This paper provides a critical analysis of New Zealand's Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF). The first section sketches the development and implementation of the PBRF. The second section evaluates the scheme, concentrating on three themes: the relationship between privatization, competition and research performance; the standardization of…

This paper argues that the increasing diversity of multicultural Australia is now troubling teacher education due to the under-representation of world English speaking (WES) student teachers of minority immigrant backgrounds. This is now a concern of national significance to education policy-makers and researchers. This paper summarises key…

To give states the information they need to sustain hard-fought education reform effectively, Achieve conducted research on state education reforms that have been sustained successfully for over a decade or more. Funded by the GE Foundation, Achieve hopes this work will help other state leaders, wherever they may be on their road to reform,…

Pay for performance is a popular public education reform, and millions of dollars are currently being targeted for pay for performance programs. These reforms are popular because economic and management theories suggest that well-designed incentive pay programs could improve teacher effectiveness. There is little evidence about the characteristics…

This report seeks to address critical issues such as these by synthesising the evidence on innovations in more market-driven education systems. The analysis draws on data from over 20 OECD and non-OECD countries, including both developed nations that seek to move beyond established systems of state-run schools, and developing nations where formal…

Background/Context: The analysis contained in this article was commissioned by the Social Science Research Council's Transitions to College project. Although the historical context and contemporary issues associated with English learners (ELs) and undocumented immigrant students are in many ways distinct, the project team strongly believed that…

This book is the personal account of William Bennett who formerly served in the U.S. government as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Secretary of Education, and Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The volume suggests what is right and what is wrong with education in the United States; discusses the…

Reflecting a variety of intellectual and disciplinary orientations, this volume examines major changes in educational development and reform and considers how such changes have been implemented in the past. The material addresses questions of governance, equity and multiculturalism, curriculum standards, school choice. The book has four parts.…

This report focuses on the shifting landscape of state roles in higher education and the public policy connections to quality undergraduate programs. The State Policy and College Learning project was initiated to generate state policies that would have a constructive impact on the efforts of colleges and universities to improve undergraduate…

This book details a study of policy from the perspective of Head Start staff and is written from the perspective of how staff adapted and interpreted program policies. Part 1 of the book describes the focus of the study and background information on Head Start, Hoover Community Action Corporation (study pseudonym), and Wood River Head Start (study…

This document is a collection of Education Commission of the States notes that address a wide array of education issues. The notes provide brief overviews of state legislation passed or pending on specific education issues. It analyzes such matters as performance-based accountability systems; state-level policies regarding accreditation in public…

This issue of "NERRC Focus" describes the activities of Vermont's Special Education Program and Fiscal Review Panel (the Panel), created by the Vermont Legislature in 1998, to study the delivery of special education and other support services in Vermont school districts. The Panel's primary goal has been to review the programs and…

Anticipating Congressional hearings related to reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act, this report provides an analysis of preliminary hearings and related reports and proposals. The specific focus is on whether the reauthorization process is likely to include a substantive discussion of what is needed to enable all children to have an equal…

Anticipating Congressional hearings related to reauthorizing NCLB, this policy analysis report focuses on how learning supports can be enhanced in the reauthorized law. The intent is to enhance effectiveness in addressing the factors that interfere with a great many students succeeding at school. The emphasis is on fully integrating the…

The National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC), with the support of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, was formed to develop ways to improve the utility of information for policy making at all levels and in all sectors of the postsecondary education enterprise. This report provides a model for…