In 2000, the National Education Goals Panel examined the conditions that help ensure school success, conducting a series of four field hearings nationwide to find evidence of success and to understand why schools were succeeding. Participants at the hearings included students, teachers, parents, principals, superintendents, university presidents,…

This reference includes presentations that cover current research, best practices, and solutions to improve student achievement. The 25 chapters are: (1) "The Three Stories of Educational Reform: Inside; Inside/Out; Outside/In" (Michael Fullan); (2) "Hey, You with the Frontal Lobes: Brains for Educators, Educators of Brains"…

State leaders are using complex accountability systems, composed of standards, assessments, public reporting, rewards, and sanctions, to raise student, school, and district achievement. The public strongly supports making academic standards more challenging, despite a lack of consensus on content and outcomes. Some states may revise standards…

This report presents findings on a series of surveys conducted from 1998 through 2002. The findings: (1) Parents, teachers, and students believe that setting standards and enforcing them promotes learning; (2) standards and promotion policies have changed in recent years, and attitudes about local schools have improved; (3) the majority of parents…

This proceedings document includes papers presented at a conference on children's mental health, systems of care, and research. Papers are grouped into 11 chapters which address the following topics: (1) program and system evaluations (nine papers); (2) managed care in children's mental health (six papers); (3) accountability and information…

This paper examines effects of public funding for religious and private schools in the Netherlands and England over the last century. These two countries were chosen because both have religious schools fully funded by the state. The paper shows that state funding has disadvantages and advantages. Funding has been associated with considerable, yet…

In 2001, the Pennsylvania Department of Education contracted with Western Michigan University to evaluate Pennsylvania's charter schools and charter school initiative over two years. The study used site visits, work sample review, document review, focus groups, portfolios and surveys to gather data regarding the movement's effectiveness, progress,…

This comprehensive report on Texas schools indicates that more than 80 percent of students pass the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TASS) test, and students continue to show impressive gains on math and reading tests. Chapter 1, "Student Performance," provides data on student performance on the Spring 2000 Texas Assessment of…

The context of school district governance is changing and becoming more complex. The individual roles of school board members and superintendents, and the relationship between school board members and superintendents are becoming increasingly important in light of the recent mandates for high student achievement. This brief looks at issues…

In 1989, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky's education system was unconstitutional and invalidated the entire body of school law. In response, the General Assembly passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA), a completely new educational system. This report upon the 10th anniversary of KERA's passage documents how key…

The ideas set forth in this booklet pave a way for the integration of the Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs. It describes innovative ways to blend federal funds to help support schools that are serving both children who are disadvantaged and children with disabilities.…

This document presents school principals' points of view on school and student improvement, using the real life experiences and practices of principals within Chicago's schools that have over the past few years shown the most improvement. Principals from 32 schools discussed their leadership style and strategies that contributed to school and…

This booklet shares what South Carolina teachers said during Teacher Talk, a series of regional dialogue sessions between teachers and the State Superintendent of Education in 1997. Teachers from all levels and disciplines participated in the meetings. Teachers identified learning activities that were highly effective for students, worked in small…

This companion piece to a 1997 article examines United States demographic trends, such as diversity by age, "race" and U.S. Census racial classifications, wealth, transiency, suburbanization and sprawl, and immigration, focusing on differences among states and metro regions. Nothing, including achievement scores, social services, and…

Passed by the U.S. Congress in the spring of 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was one of the most significant and expansive education policy initiatives ever undertaken by the federal government. The main component of the act, Title I, allocated significant resources to…