Today's education policy places a high priority on improving teacher quality and teaching effectiveness in U.S. schools. Standards-based professional learning requires teachers to have deep subject knowledge and the most effective pedagogy for teaching the subject. States and school districts are charged with establishing teacher professional…

The past two decades have seen an emerging trend in urban school governance: mayors taking the reins of school district leadership. The impetus for putting the mayor in charge of a city's schools usually stems from at least one of the following being documented or generally perceived about an urban school district: (1) Lack of accountability; (2)…

Educational software makers are often rebuffed by educational authorities, whose endorsements could lead to governmental stamps of approval, and thus explosive sales. But they usually get warmer receptions in the offices of the nation's school superintendents, who are, after all, their primary customers. The system was not supposed to work this…