled measurement systems that originated in the business sector. Reform efforts, such as the Baldrige criteria, have continued to demonstrate that the business paradigm has offered precious little in the way of classroom success, despite the publicity and funding these movements…

Purpose: This study describes Florida's model of Medicaid nursing home (NH) reimbursement to compensate NHs for disaster-related expenses incurred as a result of 8 hurricanes within a 2-year period. This Florida model can serve as a demonstration for a national model for disaster-related reimbursement. Design and Methods: Florida reimburses NHs…