For the 12 years that Michael Bloomberg was mayor of New York City, the Big Apple was home to the nation's largest experiment in implementing the business model of education reform. The numbers of public school closings and new charter schools soared, while the high school student assignment system was overhauled to be driven by choice. By the…

Awarding credits based on student mastery of content and skills can remove barriers to increasing student readiness for college and careers, according to a new issue brief released by the National Governors Association. This brief shows how governors can lead efforts to foster alternative methods of awarding credit by working to: (1) Build…

Performance-based learning is one of the keys to cracking open the assumptions that undergird the current educational codes, structures, and practices. By finally moving beyond the traditions of a time-based system, greater customized educational services can flourish, preparing more and more students for college and careers. This proposed policy…

Over the past two decades, community organizing has emerged as an effective force for school improvement. In the context of shrinking education funding, stubborn opportunity and achievement gaps between low-income and wealthy children and between children of color and White children, and polarizing debate on school reform, community organizing…

Response to Intervention (RTI), as a model for improving services to all students, has been a growing phenomenon since the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004. The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) defines RTI as "the practice of (1) providing high-quality…

To address key policy and programmatic questions and help improve student and system performance, states must work to link data across the early childhood, postsecondary and workforce (P-20/workforce) spectrum and share this information with appropriate stakeholders. This issue brief highlights current efforts in California, Florida, Indiana, and…

A renewed emphasis on arts education has come after a period of neglect during the 1980s and early 1990s when the arts were often slighted as school budgets grew tight and as educational priorities shifted to the basic academic subjects. Recently, results of several research studies have confirmed the advantages of student participation in arts…

This essay examines the higher education challenges facing the state of Florida in the coming decades, focusing on solutions to demographic, economic, and social issues that may be applicable to other states as well. The state's population has increased substantially since 1950 and continues to increase at a high rate, placing significant demands…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), with the help of its Educational Technology Cooperative and its Wide Area Networking Task Group, designed a survey to identify the computer networking resources in the 15 SREB states. The survey was conducted to identify: (1) the various statewide educational networks in each of the SREB states; (2)…

This paper describes the strategy developed by the Florida Department of Education to identify, develop, and support new educational procedures and practices in Florida's public schools. This educational renewal strategy incorporates three basic elements: establishing clear goals and objectives, assessing and analyzing how well educational goals…

The purpose of this document is to suggest ways in which teacher education in Florida could be changed in order to facilitate and promote the successful integration of academic and vocational education in schools throughout the state. The introduction includes a definition of the term "integration," a discussion of the assumptions…

This booklet depicts the thinking of state-level and local-level advocates and policymakers regarding the complementary nature of service learning and school-to-work and explains the benefits of linking the two strategies through partnerships. The similarities and differences between service learning and school-to-work are presented along with…

Surging demand for workers, growing income inequality, and passage of welfare reforms have made work force development one of the United States' key national concerns. Public/Private Ventures has been working with various states to design work force development strategies that seek to address the concerns of many work force development specialists…