Building on their work through Achieving the Dream, six states and 15 community colleges joined the Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) in 2009 to take on one of higher education's most daunting challenges: improving the success of students who enter community college academically underprepared. The states and Jobs for the Future, which…

States and districts facing pressure to have all children meet high standards have been paying overdue attention to improving school leadership as a way to advance instruction and drive needed changes throughout schools. What will it take to ensure that "all" public schools have leaders equal to the challenges facing them? That question has placed…

This report was written at the request of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio, to inform the discussion of state-level policy makers and other stakeholders on how to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of services provided to Ohio's students with special needs. It is critical for Ohio to find…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has had several tangible effects on education and the monitoring of education. There have been both intended and unintended consequences. ESEA's newer generation of federal programs, such as Race to the Top, and the recent ESEA flexibility guidelines, have continued to push development of methods…

This article analyzes challenges states identify in implementing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) with the Obama administration's proposals for Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization. Drawing upon information from six states, this study shows that the Obama administration Blueprint for Reauthorization of ESEA responds to a number…

This article provides a snapshot of how all 50 states are progressing with the development and implementation of response-to-intervention (RtI) models 1 year after the final regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act were passed. Data were collected through a review of existing state department of education Web sites and…

This fall, the nine states that finished as runners up in last year's groundbreaking Race to the Top competition will have an opportunity to reapply for a grant. The winners will receive a combined $200 million to help implement the bold education reform plans they developed last year. Many of the eligible states already have clear roadmaps toward…

It is a simple fact that access to high-speed broadband is now as vital a component of K-12 school infrastructure as electricity, air conditioning, and heating. The same tools and resources that have transformed educators' personal, civic, and professional lives must be part of learning experiences intended to prepare today's students for college…

The evolution of the federal role in education policy has entailed increasing activism in matters traditionally controlled by states and school districts. However, the expanding federal role has not resulted in a zero sum game for states and localities. Focusing on the policy-implementation process, this article examines recent state and local…

Publicly reporting timely, actionable, and comprehensible data is one of the most powerful ways states can promote transparency, strengthen accountability, and ensure that everyone with a stake in education--parents, educators, policymakers, researchers, and members of the public and press-- has access to the information they need to make good…

At least 5,000 public schools have failed to meet their academic achievement targets for at least five consecutive years. The underlying causes of such failure are usually a combination of weak leadership, inadequate skill levels among teachers, and insufficient high-quality teaching materials. In 2009, the National Governors Association Center…

Teacher leadership can improve teacher retention, strengthen the teaching profession, build the capacity of school leaders, and facilitate innovative advances to the structure of school staffing. Therefore, many states are beginning to formalize teacher-leadership options, and this expanded career continuum is expected to facilitate improved…

Teacher leaders are teachers who aspire to stretch beyond their classrooms to engage in leadership roles that take many shapes and forms, both "informal" and "formal." These teachers view the school as a whole, see the "big picture" and focus on how they can help improve aspects of the school to result in increases in student achievement. Teacher…

School accountability is subject to considerable scrutiny. It generates sharp political debate, policy challenges, and continuous discussion. Growth models are now a part of that discussion. To many practitioners the sheer volume of "important to know" information is daunting. The members of the Technical Issues in Large Scale Assessment…

This article describes how Wayne State University's TechTown is helping revive Detroit's hard-hit economy. TechTown got its start when then-Wayne State President Irvin Reid and a small group of business leaders in the city and state officials decided Detroit needed to embrace the business incubator idea that had been so successful in other regions…