In this brief, recent actions related to school discipline, discipline disparities in schools, the school-to-prison pipeline, and the added costs of suspending students in the U.S. are explored. The recommendations offered focus on how school leaders and policy makers can address disparities and how school cultures can be changed to reduce the…

For many years, England has been the epitome of high-stakes accountability, often playing leapfrog with the USA. It represents an extreme of centralized surveillance, with schools organized as a quasi-market and supervised through a punitive combination of external inspection, the use of test data to name and shame schools, and ultimately closure…

There is a sea change occurring in community colleges. It involves institutional leaders, faculty, and student services professionals. It is evident in campus-level discussions, conference sessions, and proliferating publications and its primary beneficiaries are students. The change is the increasing occurrence of honest conversations prompted by…

Every two years congressional elections bring a new class of legislators to Washington, DC. The 112th Congress convenes this January and with it, more than 100 new Senators and Representatives, a new majority party in the House and with it new leaders, and in both the House and Senate many new Committee Chairs and legislative staff. The November…

In January 2010, the UCLA-based Civil Rights Project (CRP) released "Choice without Equity: Charter School Segregation and the Need for Civil Rights Standards." The study intended to report on, among other things, levels of racial segregation in charter schools across the United States. The authors use 2007-08 data from the U.S. Department of…

The "65 percent solution," developed by First Class Education, a national advocacy group, states that 65 percent of a school's operating budget be devoted to "in-class instruction" as opposed to "out-of-classroom" purposes. One of the unintended consequences of this "solution," according to this author, is that it provides another basis for…

Describes four aspects of computer technology in education in the United States: (1) the number of computers available to students and teachers; (2) where the computers are located and how they are used; (3) the impact of computer use; and (4) hypotheses concerning nonuse, limited use, and inappropriate use. (Contains 13 references.) (LRW)

This material presents, in courtroom style, arguments on grade inflation. However, the authors refrain from giving a final verdict. (Author/MLF)

This article focuses on the reports produced by the National Center for Education Statistics which rely too much on subjective judgments. The two studies--which used data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress that were adjusted for student and school differences--reported generally favorable academic results for regular public…

Improvement in black students' test scores is occurring nationwide, and an increasing number of black students are enrolling in demanding academic courses. Test scores can be a force for eliminating educational inequities and strengthening educational standards. (MLF)

Today's attack on the public schools is not only unfair, it may very well shatter the foundation. The facts are that this is the golden era of American education. At no time in the nation's history has literacy been higher, academic skills greater, and educational opportunities pursued by so many. (Author)

Only by accepting responsibility for ferreting out all the accurate relevant information on an issue can board members trust their decisions. Describes the categories of fundamental, unsolicited, and on-demand information and how best to deal with them. (MLF)

Some segments of the business community have lost patience with schools that fail to prepare disadvantaged and low-achieving students for work. Critics cite declines in test scores, higher costs, and bloated bureaucracies. Offers 17 ways to improve school performance. (MLF)

A look at national and particularly urban dropout rates reveals that the disadvantages of high school dropouts, relative to their graduate peers, are confounded by race, ethnicity, social class, and gender. Their troubles in terms of employment and earnings are more devastating today than they were 20 years ago. Quotes from Chester Finn present…

Reports the results of a personally conducted survey on graduate programs in English that ranged from amusing to appalling. (JL)