This article examines key lessons learned by Russia while developing national assessment system in education. It shows that reforms are more likely to succeed backed with sustained political support, clearly defined goals or priorities, gradual introduction, and open discussion with stakeholders. [This article was translated by Lucy Gunderson.]

Budget constraints and difficulty raising taxes limit school districts from expanding education programming, even when research shows that additional expenditures would generate economic benefits that are greater than costs. Recently, coalitions of private investors, philanthropists, education practitioners, and government finance analysts have…

Incentivized collaboration, schools that receive incentives such as public funding or additional resources if they join a network, has become quite popular in Europe and North America (e.g. England, Flanders, United States). We used a comparative case study design to explore why schools would enter such an incentivized network and what role…

The inception of no-fee schools and a school-fee exemption policy has become a contentious issue but also an exciting one for school managers in South Africa. Managers opposed to the policy have cited amongst others things, academic standards dropping, as well as parents who can afford to pay jumping on the bandwagon and refusing to pay. While the…

An important recent development in evidence-based policy is the federal government's use of a "tiered evidence" approach to allocating funding in grant programs such as the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation Fund (i3). A central feature of this approach is that the largest grants are awarded to fund large-scale…

More than two decades ago, the world made a promise to children everywhere by signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which includes education as a basic human right, which is universal and inalienable--everyone, regardless of religion, ethnicity or economic status, is entitled to it (UNICEF, 2008). Yet this global promise was…

Socioeconomic achievement gaps have long been a central focus of educational research. However, not much is known about how (and why) between-district gaps vary among states, even though states are a primary organizational level in the decentralized education system in the United States. Using data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA),…

"Ohio Education by the Numbers" offers busy policy makers, journalists, and civic and business leaders simple and easy-to-use vital statistics about Ohio's schools and the students they serve. The facts and figures contained within offer an overview of Ohio's students; where they go to school; their achievement on national and state…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) follows education budgets and legislation during regular and special legislative sessions, from governors' proposals through final legislative actions in the 16 SREB states. Reports include bill numbers and legislative Web site addresses to allow prompt access to current legislation. This report…

Guam Department of Education (GDOE) is a single unified school district consisting of grades Kindergarten through 12. Its 26 Elementary Schools, 8 Middle Schools, 5 High Schools, and one alternative school serves over 31,000 students, and is managed by the 9-member Guam Education Board (GEB). Despite the operational and financial challenges the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence and impact of budgetary cutbacks to music teaching positions and district funding in three Midwestern states, namely Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri. The results revealed cuts to staffing and district funding of music programs without a reduction in student enrollments in 2011-2012…

International assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) have exhibited United States students specifically in the fourth and eighth grades, are not performing well when compared to their international peers. Educational stakeholders including…

Washington's community and technical colleges set a national example for innovative policies, practices and research for student success. Washington's community and technical college system ranks 12th in the nation for graduation rates, and 7th for certificates and degrees produced. Olympic College and Renton Technical College in March 2015 were…

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Census of Governments and the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances as authorized by law under Title 13, U.S. Code, Sections 161 and 182. The Census of Governments has been conducted every 5 years since 1957, while the annual survey has been conducted annually since 1977 in years when the Census…

With the emphasis on high standards and fiscal accountability, there is a heightened need to inform the research linking student achievement to the allocation of resources. This mixed methods inquiry sought to study how schools utilized Title 1 and Title 1 stimulus funding from 2009-2011 to determine if correlations existed between areas of…