States, programs, and schools have long focused on the inputs of teacher preparation--the rules for candidates and the preparation programs they attend--because inputs were thought to predict teacher effectiveness, and because they were often the best option available. But in the early 2000s, policymakers began trying to evaluate preparation…

This study examines the impact on student performance of the education finance reform enacted in 1993 in Massachusetts and of school districts' institutional structure. Estimating education expenditure and demand functions, this study presents evidence that changes in the state education aid following the education reform resulted in significantly…

In this article, we explain how overly prescriptive, rigid state statutory and regulatory policy frameworks regarding teacher evaluation, tenure and employment decisions outstrip the statistical reliability and validity of proposed measures of teaching effectiveness. We begin with a discussion of the emergence of highly prescriptive state…

Educational leaders have a substantial degree of control over students and generally have a tremendous influence on the decisions that they make. District administrators are already involved in comprehensive efforts to stem sexual harassment, teen violence and bullying; therefore, they may be well positioned to identify and address the problem of…

In the United States, parents have been homeschooling their children since the colonial ages. Back then, homeschooling was a way of life, and parents provided education at home because there was no such thing as compulsory education or mandatory attendance of any kind. Homeschooling continued as a practice until Horace Mann, in 1850, helped…

The economic well-being of higher education in Massachusetts is seen as a vital concern to the state. It is described as a single system, with independent and state components. Discrimination in the right of access to higher education is cited for the 42 percent of the state residents who attend independent colleges and universities in the…

Focusing on Massachusetts as a case study, this research relates 19th century schooling patterns to social change. Indices of social change included schooling differences in rural and urban areas, industrial and economic development, school community relationship, and family life. The document contains 10 chapters; each chapter is based on both…