State funding formulas shape how much money school districts have to spend, but districts usually have considerable discretion with how they distribute funds to schools. Because of this discretion, even if districts receive funds through a highly equitable state system, there is no guarantee that districts will distribute funding equitably to…

Tuition prices at colleges and universities are high. It is also true that salaries and benefits are the single biggest chunk of every higher education institution's (HEI) budget. And one of the largest and most difficult costs to contain is group employee health insurance. The situation is particularly difficult for smaller New England HEIs…

Mainstreaming gender within pre-primary education is a priority in tackling gender-related inequalities from the early years. Such mainstreaming requires the commitment of a variety of stakeholders within the education system and beyond, including different units within education ministries, pre-service and in-service teacher training providers,…

In the wake of COVID-19, the U.S. pre-K-12 education system needs more than a refresh. Based on the success and popularity of the Opportunity Culture model, in this brief Public Impact recommends the means to bring critical, effective instructional and emotional supports to millions of teachers and their students--for a price tag the country can…

If cash-strapped universities want an easy way to save money, Lawrence B. Martin, a professor of anthropology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, has an idea. By tallying faculty output in areas such as publication rates in scientific journals, Mr. Martin has concluded that there could be as much as $1-billion to $2-billion in…

Many districts continue to face budget challenges of historic proportions. Decisions made in the coming months will carry significant repercussions for years to come. The path of least resistance is to slash budgets in ways that erode schooling. In this scenario, important reforms are left behind, overall services are diminished, innovations are…

While the economy may be turning around, local school districts nationwide continue to struggle mightily. The "new normal" of tougher budget times is here to stay for American K-12 education. So how can local officials cope? This policy brief provides a useful tool for navigating the financial challenges of the current school-funding climate,…

Two competing pressures--downsized budgets and rising policy interest--have left the future of performance-based teacher compensation uncertain. A dicey fiscal climate and research that has shown limited impact have led some states and districts to scale back, abandon, or change their fledgling merit-pay programs, causing observers to wonder what…

In this article, the authors describe how a teacher (Carrie Hamilton) can scaffold and connect social studies concepts to a variety of students' experiences in meaningful ways. They draw on findings from Laura J. Quaynor's study about social studies education for immigrant students who are also refugees. Together, they discuss effective pedagogic…

Research continues to confirm that without consistently excellent teaching, most students who start behind stay behind, and too few middling and advanced students leap ahead. Even hardworking, solid teachers who achieve one year of learning progress leave achievement gaps intact. When schools create an opportunity culture for teachers and…

Research continues to confirm that without consistently excellent teaching, most students who start behind stay behind, and too few middling and advanced students leap ahead. Even hardworking, solid teachers who achieve one year of learning progress leave achievement gaps intact. When schools create an opportunity culture for teachers and…

With tax revenues beginning to rebound in most states and endowments on the rebound at many private and public institutions, colleges and universities are growing more hopeful about their financial outlook and instituting new strategies to take advantage of the opportunities. Yet as the economic recovery has slowed in the past few months,…

Data on intradistrict funding inequities in many large school districts confirm what most would guess--high-poverty schools actually receive less money per pupil than more affluent schools. These funding inequities have real repercussions for the quality of education offered at high-poverty schools and a district's ability to overcome the…

The tuition increase at the University of Florida--one of 11 public universities in Florida to win the approval of the state's Board of Governors to tack a "tuition differential" of 7 percent onto an 8 percent increase already approved by the state legislature--comes in response to an unprecedented reduction of some $340 million in state…

While colleges across the nation are coping with the recession, public universities in Florida, a state with finances that resemble a Ponzi scheme, have spent years doing without. The recession hit Florida early, and in a big way. Without an income tax, state government has long depended on property and sales taxes. As real estate and tourism have…