The author uses Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital, and habitus to analyze how students, parents, teachers, and administrators are responding to Georgia's test-based grade retention policy in reading at one Georgia elementary school. In this multiple case study, the author interviewed, observed, and collected documents regarding ten fifth…

On March 16, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order (EO) 13506 establishing the White House Council on Women and Girls (Council) for the purpose of providing a "coordinated Federal response to issues that particularly impact the lives of women and girls... [and] to ensure that Federal programs and policies address and take into account…

The National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) presents a model of 21st century learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five essential areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. The plan also identifies far-reaching "grand challenge problems" that should be funded and coordinated at a…

In this report, the authors identify public schools whose doors are effectively closed to poor children. These institutions--generally found in wealthy urban enclaves or well-heeled suburbs--educate many of the children of America's elite while proudly waving the "public school" flag. But they hardly embody the "common school" ideal. In fact, by…

The U.S. Department of Education is the agency of the federal government that establishes policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education. It assists the president in executing his education policies for the nation and in implementing laws enacted by Congress. The Department's mission is to serve America's students--to…

The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) collects data on the number and characteristics of individuals receiving research doctoral degrees from all accredited U.S. institutions. The results of this annual survey are used to assess characteristics and trends in doctorate education and degrees. This information is vital for education and labor force…

Accountability is one of the most advocated and controversial topics in US education. Since the early 2000s, the federal government has produced a vibrant discourse on accountability, which emphasizes quality, efficiency, and equal opportunity in education. As part of the larger phenomenon of new managerialism, the dominant forms of accountability…

A course in contemporary education issues is proposed as a valuable general education vehicle for citizenship education. Such a course offers the advantages of being inherently political and interdisciplinary, and relevant to students' life experience. Moreover, such a course would help satisfy the academy's responsibility to inform public debate…

When children are struggling in school, underlying causes often include physical or behavioral health problems, poverty, abuse, and/or neglect. Children's poor physical health status has been linked to deficits in memory and reading ability. Children with behavioral problems are much more likely than others to have lower grades, miss school, be…

The National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL), an organization dedicated to redesigning and expanding school time to improve opportunities and outcomes for high poverty students, and the Education Commission of the States (ECS), with a mission to foster both the exchange of ideas on education issues among the states and long range strategic…

A large majority of full-time students pursuing bachelor's degrees at four-year colleges and universities in the United States attend public universities. The struggle, therefore, to improve educational attainment and reduce the marked disparities in outcomes that lead to greater inequalities of all kinds will take place mainly within our nation's…

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's online newsletter "The Education Innovator" is to promote innovative practices in education; to offer features on promising programs and practices; to provide information on innovative research, schools, policies, and trends; and to keep readers informed of key Department priorities and…

To help prevent the substitution of federal funds for state, local, or private funds, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) contains maintenance of effort and similar provisions requiring that recipients maintain certain levels of spending for selected programs. This report provides information on selected programs in…

In comments on the proposed federal guidelines for stimulus funds, some researchers say there's no evidence for the policies touted. Among education researchers, one complaint about the U.S. Department of Education under former President George W. Bush was that it relentlessly promoted "scientific research in education," while at the…

In the information-rich, rapidly changing 21st-century, educators are faced with unprecedented challenges. While new technologies have brought the people of the planet closer together, they have also brought them into contact with an overwhelming array of information sources. The Library of Congress is positioned to help educators respond to these…