High-quality K-12 instructional materials can meaningfully improve teaching practice and student achievement, especially when paired with professional learning support. Yet state policymakers have usually left ultimate authority for textbook selection to school district leaders. Consequently, the quality of materials across U.S. classrooms and…

Improving low-achieving schools is a critical challenge facing urban education. Recent national policy shifts have pressed states to take an expanded role in school improvement efforts. In 2009, a federal grant competition called Race to the Top (RttT) compelled states to improve their capacity to implement ambitious education reform agendas.…

In 2014 Wesley College adopted a unified undergraduate program of evidence-based high-impact teaching practices. Through foundation and federal and state grant support, the college completely revised its academic core curriculum and strengthened its academic support structures by including a comprehensive early alert system for at-risk students.…

The purpose of this report is to provide insight into how state departments are implementing legislative requirements for educator evaluation, particularly the specific circumstances states encounter around arts education. Spotlights on Delaware, a first-round recipient of Race to the Top funding, and Colorado and Arizona, third-round recipients,…

Delaware's early experience with the RE:Learning project affirms the necessity of simultaneous top-down and bottom-up reform efforts. Other critical ingredients include awareness of the critical need for change and strong incentives for bucking the status quo. Resistant teacher and administrator mindsets must also be transformed. (MLH)

Delaware was a pioneer member of Project RE:LEARNING, designed to garner state policy makers' support for school reform. This article introduces three papers from various perspectives (school principal, policy analyst, and project coordinator) that target the political culture shaping school reform. Papers highlight mobilization difficulties…

The article explains briefly the provisions of Goals 2000, emphasizing its support of ongoing educational change at the state and local levels and state flexibility to develop diverse approaches to reform. To illustrate this flexibility, the article describes reform activities in Vermont, Delaware, and Oregon, and explains how these states are…