The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) calls on states to take advantage of new opportunities to combat uneven access to quality instruction in the visual and performing arts--a key component of a well-rounded education. This piece highlights the efforts of New Jersey, California, Kentucky, and Illinois to expand arts access and urges boards to use…

Statewide performance assessments have gone in and out of vogue for over 30 years. While embraced as authentic representations of student work, they often prove burdensome for standardized assessment purposes. They can be a strong addition to a balanced assessment system--when implemented well for the right purposes. State policymakers looking to…

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…

Nearly 7,000 students drop out of the nation's public high schools each school day, and 3,000 of them are in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states. Altogether, an estimated 1.3 million teenagers in the United States abandon high school each year without earning a diploma. In 1,700 of the nation's high schools, less than 60 percent of…

This qualitative multi-site case study examines Kentucky's female superintendents: their professional work, identity, and entry to the role. Data sources were extensive interviews from twelve districts--superintendents, central office administrators, and school board members, plus questionnaires and district documents. Results revealed a web-like…

Plenty of state policies have been noteworthy in 2004, but one that had major impact went into effect in Illinois, where the governance of education was significantly restructured. S.B. 3000 (the Education Reform and Accountability Act of 2004) gives the governor greater influence over education through his or her control of the state board of…