TNTP has been investigating the importance of school environment and leadership practices using a survey tool called "Instructional Culture Insight," which measures teachers' perceptions of their school environments. In "Greenhouse Schools: How Schools Can Build Cultures Where Teachers and Students Thrive (2012)," TNTP found…

With the number of students who are English language learners (ELLs) likely to double in coming years, it is more important than ever for schools across the U.S. to design and implement educational practices and strategies that best meet ELLs' learning needs, says the report, "Giving English Language Learners the Time They Need to…

This Special Issues Brief from the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) offers recommendations for the design and implementation of educator evaluation systems that support the academic and social growth of students with disabilities. Teachers of students with disabilities work closely with specialized instructional support personnel…

This document is the fourth and final installment of this Forum series of guides on longitudinal data systems (LDS). One goal of the National Forum on Education Statistics (the Forum) is to improve the quality of education data gathered for use by policymakers and program decisionmakers. An approach to furthering this goal has been to pool the…

The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) is a national, collaborative effort to encourage and support state policymakers to improve the collection, availability and use of high-quality education data and to implement state longitudinal data systems to improve student achievement. The campaign aims to provide tools and resources that will assist state…

To give states the information they need to sustain hard-fought education reform effectively, Achieve conducted research on state education reforms that have been sustained successfully for over a decade or more. Funded by the GE Foundation, Achieve hopes this work will help other state leaders, wherever they may be on their road to reform,…

Despite the importance of breakfast, summer, and after-school child nutrition programs, coverage in these programs in Massachusetts is low. This report describes the barriers facing the states School Breakfast, Summer Food Service, and After-School Snack Programs and suggests many innovative solutions and resources that program sponsors can use to…

Three case studies of interorganizational arrangements between public school districts and a college/university are used to illustrate how a state higher education agency (the Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education) promoted voluntary, lateral relationships to strengthen local school educational programs. A within-case analysis…

Analysis of 206 cases of severely abused and/or neglected children over a 4-year period resulted in the conclusion that children are poorly served by delays in the existing Massachusetts social service/legal system. Among specific findings were that two-thirds of parents were poor, 84 percent were psychiatrically disordered, and foster care…

In this paper, a companion piece to "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools" (ED544382), the authors analyze small high school spending in three urban districts--Baltimore City, Boston, and Chicago--to understand whether it is higher than in larger schools; if it is, why it is different; and the policy…

A case study was done of the Boston University management and operation of the Chelsea (Massachusetts) school system including perceptions of key participants and outcomes of the first year of the partnership. Despite unanticipated levels of hostility between various groups and slow funding, which slowed some first year objectives, the project…

This book discusses state child care and early childhood education policies, particularly their relationship to the economy. It provides a framework for policymakers who are deliberating child care and early childhood education policies; outlines the range of recent state legislation; describes initiatives of Massachusetts and Washington; and…

In their 2004 State of the State speeches, the nation's governors cited many issues competing for their attention and their states' resources, including health care, education, crime, and security (Nodine 2004). Among the most compelling challenges were those related to economic development and the ability of a state's workforce to meet the needs…

This study evaluated the relationship between Massachusetts special education expenditures and revenues and the overall allocation of school budgets between special and regular education. An introduction reviews the study's background, census-based funding in Massachusetts, education reform efforts in the state, the Foundation Budget approach…

This book presents nine papers about changing the way public higher education is governed. After providing an overview of the recent history of governance restructuring or renewal in public higher education in the United States, the book focuses on restructuring in five states: North Dakota, Massachusetts, Alaska, Maryland, and Minnesota. Part 1…