The purpose of this brief is to support stakeholders in their efforts to influence how states use the mandatory 7 percent Title I school improvement set-aside in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)--an allocation that could total more than $5 billion nationwide over the next five years. First, the authors provide an overview of the ESSA's school…

Organizational leaders from nearly every sector have been using continuous improvement models and improvement science for years to improve products, services, and processes. Though continuous improvement processes are not new in education, they are relatively new in the state policy arena. In a continuous improvement system, educators use data,…

The Career and Technical Education (CTE) playbook series has explored strategies and processes states can use to strengthen CTE program quality and provide students with pathways to postsecondary credentialing and middle- and higher wage career opportunities. In the first three CTE Playbooks, ExcelinEd provided a high-level view of how states can…

This 2015 annual report shares many of the accomplishments achieved by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in 2015 including the celebration of their 10th anniversary. Among other achievements, the report highlights: (1) At the end of 2015 Congress and the President agreed to an $80 million increase in support for the federal Charter…

Each year, the federal government provides billions of dollars to support low-income schools through the federal Title I program. Most of this money goes to Title I schools operating schoolwide programs. Schoolwide schools have authority under federal law to use Title I funds--and in some cases, other federal funds--flexibly to upgrade their…

Education reform has been on a new path over the last 15 years; a path that leads to more accountability, more choice for students and parents, highly qualified teachers, as well as, best practices in instruction. In an effort to move along the path of reform and as a result of previous reform, the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA reviewed the field…

An 11-step model designed to maximize the desirable traits and minimize the side effects of competitive funding. (RA)

Presents the results of a study conducted to determine the allocation of general revenue sharing funds to libraries from 1973 through 1977 and to estimate the impact of these funds on library budgets around the country. Data are summarized in 6 tables and a reference list is included. (Author/JL)

This report details a project to develop a system to distribute federal funds under the Education Amendments of 1976 to all eligible recipients on the basis of annual applications. The first section describes the pertinent federal and state legislation, project scope, and guidelines used to develop the new system. Data sources and the criteria…

This report responds to Delaware state legislation requiring the development of proposed revised regulations for the classification of students as learning disabled (LD). The report first describes the current system, noting that in 1997 15 percent of the student population were served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and over…

This guide is intended to assist Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program policymakers, planners, and program operators develop JTPA programs and activities. Discussed first are JTPA participant eligibility criteria and ways of assuring that competing groups can receive services in an equitable manner that is consistent with the intent of JTPA.…

During the past decade, public and private funding agencies have invested large sums in programs designed to strengthen struggling colleges and universities. However, there is an absence of a conceptual framework for assessing the impact of these programs on funded institutions. Such a framework is described in this paper. To illustrate the need…

To address the skills shortages stemming from the transition to a more technological and skills-intensive economy, Congress established a program whereby funds from H-1B visa fees would provide seed funds for private companies, labor, and government to join together in creating training alliances focused on skills in short supply. Unfortunately,…

This position paper synthesizes the findings of a review of the literature on career-related education and training and recommends the following nine statements as guiding principles of legislation concerning career-related education and training: lifelong learning programs will be most effective if they combine academic and vocational content;…