Teaching and learning are changing drastically in the wake of COVID-19, and once-skeptical K-12 system and school leaders are increasingly responding to students' academic needs with competency-based learning models. State boards of education and other state leaders should examine the rationale and structures that underpin these student-centered…

The state's Race to the Top (RTT) application requires changes to the state's evaluation/accountability system. It requires a teacher effectiveness measure, district effectiveness measure, leader effectiveness measure. Regarding the teacher effectiveness measure, RTT requires linking the data of individual students to individual teachers as part…

This monograph offers an in-depth look at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI) efforts, an investment of more than $140 million to reform mathematics and science programs in rural K-12 public education and tribal education. The authors seek to promote a foundation of contextual understanding for improving public…

Raising academic standards and eliminating achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students are America's prime national educational goals. Current federal and state policies, however, largely ignore the fact that the childhood poverty rate in the United States is 21%, the highest in the industrialized world, and that poverty…

The 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" provided a comprehensive review of states' policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year's comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized "Blueprint for Change," building off last year's "Yearbook"…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The "2011 State…

This publication summarizes Alaskan school district information required by the 3-year-old Alaska Quality Schools Initiative and provides a comprehensive report on the status of public education in Alaska. Following a message from the commissioner and a one-page glance at Alaskan education, there is a brief explanation of the Alaska Quality…

As part of a symposium on issues related to diversity and American education reform in the context of Goal 3 of the National Education Goals, this paper addresses public attitudes about languages that are different from official or national languages. It is noted that the use of a native language as the medium of instruction to rebuild historical…

This collection of articles represents the state of the art with regard to understanding and attending to cross-cultural issues in Alaskan education. The views presented by the various authors indicate some of the approaches being taken to ameliorate what are probably the most vexing problems faced by educators anywhere in the country. The…

A collection of 15 articles on cross-cultural issues in Alaskan education addresses educational policy issues, educational development issues, community/school issues, and teaching/learning issues. The one theme that permeates all of the articles is the value of participation by community members in all levels of the education of their children.…