America's secondary schools are failing far too many of their students. Policymakers and members of the education community generally agree that the problems in America's high schools have reached crisis proportions in recent years. Transforming schools and educating all students well requires thoughtful, coordinated, systemic change. To ensure…

Education Resource Strategies (ERS) works with school and district leaders to help them more strategically use resources--people, time, and money--to improve student performance. They have found that many school districts begin creating small high schools without a clear sense of how much they will spend or how to ensure that small schools…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

This report highlights the importance of addressing the unique set of needs of middle-level students. The struggle over structuring and content of middle-level education--the K-8 versus middle-school/junior-high argument--mirrors to a considerable extent the broader recurring battle of traditionalism versus progressivism. There are few empirical…

The purpose of this booklet is to introduce parents of students with disabilities to the "big ideas" contained in school improvement efforts under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and to provide them with the information they need to help ensure that their children…

While California community colleges are open to all students eligible and able to benefit, most students must demonstrate that they are ready for college-level academic work by passing the college's placement exam once they enroll. Because California does not explicitly define college readiness standards for high school students, the placement…

To evaluate the adequacy and efficiency of preschool education in California, the RAND Corporation has undertaken the California Preschool Study to improve understanding of achievement gaps in the early elementary grades, the adequacy of preschool education currently given, and what efficiencies or additional resources might be brought to bear in…

This standards review is the second in a series of annual reviews of the Colorado Model Content Standards. Its purpose is to identify student performance over time on measures of existing science standards, identify ways to affirm and strengthen standards and more clearly articulate the practices used by Colorado schools to promote student…

In this report we explore the role of reviewer agreement in judgments about alignment between tests and standards. Specifically, we consider approaches to describing alignment that incorporate reviewer agreement information in different ways. The essential questions were whether and how taking into account reviewer agreement changes the picture of…

The authors describe the journey they undertook integrating the arts into the summer institute. The central reason for their focus on the arts in the summer institute is the desire to support education reform--with a particular eye to social justice in schools. The authors believe that when the field is open wide enough to allow everyone's ideas…

DC Public Schools has adopted new learning standards for core subjects, including reading/English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The new standards show what students should know and be able to do: (1) in each subject; (2) at each grade level; and (3) in every school. Standards tell all students that they are expected to…

This report is the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's first ever comprehensive analysis of education reform and results in the 50 states. For each of them, this report examines: (1) student achievement, with a focus on poor and minority students; (2) achievement trends since the early 1990s for these same students; and (3) reform efforts centering on…

The expansion of school choice and greater competition between schools is currently the centrepiece of government educational policy in the UK. There is an increasing emphasis on parents' right to choose their preferred schools, and whilst many parents may value choice itself, the advocates of these market oriented reforms usually argue that the…

Why should schools have a Family Math Night? It helps students learn essential math concepts. It gives parents a chance to serve as models of motivation, persistence and competence. It promotes math success in a supportive setting. With its step-by-step directions and suggestions for both teachers and parents, this book takes the worry out of…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…