In September 2011, the Association of American Universities launched a major initiative to improve undergraduate STEM education. The overall objective was to influence the culture of STEM departments at AAU institutions so that faculty members are encouraged and supported to use teaching practices proven by research to be effective in engaging…

More than 20 states now allow community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees. Florida has been a trailblazer, with 14 community colleges currently authorized to offer bachelor's degrees, and 12 already doing so. Some critics have observed that community college baccalaureates will lead to low-quality degrees, take resources from needy students and…

In this qualitative case study, we explore the political impulses behind suburban secession from the 2013 Memphis-Shelby County merger, the largest school district consolidation in recent history. Decades removed from the Civil Rights Movement, during a period of stark inequality, colorblind law and policymaking, and a diminished understanding of…

This multiple case study investigated 143 teachers' responses to focus group questions about their experiences with the simultaneous implementation of three disruptive innovations as part of the U.S. Race-to-the-Top (RTTT) agenda: the Common Core Learning Standards, data-driven instruction, and annual professional performance reviews. We asked:…

This guide aims to help parents understand the flexibility provided to States and school districts in the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA), which amended the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act," a landmark Federal education law. Parents are the most important advocates for their children. Because States and school…

The research investigated the way in which school administrations implement resources provided by Israel's "Courage to Change" reform. The uniqueness of this reform stems from the fact that the allocated resources come in the form of "weekly instruction time" rather than finance, and the school management needs to decide how to…

This paper presents a case study of the microeconomy of a typical underdeveloped village in southwest China and the role of elementary education in the village economy. The paper begins with a brief review of relevant theories on the economics of education and the current social conditions and state of education in the village under study, and…

This report documents the second year of implementing Cycle-based Budgeting at Jefferson County Public Schools (Louisville, KY). In addition to aligning another $24.3 million new spending with the district's strategic plan, $20.3 million of existing spending was rolled into the process. Next, the challenges faced by the district to review 105…

California's draft Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan is now open for public comment. As the plan was reviewed, five primary things came into focus. This report discusses how the state did, what is in the plan and what still needs to be done to strengthen protections and services for low-income students, students of color, and other…

With very few exceptions colleges and universities of all types--2-year and 4-year, public and private-- are feeling the fiscal pinch. They are caught in the vise of rising expectations and constrained revenues. Public institutions are operating in an environment in which state-level policy-makers press for increasing numbers of graduates,…

Over the period 2007-2013, a series of undertakings were made to introduce fundamental elements of decentralized education finance to Egypt. In 2009, 8.4M Egyptian pounds (EGP) of the Government of Egypt's (GOE) budget was decentralized to every primary school in three pilot governorates. By 2013, EGP 1.2B of the GOE's money had been decentralized…

With the global expansion of higher education in the last two decades, the maintenance of academic quality to meet requirements for international competitiveness has become a critical issue for policymakers and universities. In addition, the neoliberal emphasis on the market has increased the competition for global university rankings, and this…

This updated policy profile on education in Mexico is part of the Education Policy Outlook series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across OECD countries. Building on the OECD's substantial comparative and sectorial policy knowledge base, the series offers a comparative outlook on education policy. This country…

The effects of linking school districts' funding directly to the students they serve and providing local school districts and communities with more control over how that money is spent could ripple through the entire K-12 system, from the state Capitol to the classroom. For district leaders anxious to improve their schools and better support…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of the Arab Spring on public administration programs in Egypt, with a special focus on executive education programs. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study draws on stakeholder analysis, and uses both primary and secondary data. Findings: The author describes the impact of the Arab Spring…