The IPEDS Analytics: Delta Cost Project Database was created to make data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) more readily usable for longitudinal analyses. Currently spanning the period from 1987 through 2010, it has a total of 202,800 observations on 932 variables derived from the institutional characteristics,…

In fewer than 10 years, states and districts have taken bold steps to build and improve systems that collect data about students, staffing and expenditures, but the data do not often provide adequate information to guide policy and practice. Increasing amounts of data are now available to parents, educators, researchers and policymakers. However,…

In 2009-2010, California made substantial education budget cuts at the same time that it removed its spending requirements from $4.5 billion of state money. This gave districts the flexibility to use the funds in any manner approved by the local school board. Researchers found that most of the formerly earmarked money was moved into general funds…

Zimbabwe faced severe economic challenges that impacted on resource accumulation leading to a decline of quality of teaching and learning in a selected university in Zimbabwe yet the Resource Dependence Theory advocates that organizations are dependent on the environment for resources for survival and achievement of their set objectives. The study…

The nation is in the midst of a revolution in education. For the first time in human history, tools to enable everyone to attain all the education they desire are available. And best of all this education is available at almost no cost. The key to this sea of change in learning is open education resources, or OER. OER are educational materials…

Hispanics continue to be the fastest growing minority population in the Nation. According to U.S. Census Bureau (2011; 2008), the Hispanic or Latino population was 16.3 percent in 2010 and is projected to be over 30 percent in 2050. However, only 3.6% of the RN population is Hispanic indicating an unrealistic representation of today's…

Professional Development Standards in one state require professional learning for teachers in collaborative teams and requires schools to offer teachers opportunities for collaborative and collegial learning activities. The purpose of this study was to discover how elementary schools are consistently implementing this standards-based professional…

This annual report updates the tuition and fee prices published by all of the public higher education institutions in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) member states. It is the product of an annual survey administered to the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) offices in each state, with a couple of…

As new evaluation systems begin to enable school and district leaders to identify their excellent teachers, states and school systems are looking ahead to the next step. Leaders ask: Now that we know who our great teachers are, how can we give them the opportunity to take on new roles and advance in their careers? How can we pay them more--ideally…

The growing movement to strengthen PreK-3rd education as an essential foundation for student success, along with the rapid expansion in public funding for PreK, has created an urgent need to measure children's educational progress, in a continuous fashion, from the beginning of PreK through Grade Three. Currently, some state governments are…

California has long been viewed by the rest of the nation as leader in many areas, including education. The state's K-12 and higher education systems were once the envy of other states. Of late, though, the news from the Golden State has not been so rosy. For the last three decades California has faced increased demands on public services while…

The 2012 "School Planning & Management"'s 17th Annual School Construction Report reports over the last two years although school construction had fallen from previous highs, the pipeline of projects funded before the recession was still full. And so, in 2009 total construction was a solid $16.4 billion. But the pipeline is not being…

For more than 50 years, human capital theory has been the cornerstone for understanding the value of investing in individuals' productive capacities in terms of both personal social and economic gain and the collective benefits that accrue to society. Vedder and Denhart (2007) challenge the hypothesis that public investment in higher education…

"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) Let's Get Digital: First-Ever National Digital Learning Day Attracts Participation from Thirty-Nine States, 19,000…

Charter schools are deregulated institutions that are provided considerable autonomy in order to spur innovation, yet little is known about their governance practices. The studies of charter school governance that do exist, however, typically concern cases of charter school failure. The causes of charter school failure are often clear and…