In response to widening achievement gaps and increased demand for post-secondary education, local and federal governments across the US have enacted policies that have boosted high school graduation rates without an equivalent rise in student achievement, suggesting a decline in academic standards. To the extent that academic standards can shape…

The Whole Education National Network is a dynamic national not-for-profit partnership of schools and organisations that believe that all children and young people are entitled to an education that supports the development of wider skills, qualities and characteristics to enable them to thrive in life, learning and work, as well as conventional…

In the past several decades, Boston has been a proving ground for new strategies such as mayoral control, charter schools, and expanded access to early childhood education. Located in a state known for rigorous standards and accountability, Boston Public Schools (BPS) has consistently ranked among the top-performing large public school districts…

The 21st century will require knowledge and skill well beyond the basic levels of reading and arithmetic that American schools know how to produce more or less reliably. Delivering a "thinking curriculum" to all American students requires major reform in the ways schools and districts organize their work. The transformation of the…

Most states are now working in earnest to respond to the U.S. Department of Education's invitation for applications for the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" fund (RTT), described by Secretary Arne Duncan as a "once in a lifetime chance to change our schools." Although the Department is clear that states must articulate a coherent and comprehensive…

"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) Senate Appropriations Committee Passes Education Funding Bill: Bill Would Target 40 Percent of School Improvement…

"Childhood Programs and Practices in the First Decade of Life" presents research findings on the effects of early childhood programs and practices in the first decade of life and their implications for policy development and reform. Leading scholars in the multidisciplinary field of human development and in early childhood learning…

The Strategic Management of Human Capital in Education Project was founded in 2008 with one goal: to improve student achievement dramatically in the 100 largest urban school districts. Unless teaching quality and principal leadership improve significantly, lasting education improvement is impossible. In policy terms, without "strategic management"…

One of the best ways to avoid being poor as an adult is to obtain a good education. Individuals with higher academic achievement and more years of schooling earn more than those with lower levels of human capital. This is not surprising given that we believe that schooling makes people more productive, allowing them to command higher wages in the…

"Managing School Districts for High Performance" brings together more than twenty case studies and other readings that offer a powerful and transformative approach to advancing and sustaining the work of school improvement. At the center of this work is the concept of organizational coherence: aligning organizational design, human…