The school choice movement has become a major focus for traditional public school leaders. Facing declining student population and millions of dollars in lost funding, superintendents are now focused on the creation of effective market competition strategies. This represents not only a shift in thinking but adds another dimension to their…

This highly acclaimed volume in the "Defending Public Schools" series is now available in paperback from Teachers College Press. It is a practical, necessary addition to the work of administrators, teachers, policymakers, and parents as they negotiate the difficult path of how to best teach and educate today's children and youth. This…

The federal government has responded to criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act by giving states greater flexibility in how to comply. Analysts worry that the law's purpose is being lost along the way. Since U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that she would take a "common sense" approach to carrying out the No…

Traditionally, policymakers have attempted to improve the quality of the teaching force by raising minimum credentials for entering teachers. Recent research, however, suggests that such paper qualifications have little predictive power in identifying effective teachers. The authors propose federal support to help states measure the effectiveness…

From talking with educators across the United States, the author has concluded that No Child Left Behind is having "an enormously positive impact." NCLB's most important benefit is a new focus on the academic performance of poor and minority students, English language learners, and students with disabilities. The law has also provided…

The upcoming reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will be contentious, especially given the size of the act and the role it gives the federal government. When making decisions about reauthorization, it is important to consider the early evidence about the act's implementation and effectiveness. The first important finding about NCLB is…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) House of Representatives Passes Education Funding Bill: Legislation Draws Veto Threat From President Bush for…

President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton have both enacted significant expansions in federal oversight of K-12 schools during their terms. In the combined 15 years of the Clinton and Bush presidencies so far, the federal government has required states to set academic goals for their students and has made schools and districts…

The origins, rationale, nature, issues, and problems of "auditing" as an evaluation technique are discussed. (HD)

Describes scope and policy implications of new education requirements for states and school districts in the 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) called the No Child Left Behind Act. Includes critical and supportive comments by educational leaders. (PKP)

Despite all the talk about improving education over the past 10 years, the president and the Congress have irresponsibly cut Chapter 1 and Head Start program funding. A partial solution is for educators to send the government a form specifying exactly how "discretionary" withholding taxes should be allocated. (MLH)

Outlook is the monthly newsletter for the Council for American Private Education (CAPE). Each issue contains information relating to private education such as: new legislation and regulations, the most recent research, court rulings, national trends, federal initiatives, private school news briefs, and more. This issue contains the following…

The looming expiration of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has prompted a flood of commission reports, studies, and punditry. Virtually all of those analyses have assumed that the law should and will be reauthorized, disagreeing only over how it should be revised. They have accepted the law's premises without argument: that…

This paper analyses changing approaches to system-level governance in Canadian post-secondary education from 1995-2006. A review of major policy initiatives reveals a shift in provincial and federal government roles in and approaches to the coordination of post-secondary education. The federal government has strategically invested in…