Our classrooms haven't kept pace with innovation. The Ford Model T represented breakthrough technology in its day--more than 100 years ago--but it wouldn't serve us well today. Likewise, our traditional classroom model from the same era doesn't work well for far too many students and teachers. In fact, as a result of this outdated model, it is…

This report presents the study highlights from the full report, "State and District Use of Title II, Part A Funds in 2019-20. NCEE 2021-011." The report, required by Congress, provides a national picture of state and district priorities for Title II-A funds in the 2019-20 school year. State and district surveys on the use of Title II-A…

The Public School Forum of North Carolina is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on improving educational outcomes for all North Carolina children. As they do each year, they have released a list of the "Top 10 Education Issues" they believe will be the top issues for the year, as well as issues they believe should be on the…

As a consequence of the federal "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law, there is tremendous pressure on school principals, teachers, school superintendents, district staff, state departments of education and governors to maximize the increase in student achievement that is obtained with every dollar of expenditure. Currently, teachers are…

Federal policy directed to teaching and teachers is the subject of this review, which is organized around: (1) recruitment; (2) training; (3) accountability; (4) incentives; (5) qualifications; (6) class size reduction; (teacher working conditions; and (8) human resource management and the overall coordination of teacher policy. For each theme,…

One of the most important strategies for stopping school decline is recognizing its signs early on and promptly applying appropriate interventions. In this article, the author identifies 11 indicators of school decline that are associated with inadequate and inappropriate responses to the challenges of budget cuts, state and federal mandates, loss…

This article describes a multifaceted program that improves the mathematics instruction in a school district's 10 lowest-performing schools. This program includes seven support components--including monetary incentives for teachers, professional development, education technology, and reduced class sizes. After three years, results show that the…

There is significant public policy concern that teacher salaries in the United States are insufficient to make teaching in public schools financially attractive; consequently, there are not enough high-quality teachers. This concern has been particularly acute of late for two reasons. First, new empirical research shows teacher quality to be the…

The National Education Association has strongly supported the Elementary and Secondary Education Act since its inception in 1965. But the law's most recent reauthorization, the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, is fundamentally flawed, writes NEA President Reg Weaver. Weaver offers NEA's recommendations for revising the law and addressing these…

This report summarizes AISD's district and campus use of federal Title VI Class Size Reduction funds for school year 1999-2000.

This summary outline interprets the Nebraska Teacher Supply and Demand Study for its impact on educational policy. A listing is presented of factors revealed in the study of which some are controlled by policy decisions and some result from external forces impacting policy. The following factors are discussed: (1) student enrollment; (2) pupil…

The federal Class-Size Reduction (CSR) Program, first authorized in PL 105-277, begun in Fiscal Year 1999, represented a major federal commitment to help school districts hire additional qualified teachers, especially in the early elementary grades, so children would learn in smaller classes. The ultimate goal of the program was to improve student…

Reducing class size was considered an important element in a revised health course at Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania). However, reducing class size to approximately 15 students per class would require 38 sections, more than the health faculty could handle. To recruit additional instructors, the course was marketed to faculty and administrators…

The purpose of the federal Title VI, Class Size Reduction program is to reduce class sizes in grades K-3 to 18 or fewer students. In AISD, these funds were used for recruiting, hiring, and training highly qualified teachers to raise student achievement through increased personal attention. This report summarizes evaluation results of AISD's Title…

Spurred on by regulations outlined in the No Child Left Behind Education Act of 2001 (NCLB), educators and policy makers are gearing up to solve the problem of producing enough highly qualified teachers to meet the country's rapidly growing demand. According to the U.S. Department of Education, rising enrollments and increasing teacher retirements…