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…

This paper considers why the International Baccalaureate--a prestigious international education program--is currently being incorporated into magnet schools in the United States. Since the mid-1980s, when school choice policy took root the number of magnet schools climbed and a growing number of them incorporated the International Baccalaureate…

Background/Context: The lack of court-ordered support for race-based policies that maintain and create integrated schools has forced communities of color to seek other avenues to obtain equitable education, such as school choice. Individual states and the federal government, as seen in grant provisions through the American Reinvestment and…

School-Parent Compacts are a component of school-level parental involvement policies, and must be developed by the school, teacher, and parents as a description of how parents, the entire school staff, and students themselves will work together for improved student academic achievement. This District of Columbia Public Schools School Year…

This report serves as a quick reference guide for elected officials to compare key education policies and data in their states to the rest of the nation. The first section highlights major state policies for all 50 states in both table and chart formats (see Summary Charts ). The second section provides key state data, such as per-student spending…

From tuition vouchers for private schools to charter schools to voluntary transfer programs within and between public school systems, school choice has been at the center of the school reform debate for two decades. But with the voucher movement unable to sustain much momentum, charter schools still serving a small percentage of the nation's…

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the proliferation of high school exit exams, the success of school choice initiatives, and a dozen other smaller if more bitter battles, education has become one of the hottest policy topics in Washington. That means there is a booming market for education experts, especially those who claim…

This bimonthly newsletter provides information about the progress of the Honor States Grant Program, a governor-led effort to improve college--and work-ready graduation rates. This issue spotlights the "supply-side" of high school redesign, exploring how state policymakers are working to expand the supply of high-quality high schools.…

Richard Murnane observes that the American ideal of equality of educational opportunity has for years been more the rhetoric than the reality of the nation's political life. Children living in poverty, he notes, tend to be concentrated in low-performing schools staffed by ill-equipped teachers. They are likely to leave school without the skills…

"The Achiever" is a monthly publication designed expressly for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) Spellings Convenes National Summit on Higher Education; (2) Noble Street: Chicago Charter High School Creates a Culture…

This document presents the September 2004 issue of the Council for American Private Education's (CAPE's) newsletter. Articles in this issue include: (1) Students' Views of High School Vary by Type of School; (2) Action Needed Now on Title V; (3) Survey Looks at Teens--Online and Off; (4) Report Examines Teacher Turnover; (5) School Choice Setback…