In 2007, the case could be made that Rhode Island had, dollar for dollar, the worst-performing public education system in the United States. Despite per-pupil expenditures ranking in the top 10 nationally, the state's 8th graders fared no better than 40th in reading and 33rd in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Only…

Houston Independent School District (HISD) District and School Profiles provides parents, staff, community members, and other interested parties summary information regarding student performance and outcomes, demographics, and school programs for each HISD school covering the last five years. These profiles are divided by instructional level:…

For more than 30 years, the United States has been engaged in education reform efforts designed to dramatically boost student performance and close achievement gaps linked to poverty and ethnicity. Can schools afford those education ambitions? Most educators have their doubts. The author believes educators can improve student learning even when…

Expanding accountability systems that impose policies across all schools have amplified assertions that rural teacher labor markets differ from non-rural labor markets in meaningful ways that complicate rural schools' efforts to comply with the policy directives. The analysis presented here examines this claim by exploring teacher labor market…

The intent of Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is to ensure that all students, regardless of their socioeconomic status, are provided a fair and equitable opportunity to meet challenging academic performance standards. Given such, Title I legislation provides for federal funding to be administered to school districts and schools…

Beginning this year with its 2012 graduating class, the University of Notre Dame ended its practice of offering diplomas made of sheep's skin, a tradition that has all but disappeared except in some stubborn corners of academia. But the tendency of employers to pay premiums to workers holding certain diplomas is thriving. This tendency, dubbed the…

Finding, keeping and supporting great educators presents the single biggest challenge to successful school turnarounds. Without teachers and administrators who bring the needed combination of skills and passion, nothing else will achieve the desired effect. The turnaround model supported by the U.S. Department of Education School Improvement Grant…

Performance-based compensation systems have been under discussion for years and are now a required component of any state plan for Race to the Top funds. This article describes a system of performance-based compensation that has been in place at a K-12 school for the past four years. The system was developed by a team of teachers, union members,…

Incentive pay programs have become panacea for a multitude of educational challenges. When aimed at teachers the assumption is that rewards entice them to work in particular ways or particular schools. However, the assumption is based on an economic formula that does not take into consideration the gendered nature of policy processes. This study…

The 2012-2013 school year represents a pivotal juncture for DC Public Schools. Last spring, Mayor Gray and Chancellor Kaya Henderson introduced "A Capital Commitment," their ambitious plan to dramatically accelerate student achievement in the district over the next five years by providing all of their students with a safe, academically…

There is significant and growing interest in teacher pay reform as a number of states and localities have begun experimenting with departures from the single salary schedule--a pay system employed in most school districts, which links teacher pay solely to degree and experience level (Chait, 2007; Goldhaber, 2009; Podgursky and Springer, 2007).…

This report presents salary and wage data collected as part of the "ERS National Survey of Salaries and Wages in Public Schools, 2010-2011." The survey, conducted in Fall 2010, collected data on salaries scheduled and salaries paid for 23 selected professional positions and 10 selected support positions in public school systems throughout the…

Governors and other state leaders have shown an increasing interest in creating new models of teacher compensation that would reward educators based on their contributions to student learning. To support this interest, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted a policy academy focusing on that issue. The policy academy provided teams with…

This paper offers three constructive recommendations that apply specifically to public school teachers, the largest group of state and local government employees, and one of special importance to the long-term economic competitiveness of the country. The recommendations embrace and protect existing defined-benefit pension plans, which are under…

Houston Independent School District (HISD) prides itself on being a global district in a global city, and the district works tirelessly to ensure that it's students graduate ready for the world. With the help of community and business partners, as well as leaders from Houston's largest industries and institutes of higher education, HISD has…