"Education Week" provides a weekly review of state and federal K-12 education policy news. This special issue of "Education Week" includes the following articles: (1) Below the Surface; (2) School Leaders Seek Innovative Solutions to Improve Student Performance (Steven Dowling); (3) A Decade of Effort (Lynn Olson); (4) A Small Wonder (Debra Viadero); (5) Big States, Big Results (David J. Hoff); (6) The Road Less Traveled (Jeff Archer); (7) Staying the Course (John Gehring); (8) Investing in the Future (Kathleen Kennedy Manzo); (9) Playing Catch-Up (Mary Ann Zehr); (10) A Second Front (Ronald A. Wolk); (11) How Four School Districts Are Achieving Excellence through Information-Driven Education; (12) National Standards (Diane Ravitch); (13) Our Mission (James P. Corner); (14) One Language (Pascal D. Forgione, Jr.); (15) What's Next? (Marshall S. Smith); and (16) State of the States (Melissa McCabe). Individual articles contain references, tables, and figures.