In the spring of 2008, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) continued its ongoing research on the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) by conducting case studies of six schools in Illinois to learn more about the effects of NCLB and related state accountability policies on curriculum, instruction, and student achievement. The schools…

Educational improvement through data-based decision-making using high-quality data is a longstanding goal of policymakers and practitioners, and ensuring the quality of the evidence available to inform such decisions is a key part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The evidence-based education that such initiatives promote involves the…

The transition into high school is a critical point in the educational pipeline, and ninth-grade can be characterized as one of its leakiest junctures. This policy brief examines how some states and districts are currently easing the transition into high school for students. It focuses on five key challenges that states, districts and schools…

As part of its Performance Accountability Framework, the Commission analyzed the affordability of public colleges and universities. This report summarizes how the real cost of a college education in California changed between 1996 and 2004 and examines the way students at California's public colleges and universities paid for their education. In…

The following essay seeks to highlight the use of engaged qualitative community-based research in education to respond to conditions of structural inequality. As "the politics of interruption", the process of creating neighborhood public high schools is centred in community accountability. Responsibility in this mode…

The major purpose of this descriptive report is to provide an overview of the structure, capacity, and roles of educational service agencies (ESAs) across five states--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin--in the Great Lakes region, within the context of the broader statewide systems of support for educational improvement and progress.…

This article reports on 4 distinct Illinois reform initiatives that attempted to connect assessment to curriculum, instruction, and school improvement. Using quantitative and qualitative data obtained from principals and teachers involved in local reform efforts from 1993 through 2002, this study indicates that the lack of development of local…

The report, presented to the Planning and Policy Committee of the Illinois State Board of Education, summarizes public comment (public hearings, letters, briefings, and research reports) concerning a preliminary report of instructional mandates for handicapped children in Illinois. Eight major issues are considered in terms of preliminary report…

Examines strategic, tactical, and operational levels of educational planning. A model includes components for planning process strategy, data information systems, goal formulation, sub-optimizing'' means of goal achievement, synthesizing plan alternatives, implementation, and adjustment and reassessment. A practical illustration of the planning…

This article builds and explores the hypothesis that parent and community participation in school governance can have positive impacts on community development by fostering improvements in school performance and school-community relations and by acting as a catalyst for collective action around community-development issues. It does so through case…

The Chicago Public Schools, along with the city of Chicago itself, serve as an exemplary case of neoliberal reorganization, as corporate and governmental "leaders" remake Chicago into a global city meeting the needs of capitalism. As such, Chicago provides us with an example of "actually existing neoliberalism," in which…

To promote and assist the development of quality state and local occupational education programs, and to help assure accountability of federal and state funds allocated to local programs, the Illinois Division of Vocational and Technical Education launched a 3-phase evaluation study of its existing system. Visitations were made to 71 Local…

Many test-based accountability systems, including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), place great weight on the numbers of students who score at or above specified proficiency levels in various subjects. Accountability systems based on these metrics often provide incentives for teachers and principals to target children near current…

The turnaround recommendations and framework in "The Turnaround Challenge" grew out of both new research and synthesis of extensive existing research, as carried out by Mass Insight Education & Research Institute and its partners since September 2005. If the main report is the tip of the proverbial iceberg, this supplement represents…

The majority of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students are not attaining the ACT scores they are aiming for, which they need to qualify for scholarships and college acceptance. This report looks at the reasons behind students' low performance and what matters for doing well on this test. CPS students are highly motivated to do well on the ACT, and…