The author of this article states that, for more than 20 years, public educators have developed a professional inferiority complex and a strong sense of hopelessness. After all, he claims, the dominant message over those years, including from some within the profession, has been that educators have caused the declining quality in public schools.…

"Jeopardy," the trivia game show first introduced in 1964 is approaching its 25th straight year on television. Next to "The Price is Right," it is arguably one of the greatest game shows of all time. Unfortunately, "Jeopardy!" is not just a game show. It is, according to this author, the game show gone reality show in…

In 1972 the federal government created the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act that procured funding for various governmental programs to combat the sudden increase in juvenile crime. A provision of this Act set out the creation of mentoring programs to help decrease the juvenile crime rate and dropout rates in secondary schools. This…

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…

"International Education and Foreign Languages" reviews the Department of Education's Title VI and Fulbright-Hays Programs, which provide higher education funding for international education and foreign language programs. This book offers a timely look at issues that are increasingly important in an interconnected world. It discusses the…

This article reports on the "discussion draft" released on September 6, about a week after a preliminary proposal to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law's core Title I program was unveiled. Under the latest House proposal for reauthorizing the NCLB Act, the federal government would invest billions in improving the nation's…

This paper evaluates the effects of federal initiatives in educational technology in elementary and secondary education over the past half-century. While federal resources have been diluted across many programs, this paper focuses on the few initiatives in which the federal role was substantial and integral. The findings from this paper have…

"Education Week" Staff Writer Michelle R. Davis sat down with Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, on January 9, 2006, in the secretary's office at the U.S. Department of Education. This article contains excerpts from that interview. Secretary Spellings notes that being a parent of school-age children has given her an unusual…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) To Be Continued: Congress Passes Continuing Resolution to Keep Government Running, Buys Time to Pass Appropriations…

In March 2006 the Industrial Relations Commissions of New South Wales and Queensland utilised their equal-remuneration wage-fixing principles to address the gender undervaluation of childcare work. In doing so the tribunals explicitly rejected employer arguments used in the past to limit increases in award rates of pay for childcare workers. While…

Many policymakers feel pressure to claim that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is boosting student performance, as Congress reconsiders the federal government's role in school reform. But how should politicians and activists gauge NCLB's effects? The authors offer evidence on three barometers of student performance, drawing from the National Assessment…

Much debate continues about whether the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has actually improved the academic achievement level of poorly performing students or only created yet another layer of government oversight to an already heavily burdened public school system. Drafted in 2001 and signed into law in January 2002, NCLB provided the…

Faced with having to make a decision between the career they want and one that will pay enough for them to climb out of debt, many college students are choosing the latter. This trend has alarmed some observers and has revived interest in an idea once thought to be a relic of the Clinton administration: income-contingent repayment. Legislation…

President Bush's new plan to heighten the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act's focus on high schools is being questioned by policy makers. This article discusses how the Bush administration, with its proposals to reauthorize the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the NCLB, wants to use the law to change the way high…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, school districts that receive federal Title 1 education funds and have a "school in need of improvement--year two" must implement supplemental educational services (SES). Such districts must allocate a portion of their Title 1 funds to free tutoring for low-income students. Providers may be…