This article uses an institutional framework to analyze the political context of the next reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The authors analyze three relevant factors in the institutional environment: the role of traditional party politics, including theories of divided versus unified party government; the entrance of…

America's K-12 public education system has experienced tremendous historical growth in employment, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. Between fiscal year (FY) 1950 and FY 2009, the number of K-12 public school students in the United States increased by 96 percent, while the number of full-time…

Throughout the presidential campaign, the leading Democrats have been speaking from a similar script on education--until this month, when U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois suggested that he could be persuaded to support private school vouchers. "If there was any argument for vouchers, it was "Let's see if the experiment…

Public education matters, whether you're a student, parent, teacher, administrator, employer, or taxpayer. Although you undoubtedly know something about public education, you may be unaware of important facts about the U.S. educational system or may be surprised to learn how things have changed in recent years. This edition of "A Public…

Highlights several findings of the 35th annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll the have strong policy implications for the public schools. Categories include grading the public schools, No Child Left Behind Act, teachers and teacher salaries, the achievement gap, and school choice. (PKP)

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…

This paper examines school-related policies and strategies that have been proposed or justified, at least in part, on the basis of their potential for reducing black-white test score gaps. These include strategies, one of which is greater integration, to reduce differences in the quality of teachers faced by black and white students; school and…