This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2015 describes Colorado's accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Colorado will implement to address those challenges. Guided by the vision of the Early Childhood Colorado Framework--the vision, goals, and priorities for a unified…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2015 describes Michigan's accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Michigan will implement to address those challenges. Michigan was awarded $51,737,456 for the purposes of improving early learning and development in the state over…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2015 describes Illinois' accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Illinois will implement to address those challenges. Illinois' Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant initiatives reflect the State's three…

Funding from the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant has allowed Massachusetts an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate early childhood education so that the states' children have access to high quality early education that will put them on an early path to school success and productive citizenship. The Massachusetts…

State and district leaders across the country are working intensely to respond to legislation calling for revised teacher evaluation systems that incorporate multiple measures of student learning and teacher practice. Whether through strengthened accountability or more formative support, the primary goal of this work is the continuous improvement…

Evaluating teachers--whether casually or more rigorously, annually or less frequently--has long been part of the job description of many a principal and assistant principal, who often have relied on occasional observations to make their judgments. What has usually resulted are an overwhelming number of "satisfactory" ratings and the…

School districts throughout the United States are increasingly providing greater autonomy to local public (non-charter) school principals. In 2005-06, Chicago Public Schools initiated the Autonomous Management and Performance Schools program, granting academic, programmatic, and operational freedoms to select principals. This paper provides…

The federal Race to the Top (RTTT) competitive grant program awarded $4.35 billion among select states, giving preference on grant applications to those states that agreed to adopt national education standards and tests. Moreover, the Obama Administration has suggested making federal Title I funding contingent upon adoption of national…

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between teacher dispositions, subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and reasons that school principals recommend non-renewal of teachers' contracts. Nearly 2,000 school principals in 13 states completed an emailed survey. In deciding whether to non-renew a teacher contract,…

This article presents a debate over the Common Core State Standards Initiative as it has rocketed to the forefront of education policy discussions around the country. The author contends that there is value in having clear cross state standards that will clarify the new online and blended learning that the growing use of technology has provided…

There are approximately 15 million school-age children left unsupervised during hours when school is not in session. Studies indicate that crime (drug use, violent, abuse) triples for school-aged children (Kinder through 12th grade) and the risk of becoming a victim of such crimes increases during non-school hours. Providing additional learning…

The federal government's role in PreK-12 education has long been contentious and continues to evolve. Many have written about education governance, but few have attempted to define an appropriate role for the federal government. That is the core purpose of this essay. The authors articulate a set of principles to guide the federal role in…

Despite some cuts to the nation's oldest Federal College Access Programs, known as the TRIO programs (e.g., Upward Bound), new education policies have emphasized college and career readiness. In 2010, Congress approved the College Access Challenge Grant Program, which aims to increase the number of low-income students who are ready for college.…

The purpose of the United States Department of Education's (the Department) Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, other external stakeholders, and the American people on how the Department used the federal resources entrusted to it to promote student achievement and preparation for…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or the Recovery Act) of 2009 provided an unprecedented level of funding for K-12 education. The program created a "historic opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of jobs, support states and school districts, and advance reforms and improvements that will create long-lasting results for our…