The Charter Schools Program (CSP) is the nation's only source of dedicated federal funding to support the creation, expansion, and replication of public charter schools. Since FY2019, the CSP has been flat funded at $440 million. The CSP amounts to less than 1% of federal spending on K-12 education, however, it has a substantial impact on the…

Research demonstrates that student-centered teaching strategies (tutoring, small-group learning, mastery-based learning, and individualized instruction) can help students excel. Many schools have turned to blended learning--integrating online learning into brick-and-mortar schools--to help implement these strategies sustainably and effectively.…

Despite the importance of teachers, the preparation programs intended to train them and provide them with the foundational skills they need to grow into high-quality educators vary in format, curriculum offered, quality, and more. Alternative teacher certification programs that are run outside of institutions of higher education (IHE) are an…

Six years ago the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) took the unprecedented step of launching an effort to study and scale high-quality, evidence-based academic, social, and emotional learning in eight of the largest and most complex school systems in the country: Anchorage, Austin, Chicago, Cleveland, Nashville,…

The 2016 Education Choice and Competition Index (ECCI) is the fifth release of an annual compilation of data on the condition of K-12 school choice in the geographical areas served by the nation's 100 largest school districts. The ECCI captures information on: (1) the extent of choice; (2) the characteristics of the process by which parents and…

In 2008, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) produced a series of papers documenting promising practices identified throughout the field of K-12 online learning. Since then, we have witnessed a tremendous acceleration of transformative policy and practice driving personalized learning in the K-12 education space. State,…

A full year of progress in advancing education reform across America is documented in each of the Foundation for Excellence in Education's Annual Reports. The illustrated pages of the 2014 report, provide data-rich updates on Excellence in Education's work to advance student-centered policies in more than 40 states, all aimed at improving learning…

National statistics reported in recent studies of educational quality and information gathered by the Nevada Governor's Commission on Educational Excellence both show disturbing trends in educational performance, despite some positive indications. Among recent signs of improvement in Nevada are the recognition of some Nevada schools as outstanding…

With an area of 110,540 square miles and a population of less than one million people, Nevada experiences educational problems that are not simply rural but remote--vast distances, geographic barriers, lack of services, untrained personnel, inadequate funding, etc. The Nevada Rural School District Alliance was formed in 1983 to improve the quality…

The results are presented of the second biannual survey of the opinions of the citizens of Nevada about their schools to provide educators and policy makers with information about public concerns. This survey allows for comparison with the views expressed in 1986. A stratified random sample, based on school district population, was selected.…

This statistical report describes the successes and shortcomings of education in Nevada and compares some statistics concerning education in Nevada to national norms. The report, which provides a comprehensive array of information helpful to policy makers and citizens, is divided into three sections. The first section presents statistics about…

A telephone public opinion survey asked 866 Nevada registered voters their opinions about the public schools. The developed questionnaire was approved by the Nevada Department of Education. Of the respondents, 51.15% agree that all students should have a specific job skill before graduating from high school and 76.67% agree that more importance…

Isolated by distance and geographic barriers from population centers, services, current information, and opportunities, 15 of Nevada's 17 school districts are not simply rural, but are remote. Servicing districts that average fewer than 2 people per square mile, 21 elementary schools have only 1 teacher. Sixteen high schools have enrollments of…