The privatization of public funds for education through school choice programs has fueled the expansion of virtual online charter schools. This redirection of funds contributes to the idea that virtual school success is comparable or even superior to the performance of traditional public schools. The schools most adversely affected are the schools…

The purpose of this global leadership study was to investigate the impact community college business curriculum internationalization has on the key components of the Ohio State Share of Instruction (SSI) funding formula. This analysis should assist institutional decision-makers in determining whether or not to incorporate such initiatives at their…

For the purposes of this article, open access universities are defined as bachelor's degree-granting institutions that do not restrict admission on the basis of ACT/SAT scores, high school grade point average, and the like. Typically, the mission of an open access university is to provide all students with the opportunity to pursue a degree. The…

After a tumultuous reception, the Biden administration's regulations for the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP) were finalized in July. Although the Administration backpedaled partway on issues related to community demand and racial integration, its final rules cracked down on so-called "for-profit charters," in line with the…

Nearly 30 states have adopted or are transitioning to performance-based funding programs for community colleges that allocate funding based on institutional performance according to defined metrics. While embraced by state lawmakers and promoted by outside advocacy groups as a method to improve student outcomes, enhance accountability and ensure…

In the past few years, four states have established programs that provide public financial support to students who choose to attend a private school. These programs--a tax-credit-funded scholarship initiative in Florida and voucher programs in Indiana, Louisiana, and Ohio--offer a glimpse of what expansive statewide choice might look like. What…

Background: The Ohio School Facilities Commission was set up in response to litigation compelling the state to achieve a more equitable distribution in the quality of school facilities. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was a federal policy to stimulate the United States economy and support school facility construction. These two…

This study is the first to explore the relationship between school district income taxes and school inputs (expenditures and student-teacher ratios) using Ohio as a case study. The study employed reduced-form expenditure functions on a data panel of 609 school districts between 1990 and 2010. Treating for the endogeneity of school district income…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the connections between state education finance distribution models and student achievement. To date, lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of state finance systems have been heard in 45 states; the judicial interpretation of the requirement to provide equality of educational opportunity has…

This paper explores what happens to similar groups of children educated in different school districts. In this case, the "twins" in the study are groups of students who live in the same state in similar geographies and who share certain demographic characteristics. For this report, "twin districts" have very similar sizes and…

Mayoral control and accountability is one of very few major education reforms that aim at governance coherence in this nation's highly fragmented urban school systems. A primary feature of mayoral governance is that it holds the office of the mayor accountable for school performance. As an institutional redesign, mayoral governance integrates…

The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of school district expenditures in predicting student achievement in Ohio for the school year 2009-2010. Building upon the concept of the "65 percent solution," the research questions that guided this study were: (1) What percentage of Ohio's school district's operating budgets…

This final audit report covers the results of the review of five State educational agencies' monitoring plans and awarding processes for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and regular School Improvement Grants funds that the State educational agencies awarded for fiscal year 2009 (for use during school year 2010-2011). The objectives…

Instead of putting the entire achievement burden on schools, what would it look like to hold a whole community responsible for long-range student outcomes? This report explores the concept of "shared accountability" in education. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act ushered in a new era of accountability in American education: for the…

A full year of progress in advancing education reform across America is documented in each of the Foundation for Excellence in Education's Annual Reports. The illustrated pages of the 2014 report, provide data-rich updates on Excellence in Education's work to advance student-centered policies in more than 40 states, all aimed at improving learning…