For more than a century, public education in the U.S. has been defined as schools that are funded, regulated, and exclusively delivered by government. The past 25 years have brought some diversified forms of delivery through charter schools and various private-school scholarship mechanisms. Nevertheless, most discussions and debates over school…

The meaning, measurement, and implications of "public opinion" have long been a source of debate. In this paper, we examine the extent to which the educational priorities of elites in the US reflect the educational priorities of the American public. To do so, we focus on one particular segment of the education policy-making elite --…

As part of a larger project to rethink the federal role in elementary and secondary education, the Center on Education Policy prepared this compendium, which summarizes the findings of major studies of the implementation and effects of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) conducted by various organizations and agencies. The brief summaries are…

Market-based reforms of state schooling systems have been justified by the benefits anticipated from encouraging greater inter-school competition in local schooling markets. Promoting increased school choice and competition by comparison were seen as a means of stimulating greater allocative, productive and dynamic efficiency in the schooling…

This collection of essays and articles on education reform highlights many of the issues of greatest interest to educators and the public. Articles are grouped into the following categories: (1) "The Front Lines" (9 selections); (2) "Charter Schools" (4 selections); (3) "School Choice" (4 selections); (4)…

In this much-needed volume, Nel Noddings uses her extensive experience at every level of schooling to challenge the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Noddings invites readers to think critically about the ideas underlying NCLB, the reform movement that shaped it, and the processes it has put into play. She considers such questions as: Is money the…

Regardless of roles in society, people will be affected by what happens in the field of education in the coming decades. The impact may be personal and direct as a child or grandchild moves through the schooling process. Or, it may well relate to the quality of employees and, thus, chances for business success. Certainly, the impact the…

Australian education has experienced three reform cycles: the 1970s federal intervention weakening states' centralized dominance; mid-1980s state-government "corporate managerial" reforms; and the 1990s "Tripartite Alliance" (of government, business, and unions). Current issues include national curriculum, ministerial controls,…

This collection of papers reviews the state of U.S. education 20 years after the original "A Nation at Risk" report on the quality of schools by the National Commission on Educational Excellence. The first paper presents "Findings and Recommendations by the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education." Part 1, "'A Nation at Risk': Then and Now," includes:…