To address the economic crisis facing the country, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law on February 17, 2009. The ARRA offers numerous opportunities for full-service school leaders and may provide the necessary funding to prevent significant decreases in operating budgets. One of the largest investments…

This paper argues that we have a theory--namely, opportunity structure theory--which can account for how school-to-work transitions were accomplished "then" and "now", and also why "now" is different from "then". Opportunity structures are formed primarily by the inter-relationships between family backgrounds, education, labour market processes…

Early journalistic reviews (e.g., Gold, Ebert, and Kael) of "El Norte" (1983), Gregory Nava's first major film, identify it as an epic. In "El Norte" the siblings Enrique and Rosa, two Guatemalan Amerindians, leave their native village on a quest to what for them is the mythical land in the North. Although "El Norte"…

Dozens of universities--primarily from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia--are eyeing the Gulf region as a largely untapped reservoir of academic potential and economic opportunity. During the last few years, UAE states like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Ras al Khaymah have spent billions to entice top universities. And many colleges…

In a recent paper, Garcia-Mainar and Montuenga-Gomez [Garcia-Mainar, I. & Montuenga-Gomez, V. M. (2005). Education returns of wage earners and self-employed workers: Portugal vs. Spain. "Economics of Education Review, 24"(2), 161-170] apply the generalized IV model of Hausman and Taylor to estimate education returns of wage earners…

This is a response to [Jordahl, H., Poutvaara, P., & Tuomala, J. (2009). Comment on education returns of wage earners and self-employed workers. "Economics of Education Review" 28]. We acknowledge that econometrics have improved since the time our original paper was written, so that the choice of accurate instruments is now more…

For the past 21 years, the KIDS COUNT project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation has tracked the well-being of children at the national, state, and local levels. Over the years, the foundation's work has documented both great progress in child well-being and periodic setbacks. The 10 key indicators tracked in the KIDS COUNT Data Book over the past…

The Great Recession left a crater in the labor market that has been devastating for unemployed Americans of all ages. After more than two years of unemployment at well over 8%, there is a hole of more than 11 million jobs, with average spells of unemployment lasting nearly nine months. The weak labor market has been particularly tough on young…

Founded in 1961, the Academy for Educational Development (AED) is a nonprofit organization working globally to improve health, education, and economic opportunity--the foundation of thriving societies. With a global staff of more than 2,000 focusing on the underserved, AED implements more than 250 programs serving people in all 50 U.S. states and…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "The High Cost of Low Educational Performance": New OECD Report Finds that 25 Point Increase in PISA Scores…

The United States' education system needs to take its critical next step: fairly and accurately measuring teacher performance. Successful reforms to teacher pay, career advancement, professional development, retention, and other human capital systems that lead to better student outcomes depend on it. Where can the U.S. find the best-practice…

Recent research suggests that investments in education may provide the key to reducing persistent poverty in regions such as Appalachia. A look at some trends in poverty and educational attainment in Appalachia over the past two decades confirms that the two are strongly related. (A list of recommended readings is included. Contains 4 figures.)

In 2007, nearly one in five or 18 percent of children in the U.S. lived in poverty (KIDS COUNT Data Center, 2009). Many of these children come from minority backgrounds. African American (35 percent), American Indian (33 percent) and Latino (27 percent) children are more likely to live in poverty than their white (11 percent) and Asian (12…

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been championed by the United Nations and others as one of the key media to open up socio-economic opportunities for disadvantaged populations. Studies lead us to believe that after being introduced to ICTs, users' information behavior changes, enabling them to benefit from socio-economic…

Meaningful access to higher education is a cornerstone of economic opportunity. Higher educational attainment strengthens the workforce, increases earnings, and often leads to a better quality of life--for individuals and the broader society. Limited financial aid, however, undermines Texans' participation and success in our colleges and…