The purpose of this brief is to support stakeholders in their efforts to influence how states use the mandatory 7 percent Title I school improvement set-aside in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)--an allocation that could total more than $5 billion nationwide over the next five years. First, the authors provide an overview of the ESSA's school…

School performance frameworks (SPFs) are action-oriented information tools that provide information on school performance and quality across a variety of measures. SPFs have evolved as a solution for local communities to make sense of an array of student, school, and system performance data, and to support transparent and equitable decisions. SPFs…

The article discusses how instead of being parts of a concerted educational reform effort, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the development of charter schools are in fact contradictory initiatives. Basing itself on a theoretical framework that brings together issues inherent to outcome-based school reform and arguments supporting and criticizing…

Every summer, an increasingly common event occurs across the country--parents open a letter explaining that their child's school is failing to meet benchmarks set under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and that, as a result, they have a right to send the child to another public school, if space is available. In the summer of 2009,…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) The Hope and Promise of Charter Schools: A…

Exploring the critical role of school choice in the future of education reform, the Education Choice and Competition Index (ECCI) is an interactive web application that scores large school districts based on thirteen categories of policy and practice relevant to choice. The intent of the ECCI is to: create public awareness of the differences among…

School choice improves parents' satisfaction with their children's schools, and public schools that face competition have shown improved performance, yet opponents continue to oppose reforms that give parents the opportunity to choose their children's schools. State and federal policymakers should reform existing education policies to give all…

"The Achiever" is a monthly publication for parents and community leaders from the Office of Communications and Outreach, U.S. Department of Education. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Spellings, Education Community Discuss President's Agenda; (2) Arts Integration at Oklahoma School Provides Multiple Paths for Learning;…

This guide provides users with a step by step approach to restructuring, from organizing a district team and assessing the district's capacity to govern restructuring decisions to conducting a school-by-school analysis and implementing a restructuring plan. The text of the guide is supplemented with templates, checklists, and other practical…

A critical question in school choice programs is whether relatively low-income urban parents have the ability to gather the information they need to make good choices for their children. Choice is expanding, particularly in American cities. Without good information, the benefits generated from expanding public school choice (via No Child Left…

The State Accountability Plan submitted on May 1, 2003 and revised on June 3, 2003 details the proposed policies and procedures relating to the District of Columbia Public Schools State Education Agency (DCPS-SEA) Assessment and Accountability Policy. It includes the development, implementation and monitoring of a comprehensive accountability…

As of the 2006-2007 school year, 19,733 students attended charter schools in the District of Columbia, representing over a quarter of the District's total public school student population and one of the largest charter school markets in the country. It is under such circumstances, some suggest, that choice will spur competition, ultimately…

This third edition of the "ES Review" brings together, in one setting, some of the best work from 2008-09. It features: (1) K-12 Accountability (Measuring Skills for the 21st Century (Elena Silva); Beyond the Bubble: Technology and the Future of Student Assessment (Bill Tucker); Testing the Limits (Bill Tucker); Changing the Game: The…

The Subcommittee convened this hearing to examine the challenges facing charter schools as they expand in the District of Columbia. They heard testimony from witnesses who are all founders and directors of innovative charter schools in the District. These witnesses shared their success stories as well as the individual issues and challenges facing…