California's education system has long failed to meet the needs of the low-income students and students of color who are now a vast majority of the state's student population. To close persistent achievement gaps, the state must dramatically improve the learning outcomes of the highest-need students by leveraging proven strategies such as…

Charter schools have been one of the most important dimensions of recent school reform measures in the United States. Currently, there are more than 5,000 charter schools spread across forty U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Though there have been numerous studies on the effects of charter schools, these have mostly been confined to…

More than 70 percent of the students who access higher education in Washington do so first at a two-year institution. Washington's two-year colleges account for a higher percentage of public and private college student enrollments (49 percent) than in the United States in general (34 percent). The Higher Education Coordinating Board's (HECB)…

Colorado and the nation increased their focus on the needs of students in struggling schools. Congress and the federal Department of Education have developed initiatives that alter the options available under federal law for state, district, and school leaders to intervene in persistently struggling schools. In addition, Colorado has recently…

The purpose of this study was to investigate Maryland State Senators and Delegates attitude toward ten goals of the community college mission (academic transfer/general education, globalization, community service, continuing education, developmental education, open access, student services, vocational-technical training, funding, and workforce…

Council for American Private Education (CAPE) is a coalition of national associations serving private schools K-12. "Outlook" is published monthly by CAPE. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Luminaries Energize Attendees at School Choice Policy Summit; (2) High Court to Hear Arizona School Choice Case; (3) A Favorite…

In recent years, public charter schools in Connecticut and around the United States have proven that students living in poverty are capable of high achievement. President Obama said in a July 2009 interview, "Charters, which are within the public school system, force the kind of experimentation and innovation that helps to drive excellence in…

About 50 miles east of Topeka, Kansas, in what is now the suburban town of Merriam sits South Park Elementary School. Built in 1947 for white children at a cost of $90,000, the school at that time showcased eight modern classrooms, a multi-purpose auditorium, a lunchroom, and playground. Today, the building serves as a monument to a struggle for…

Voucher programs and their supporters have had a tough last few years. The Florida Supreme Court declared vouchers in that state unconstitutional in 2006. Three years later, the Arizona Supreme Court did the same. In 2007, voters in Utah handed a resounding defeat to a voucher program there. In 2009, the U.S. Congress refused to continue funding…

In an election year dominated by the pitched battle for Congress and major governors' races, state ballot measures involving education are largely tied to a similar theme: the burden of funding K-12 programs when state finances are shaky. In some cases, initiatives, constitutional amendments, and other ballot measures seek to tap new sources of…

Objectives: All 50 states and the District of Columbia have statutes outlining the grounds for terminating parental rights (TPR) in relation to child abuse and neglect. Although recent research has found that parents with disabilities are not more likely to maltreat their children than parents without disabilities ([Glaun and Brown, 1999] and…

Although a growing line of research has emerged on the legal history and policy effects of state legislation regarding the college access opportunities of undocumented students, less is written on the implementation stories of these laws and policies in the institutions most likely to enroll undocumented students--the community college. This…

This article offers a qualitative content analysis of the print news media coverage of Proposal 2, an anti-affirmative action ballot initiative that passed on November 7, 2006. Our purpose was to determine what type of information on the initiative and affirmative action was available to the public. Results indicate that little substantive…

During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. These proposals were particularly targeted at Milwaukee, the state's largest and poorest school district. Ultimately, the only legislation enacted was a bill that modestly…

While fiscal year 2012-2013 was a year of transition for the Office of Early Learning (OEL), fiscal year 2013-2014 proved to be a year when new leadership, organizational structure, direction and vision coalesced, producing results that demonstrated the office was moving in the right direction. The first day of the fiscal year--July 1, 2013--was…