Passage of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA) provides opportunities to improve how schools address barriers to learning and teaching and re-engage disconnected students and families. Of particular relevance to these concerns, ESSA replaces what has been described as a maze of programs with a "Student Support and Academic…

There is growing unease about suspension and expulsion of children at the preschool level. Preschoolers are expelled at three times the rate of K-12 students (Gilliam, 2005). Boys--particularly African-American boys--comprise a disproportionate number of these cases, a fact that has caused concern among parents, policymakers, and advocates alike.…

The theme of the meeting for which these profiles were prepared is "Coordinating Higher Education: Setting State Policies in the 80s." The profiles of the 14 states covered by the Southern Regional Education Board (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,…

This paper presents the Alabama edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook". The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals examine…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Alabama edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…

This brief will highlight three major findings from Southeast Center for Teaching Quality (SECTQ's) teacher surveys and interviews with more than 160 educators entitled "Unfulfilled Promise: Ensuring High Quality Teachers for Our Nation's Students". It will also profile two districts' approaches to meeting the requirements of NCLB and…

Results of a survey assessing public opinions and attitudes about higher education in Alabama are presented. A representative sample of 736 households was contacted by telephone, and 546 agreed to be interviewed. The survey was designed to evaluate public opinions and attitudes about higher education teaching, research, service, finance,…