Turning around low-performing schools has been a constant theme in education policy for decades. Even before the latest studies, analysts and education leaders have recognized the implementation challenges schools and districts face. So, what solutions are available for education leaders and state policyholders? The article offered these…

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, states have considerably more flexibility and authority in K-12 education than they had under the previous federal education law, No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The Trump administration and the Republican Congress, meanwhile, moved in 2017 to further loosen federal accountability rules and give…

The purpose of this report is to provide insight into how state departments are implementing legislative requirements for educator evaluation, particularly the specific circumstances states encounter around arts education. Spotlights on Delaware, a first-round recipient of Race to the Top funding, and Colorado and Arizona, third-round recipients,…

The National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL), an organization dedicated to redesigning and expanding school time to improve opportunities and outcomes for high-poverty students, has again teamed up with the Education Commission of the States (ECS), whose mission it is to foster the exchange of ideas on education issues among the states, to…

The charter school landscape is dramatically different today compared to when the federal government first forayed into the field in 1994. That year it established the Charter School Program as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA. The Charter School Program, which is designed to support the startup of new public charter…

This report summarizes testimony of Franklin Frazier, Director of Education and Employment Issues, the Human Resources Division of the Government Accounting Office, concerning the need for improved federal leadership in helping states utilize the "order of selection" provision (in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) to provide rehabilitation…

This GAO report examines response of 47 states to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) of 2001 that established qualification requirements for teachers of core academic subjects that must meet by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. With the deadline approaching for all teachers to meet the requirements, GAO was asked to examine the following:…

This paper discusses some alternatives to the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR) including the feasibility of developing state standards for certification of federally-supported day care. Section I describes briefly the background and political context of current federal policies concerning day care regulation. Section II discusses…

The federal government has no constitutional mandate relating to education, and must deal with established institutions and private accrediting agencies. Federal-aid-to-education legislation implies that in order to be eligible for benefits, institutions must be accredited by nationally recognized, nongovernmental accrediting organizations, which…

This book includes the papers and speeches which were part of the Seattle Conference in which representatives of 49 states met to reevaluate beliefs and procedures regarding the future role of state departments of education particularly with reference to the identification and setting of goals. There are seven speeches and papers: "The Dynamic Duo…