A new report proposes academic pathways that would lead some students toward careers rather than college, and that is raising fears among advocates for the disadvantaged. Leaders of the "Pathways to Prosperity" project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education argue for an education system that clearly articulates students' career options as…

As it was conceived, the School of the Future was to be a study in contrast to the typical big-city high school. When the $62 million facility opened in 2006 with a relatively small student population, a computer-based curriculum delivered with the latest technology tools, and a unique partnership with corporate giant Microsoft, it set out to…

Policy experts are renewing questions about the role of school culture and leadership in the drive to improve teaching effectiveness in the most-challenging school environments. As states and districts increasingly explore tactics like performance-based pay, incentive programs, and bonuses to attract the best teachers to troubled schools, experts…

The National College Advising Corps, which started at University of Virginia, was initially financed in 2004 by a two-year, $623,000 grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, a Landsdowne, Virginia-based charity formed with a bequest from the late businessman who was best known as the owner of the Washington Redskins football team. Mr. Cooke died…

This article describes the Buffalo Prep program. Housed at University of Buffalo, the program identifies disadvantaged but talented minority children, places them in academic-enrichment classes, and then finds them spots at private schools and a more selective public high school in the area to complete their precollegiate careers. In addition to…

This article deals with an initiative embarked upon by the government of France one year after widespread youth violence broke out in many disadvantaged communities in France. The initiative is aimed at adapting its 25-year-old "priority education" program to a landscape that has dramatically changed. The initiative is the centerpiece of…