After attempting to reach full implementation of healthy and functioning Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 behavioral systems at its elementary schools through years of training and coaching, Springfield Public Schools (SPS) found it necessary to strategically invest district resources in its PBIS efforts by targeting Tier 2 and initial Tier 3 systems…

The increasing need for highly-skilled employees in the workplace has policymakers and higher education leaders focused on innovative ways for students to access postsecondary education. These access points can include online programs, prior learning assessments and, the subject of this snapshot, competency-based education. The National Center for…

Minority students and students with disabilities are disciplined disproportionately from their peers. Discipline has led to many negative consequences in the lives of youth in the United States, including the school-to-prison pipeline. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance encouraging school districts to develop policies that…

An effective school requires an effective leader, but great principals rarely just happen. They are cultivated. This Wallace Perspective draws on a decade of foundation research and work in school leadership to show how urban school districts can play a major role in ensuring they have principals who can boost teaching and learning in troubled…

With patience and savvy, superintendents can recover from the sting of dismissal. Incumbents should be alert to warning signs, such as decreasing board-superintendent communications and board rejection of superintendent recommendations. Sidebars offer tips on fighting back with good cause, obtaining legal support, and surviving the endgame. (MLH)

As a result of declining enrollment and resources, a school closure task force was appointed in February 1981 by the 4J School District in Eugene (Oregon). Because the 4J Board of Directors had determined that the enrollment in several schools had become too small to maintain both efficiency and district standards, the task force was directed to…

The Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board renegotiated reciprocity agreements with Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia in light of state legislation curbing and reducing tuition waiver reciprocity. Legislation in 1992 required state institutions to reduce the total amount of operating fee revenue waived by 6.6 percent and allowed…

A study of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) and bilingual education policies in Oregon's local school districts analyzed their contribution to equal educational opportunity and quality education for language minority students. A survey of all public school districts in the state elicited information about eight policy areas: identification and…

How schools weather budget reductions shows the difference between effective and less effective school systems. Policymakers' response to reductions depends on an array of factors: general economic conditions, access to data about future trends, community expectations and "myths," past records of school effectiveness, local education…

A Citizens Advisory Committee--a blue ribbon commission--reviewed graduate education in the Oregon State System of Higher Education, focusing on the priorities, needs, and resources of the state. With respect to employment and research needs of Oregon and the nation as justification for graduate programs in Oregon, conclusions include the…