In compliance with the provisions of A.C.A.§§6-20-2201 et seq., the Annual Statistical Report of the Public Schools of Arkansas, Public Charter Schools, and Education Service Cooperatives, 2013-2014 Actual and 2014-2015 Budgeted, (ASR) is presented here. The Rankings of Selected Items of the Public Schools of Arkansas, 2013-2014 Actual, (Rankings)…

Denver Public Schools utilizes one of the nation's highest profile alternative teacher compensation systems, and a key element of Denver's Professional Compensation System for Teachers (ProComp) is pay for performance. This study analyzes the student achievement implications of ProComp utilizing matched student- and teacher-level data from 2003 to…

For more than 25 years, the Public School Forum of North Carolina has isolated local spending from state and federal spending to examine the capacity and actual effort of counties to support public schools. The annual Local School Finance Study examines not only on the amount that counties spend on schools, but also each county's investment in the…

Public school teaching is a profession in transition. Already the largest occupation in the United States, it is expanding faster than the nation's student population. Teachers of color are entering the profession at twice the rate of white teachers, reversing an exodus after civil rights victories opened many other doors to African Americans. And…

Since 1970 the number of teachers has increased 51.9 percent, while the number of students has increased 9.5 percent. In 1970, the student/teacher ratio was 22.3 and it is significantly lower at 16.1 today. Although there are projections indicating an increased demand for teachers going forward, the overall projections do not necessarily create a…

How working conditions, personal characteristics, and school factors influence teacher recruitment and retention is an oft-studied topic in the field of education finance and policy. Through decades of research, it has become increasingly clear that teachers respond to a set of monetary and non-monetary factors when making decisions in the teacher…

The majority of rural students attend school in a state where they make up less than 25 percent of public school enrollment. More than one rural student in four lives in states where rural students constitute less than 15 percent of overall enrollment. "Why Rural Matters 2018-19: The Time Is Now," shows that nearly 7.5 million public…

The Texas Education Agency's (TEA's) 2019 Annual Report focuses on areas of achievement based on the Agency's Strategic Priorities: (1) Recruit, Support, and Retain Teachers and Principals; (2) Build a Foundation of Reading and Math; (3) Connect High School to Career and College; and (4) Improve Low Performing Schools. A key highlight of TEA's…

Although there has been significant progress in the long term, achievement gaps among the nation's students persist.Many factors have contributed to the disparities in outcomes, and societal changes can explain progress, or lack thereof, over the past few decades.This is well documented in the 2010 Educational Testing Service (ETS) report…

Two seemingly different threads are in play on the issue of class size. The first is manifested in media reports that tell readers that class sizes are rising to concerning levels. The second thread appears in the work of some researchers and education leaders and suggests that repurposing class-size reduction funds to pay for other reforms may…

Can changes in teacher pay encourage more able individuals to enter the teaching profession? So far, studies of the impact of pay on the aptitude distribution of teachers have provided mixed evidence on the extent to which altering teacher salaries represents a feasible solution to the teacher quality problem. One possible reason is that these…

A recent report from Michigan's Mackinac Center asserts that there is little or no relationship between student achievement and marginal increases to what the report characterizes as the already "high" levels of spending in that state. Yet the report never substantiates its assertion that present spending levels are high, on average, or…

School administration is the single most important contributing factor to the success of an effective school (Cunningham & Cordeiro, 2006, 2009). Though principals' and assistant principals' salaries have increased across the United States within the past five years, salaries for secondary principals and assistant principals do not relate to…

In this report, the authors provide a detailed analysis of the major changes in revenue and expenditures in the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) 2015 proposed budget, and the manner in which MPS has responded to recent legislative changes and turbulent workforce challenges. The objective is to provide an independent assessment of the district's…

The nation's K12 school superintendents are increasingly fatigued and frustrated by pressures to accomplish more in their districts with less resources. For most, though, personal commitment to public education helps overcome sources of stress stemming from many aspects of their jobs. That is the top-level finding of the 2012 Public School…