Without question, the role of business, philanthropy, and other private sector interests in the day-to-day operation of public education has increased significantly over the past 25 years. Pundits of this phenomenon contend that a number of factors have contributed to the increase, such as (1) public dissatisfaction with the performance of school…

The $1 million Broad Prize in Urban Education, the nation's largest K-12 public education award given annually by The Broad Foundation, is awarded to urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing income and ethnic achievement gaps. One hundred of the largest urban…

Guided by a new framework, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment was updated in 2009 to keep the content current with key developments in science, curriculum standards, assessments, and research. The 2009 framework organizes science content into three broad content areas. Physical science includes concepts…

The School District of Philadelphia (SDP), like many other urban school districts, struggles to increase its hiring and retention of experienced and highly qualified teachers in its low-performing/high-need schools. Excluding its charter schools, SDP serves approximately 165,000 students, largely from high-poverty (76%) and minority (85%)…

Understanding the post-storm landscape of education in New Orleans and the metro area requires a grasp of some of the pre-storm realities of New Orleans public schools. This article will provide a brief overview of three arenas important to understanding the educational landscape of New Orleans--parish governance, desegregation and private…

This article is a condensed report of a 3-year empirical study exploring best policies and practices of urban educational reform, focusing on 22 major urban school districts that were involved in the Urban Systemic Initiative (USI) program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. USI has been a catalyst for large-scale educational reform in…

The comprehensive school reform (CSR) models build consistency throughout a district while addressing the needs of individual schools. The high-quality CSR programs offer a most effective option for urban education reform.

School Communities That Work envisions urban education systems in which all schools meet high academic performance standards, with no significant differences in achievement based on race, ethnicity, or family income. Few city school districts currently meet these criteria. Many urban districts face major constraints--such as fiscal instability,…

Reports on what researchers discovered in their study of five urban school districts that were labeled "innovative." Provides a conceptual framework that takes into account five factors that seemed critical to a district's success or failure in implementing change. (Author/IRT)

The report of the hearings before the House of Representatives subcommittee is concerned with progress being made by the District of Columbia to comply with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Major statements are included from officials representing the General Accounting Office, and the District's Department of Human Services,…

The political settings of elementary school principals are examined. All sampled districts had bureaucracies, but in lower income districts, principals viewed the central office more negatively than did principals in upper income districts. In middle income districts, more bargaining occurred between school and district. Neighborhoods had an…

Reports a study of the social studies curriculum of the New York City Board of Education with the focus on curriculum innovation and implementation, with the investigation restricted to a district in which most children came from low income families and minority backgrounds; proposes curriculum development should be retained at a central level.…

Discusses a survey designed, it is stated, to determine the prevailing sentiment of the respondents with respect to career opportunities, and focussing on how career opportunities in the central city schools compared to career opportunities outside the central city: the survey population included 94 of the 138 black administrators. (Author/JM)

Reports on a study of 50 urban and 50 rural Indiana districts covering school district characteristics, liability actions against either the school district or professional personnel, liability insurance coverage, employment of legal counsel and fees paid, and opinions of respondents regarding the potential impact of educational malpractice…