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…

There is a growing call to reconsider current approaches to national and state assessment system policies and practices. State and local education agency leaders, educators, community leaders, and advocates have voiced concerns that current state assessment systems--defined primarily by end-of-year multiple-choice tests--are unable to meet…

One of the biggest challenges that states and local intermediaries face in setting up and scaling high-quality youth apprenticeships is gathering relevant, accurate and actionable data. High-quality data is an essential ingredient for a strong youth apprenticeship program because it equips state and local leaders to evaluate impact, monitor…

The role of state education agencies (SEAs) has shifted significantly from low-profile, compliance activities like managing federal grants to engaging in more complex and politically charged tasks like setting curriculum standards, developing accountability systems, and creating new teacher evaluation systems. The move from compliance-monitoring…

Alignment between K-12 education and the workforce is critical because jobs are changing. Students must be prepared not only for the jobs of today but also for the jobs of the future. Securely linking data between state K-12 and workforce data systems can create a bridge between these agencies as they develop shared career readiness goals for…

The May 2012 State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) report, "The Broadband Imperative: Recommendations to Address K-12 Education Infrastructure Needs," pushed educators and policy makers nationwide to increase high-speed broadband access in schools, with specific recommendations regarding access, funding, and policies…

During the 2010 election campaign, Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky demanded the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education. "I am against any federal funding or control of education," he said. "Historically, education was funded and controlled locally" (Strauss, 2010). Another new Republican senator, Mike Lee from…

The National Governors Association (NGA) and The Hunt Institute co-hosted the 2013 Governors Education Symposium. To inform participants and generate conversation about the themes of the symposium, the two organizations developed a set of issue briefs discussing four areas: (1) college- and career-training ready standards; (2) building coalitions…

In light of recent data showing that educational attainment rates in the United States have stagnated, the Obama administration and others have called for renewed efforts to bolster higher education outcomes. Strengthening the role of community colleges is undoubtedly an important component of any plan to dramatically increase the number of…

Advanced Placement (AP), which enables high school students to take introductory college-level courses, is the nation's oldest example of a rigorous, common curriculum. Students who score well on AP exams are more likely to persist in college and earn a degree. The Advanced Placement Expansion project of the National Governors Association Center…

This paper discusses the potential of individual States for encouraging voluntary desegregation at the local level. Desegregation history and State strategies in five States--California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Washington--are closely examined. In all of the States studied, State laws provide the State agency with considerable…

Governors who put education at the center of their agendas and aspirations act in a long-standing tradition of American political leadership. Among those who did so are leaders who made an imprint on U.S. history both during their gubernatorial terms and afterwards. This paper describes how governors and gubernatorial aspirants can exercise…

Maintains that, although U.S. currency today is pure fiat money and not backed by gold or any other precious metal, students frequently ask, "But what about the gold at Fort Knox?" Describes what is really located at Fort Knox, why it is there, its implications for public policy. (CFR)

The theme of the meeting for which these profiles were prepared is "Coordinating Higher Education: Setting State Policies in the 80s." The profiles of the 14 states covered by the Southern Regional Education Board (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,…

Summarizes Kentucky's progress toward educational equity, concentrating on (1) the Kentucky Supreme Court's 1989 decision declaring the state's educational finance system unconstitutional and (2) a description and preliminary evaluation of the state's new four-part funding formula featuring pupil weighted averages for expenditure by wealth…