Schools have long collected information about students, from basic emergency contact details to daily attendance statistics. But only recently have schools used education technology to collect solid, reliable information (or data) about how students learn--as well as details about their strengths, challenges, and individual traits that impact…

Most personal student information stays local. Districts, states, and the federal government all collect data about students for important purposes like informing instruction and providing information to the public. But the type of data collected, and who can access them, is different at each point. This graphic shows how student data--from…

In 2009, the federal government committed over $3 billion nationwide to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools. The U.S. Department of Education intended for the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to spur dramatic change. This report looks at the results of a field study of the first-year implementation of those grants…

States are pushing ahead with efforts to make sweeping changes to education policy through the Race to the Top program, despite some of them having seen individual schools and districts back out of the process because of concerns over the time and money required to make those plans a reality. The Obama administration has envisioned Race to the…

Researchers and practitioners need to exchange information in order for education research to become more useful. Practitioners need to develop more understanding of research and how to interpret its findings in light of local conditions. The What Works Clearinghouse, a project of the Institute for Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of…

This document presents a summary of a larger report that reviews teaching standards in six states (California, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas) focuses on the structure, target audience, and selected content of the standards to inform California's revision of its teaching standards. The report was developed at the request of key…

As the deadline set forth by No Child Left Behind approaches, it is clear that the goal of proficiency in English language arts and mathematics for all students by 2014 will not be met. As a result, the U.S. Department of Education has offered states the option of applying for flexibility on parts of the law. This policy brief outlines those…

The National Staff Development Council (NSDC) has won recognition for the field of professional development. Researchers and education change agents acknowledge the importance of professional learning among strategies essential for reforming schools and raising teacher and student performance. The federal government, states, and school districts…

The rapidly changing field of bioinformatics is fuelling the need for suitably trained personnel with skills in relevant biological "sub-disciplines" such as proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics, etc. But because of the complexity--and sheer weight of data--associated with these new areas of biology, many school teachers feel…

A teacher from the Free School (Albany, New York) reflects on his experiences at the Stand for Children rally in Washington, D.C. The rally brought together hundreds of thousands of children to focus attention on the nation's responsibility for meeting children's needs; however, it could have had more impact if children themselves had organized…

This report summarizes the first of four workshops organized to take advantage of the experience and insights of those already implementing new technologies in the schools. The workshop examined professional development needs and consisted of a one and one-half day conversation with educators and experts working to apply communications technology…

Even though their diversity makes comparison with public schools difficult, American private schools should voluntarily provide data about their students, teachers, and their students' academic abilities to the government's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). NCES' private school data will increase the schools' visibility and help…

Notes prevailing attitudes about early childhood education in Brazil. Examines issues and recent trends in preparing Brazilian teachers of young children: (1) legislation shifting educational responsibility from federal and state governments to local communities; (2) low teacher salaries; (3) poor teaching conditions; (4) the need for leadership;…

With the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands as a Territory in 1898, the people of the United States assumed responsibility for leadership of the Hawaiian people toward social and economic goals, as well as for the establishment and maintenance of democratic government. In a democracy education is the chief means of promoting stability of…