National policy affects local practice in a variety of ways and through a variety of mechanisms. In this article, the authors examine what has been learned from Individuals With Disabilities Education Act's (IDEA) two early childhood (EC) programs about the power and limitations of policy as a lever to improve the lives of young children.…

In this report the authors use key outcome measures to summarize student performance within each higher education system; describe the degree of progress derived from system-level initiatives; and offer recommendations to address impediments and reduce demographic disparities. This report is a starting point for determining how everyone can…

The Study of School Turnaround is an examination of the implementation of School Improvement Grants (SIG) authorized under Title I section 1003(g) of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" and supplemented by the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009." "Baseline Analyses of SIG Applications and SIG-Eligible…

The Social Security Administration is funding a random assignment evaluation of six demonstration projects to improve employment and other outcomes for youth ages 14 to 25 who are either receiving disability benefits or are at high risk of receiving them in the future. This report reviews the Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) projects, located…

President Obama's Educate to Innovate initiative has provided billions in additional federal funding for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs across the country. The Administration's recognition of the importance of STEM education-- for global competitiveness as well as for national security--is good and…

The state's Race to the Top (RTT) application requires changes to the state's evaluation/accountability system. It requires a teacher effectiveness measure, district effectiveness measure, leader effectiveness measure. Regarding the teacher effectiveness measure, RTT requires linking the data of individual students to individual teachers as part…

The Obama administration has offered states the chance to waive some requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. States are required, however, to make specific reforms in exchange for increased flexibility. The administration has been clear it wants states to engage in "ambitious but achievable" reforms rather than merely asking for a pass from…

Correlation and regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship of student mobility (as expressed by the school-level mobility rate) and first through fifth grade reading, language arts, and mathematics achievement for a statewide sample of 1062 elementary schools. Comparison data were analyzed to further investigate the relationship…

To solve two enduring problems in education--unacceptably large variation in learning opportunities for students across classrooms and little continuing improvement in the quality of instruction--the authors propose a system that centers on the creation of shared instructional products that guide classroom teaching. By examining systems outside…

Drawing from empirically based and theoretical literature in the field, this review examines Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and the accountability provisions found in Title One of the NCLB legislation. States have the ability to statistically manipulate their AYP implementation, which may give a false impression to the public that AYP is a…

Student employment subsidies are one of the largest types of federal employment subsidies, and one of the oldest forms of student aid. Yet it is unclear whether they help or harm students' long term outcomes. This document contains the appendices to the report "Should Student Employment Be Subsidized? Conditional Counterfactuals and the…

The federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program aims to improve student achievement by promoting the implementation of four school intervention models: transformation, turnaround, restart, and closure. Previous research provides evidence that low-performing schools adopt some practices promoted by the four models, but little is known about how…

This bibliography summarizes recent research on the structure and effectiveness of workforce development programs. While the term "workforce development" can mean many things, this document focuses on programs to help low-skill, low-wage and displaced workers increase their employment and earnings, as well as labor market trends that…

Locally controlled public schools are one of the cornerstones of our nation's democracy, yet many schools are not preparing students for success. Far too many students are not graduating, and many of those who do graduate are woefully unprepared for college or a meaningful career. Successfully initiating and sustaining meaningful improvements in…

The "Personnel Development Program to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities" is authorized under Section 662 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and is known as the Personnel Development Program (PDP). The PDP is administered by the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) Office of Special…