In many ways standards-based school reform is at a crossroads. On one side, the movement has made tremendous strides. The Common Core State Standards Initiative, known simply as Common Core, is now strongly established in more than 40 states. Many teachers believe that the new, higher academic standards have helped them improve instruction. And,…

Since its inception in 2002, the National Center for Education Research (NCER) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has funded over 700 education research grants and over 60 education training grants. The research grants have supported exploratory research to build theory or generate hypotheses on factors that may affect educational…

This monograph, in the CREATE Pathways to Access series, is about the modality of cooperation and programme management in primary education in Bangladesh, based specifically on the experience of the Second Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP II). It is not intended to be an assessment of PEDP II accomplishments, but key information and a…

Teacher professional learning communities provide environments in which teachers engage in regular research and collaboration. They have been found effective as a means for connecting professional learning to the day-to-day realities faced by teachers in the classroom. In this article, the authors draw on survey data collected in primary schools…

Cash-strapped school districts could see an unprecedented $100 billion infusion of federal aid under a massive economic-stimulus package unveiled by House Democrats this week. The overall measure, put forth January 15 by the House Appropriations Committee, is aimed at providing a $825 billion jolt to the stumbling U.S. economy, and to help avert…

This descriptive report is part of a broader project collecting, organizing, and analyzing multiple sources of data from the four-state REL Appalachia region, comprised of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The purposes of that broader project are: (1) to increase awareness of and understanding about critical education issues in the…

In 2002, the Council of the Great City Schools evaluated the Dayton Public School System. The Council noted that the district was in crisis, stating bluntly that achievement was low, funding was tenuous, buildings were dilapidated, and the public was looking at its options. The organization proposed a series of major instructional and budgetary…

Background: Support for small schools, and specifically for the creation of small, autonomous schools of choice, has grown considerably in the past decade--particularly in the context of urban schooling. Funded by private and public monies, small-school initiatives have been implemented in most of the nation's city school districts and have become…

Purpose: The paper aims to explore the stages involved in the school establishment phase and detect differences between new and innovative schools startup. Design/methodology/approach: The exploratory study was conducted on the creation phase of two Israeli elementary schools: one new and one innovative. The data were collected through interviews…

Congress has required that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report to policymakers about the progress of education in the United States. "The Condition of Education 2016" presents 43 key indicators on important topics and trends in U.S. education. These indicators focus on population characteristics,…

State and local educators encountered both opportunities and obstacles in their first year of implementing the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In 2009, the ARRA, better known as the economic stimulus package, provided $3 billion for SIGs to help reform persistently low-achieving…

Two years ago, the then North American Council for Online Learning released the initial "Snapshot State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada" report. This study was the first systematic examination of K-12 distance education policies and activities in each of the thirteen Canadian provinces and territories. One year ago, the…

The Reading First Program is a central element of the No Child Left Behind legislation (No Child Left Behind Act, 2001). It builds on findings reported in a national consensus report (NICHD, 2000), about proven strategies to reduce the prevalence of reading difficulty in the early grades in order to help children read at or above grade level by…

The study looked into a descriptive research to evaluate the impact of talibanization on the education of IDP's in NWFP (Pakistan). The study has defined the needs, problems and opportunities, contribution of NGO's and emerging trends of IDP's regarding maddrassa education/ general education. The main focus of the study was the needs and…

Since Independence in 1963, Kenya has launched three Free Primary Education programmes: the first in 1974, the second in 1979 and the most recent in 2003. Using historical data, this paper first outlines each initiative in turn, and discusses why, in the case of the earlier initiatives, impressive initial gains in improved access proved difficult…