Given the flexibility to revise their academic goals under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, a vast majority of the states that received federal waivers are setting different expectations for different subgroups of students, an "Education Week" analysis shows. That marks a dramatic shift in policy and philosophy from the original law.…

On an Election Day filled with dozens of state races and ballot measures with big implications for the nation's public schools, state teachers' unions and charter school champions had plenty to cheer in the aftermath, even as tax measures that would help pay for schools suffered setbacks in some places. Union efforts were instrumental in…

Dozens of schools are slated for aggressive interventions over the next three years under a new, multistate effort that aims to clear hurdles that have hindered previous attempts to improve underperforming schools. Education officials in Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and New York have agreed to partner with Mass Insight…

If the competition for a slice of $4 billion in federal Race to the Top Fund money were a school class, Colorado would be one of the kids sitting up front, furiously taking notes, and leaping up to answer every one of the teacher's questions. Officials here began plotting their strategy for receiving one of the coveted grants nearly as soon as the…

Before awarding waivers from core tenets of the No Child Left Behind Act to 11 states, the U.S. Department of Education ordered changes to address a significant weakness in most states' proposals: how they would hold schools accountable for groups of students deemed academically at risk, particularly those in special education or learning English.…

"Response to intervention" (RTI) as a model for boosting student achievement has taken off like wildfire. When it comes to research on how best to implement the process for students in middle and high school, though, the flame abruptly fizzles out. There's little RTI research that is specific to secondary schools, although it has been…

In an election year dominated by the pitched battle for Congress and major governors' races, state ballot measures involving education are largely tied to a similar theme: the burden of funding K-12 programs when state finances are shaky. In some cases, initiatives, constitutional amendments, and other ballot measures seek to tap new sources of…

Leaders in a handful of school districts are pondering the idea of "front-loading" teacher compensation by paying novices more than they would typically earn under traditional salary schedules. Boosting new teachers' salaries, officials in Denver, the District of Columbia, and New York City contend, would increase the applicant pool and…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is clear: States are on the hook for advancing education improvement goals spelled out in the law as a condition for receiving up to $100 billion in economic-stimulus aid to education. But school districts are the ones that must decide how to spend most of that aid--including hefty, one-time increases for…

States jockey for position as the U.S. Education Department readies billions of dollars in "Race to the Top" awards--the stimulus program's grand prize. Even before they've finished spending their first block of federal stimulus aid, states are getting a head start in a national "race to the top" for better public education,…

As 48 states charge ahead with plans to adopt common academic standards, the U.S. Department of Education will enlist experts and the public to help design a $350 million competition for the next step: the development of common tests. In coming weeks, top Education Department officials will travel to Atlanta, Boston, and Denver for a series of…

This article reports the concerns in using college-entrance tests for school accountability. A growing number of states are requiring high school students to take college-admission tests and even making the exams a core part of their own testing systems. Proponents argue that having all teenagers take the exams will encourage more young people to…

This article presents the details of a conference discussing issues on NCLB implementation. The conference was based on a set of papers that included reviews of NCLB implementation in California, Colorado, Michigan, and New Jersey, as well as in three rural Kentucky districts and 36 big-city districts nationwide. Those analyses found that states…

This article describes the work Colorado has done to meet the "highly qualified teaching" requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Colorado's standard is devoid of the loopholes that have drawn criticism to other states' policies, many of which, observers have suggested, fall short of both the letter and the spirit of the…

This article discusses legislative efforts to seek flexibility and to coax changes in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Even before U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings had been confirmed in her job on Inauguration Day, a few states had begun testing her pledge to work with them in carrying out the No Child Left Behind Act in a…