The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP), also known as the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program, provides public funds for low-income students in low-performing public schools to enroll in local private schools. The program was initially piloted in New Orleans in 2008; Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and the state legislature…

On July 14, 2006, the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a study that compared the performance in reading and math of 4th and 8th graders attending private and public schools. According to the NCES study, students attending private schools performed better than students attending public schools.…

Critics argue that No Child Left Behind's requirement that states bring all students up to academic proficiency by the year 2014 represents a massive unfunded mandate. These critics reason that unless the feds put a lot more money on the table, financially strapped state and local governments will be forced to raise taxes sharply. Otherwise, the…

This study represents the first attempt to assess the impact of the school consolidation movement on the quality of students' education during the period of greatest consolidation, from 1930 to 1970. Using data from the 1980 U.S. Census, the author looked at one million white males born between 1920 and 1949 to see how characteristics of the…

In "The Education Gap: Vouchers and Urban Schools" (Brookings, 2002), the authors and their colleagues reported that attending a private school had no discernible impact, positive or negative, on the test scores of non-African-American students participating in school voucher programs in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Dayton, Ohio. But after…

Discusses the growth and challenges of charter schools. Asserts that small stand-alone charter schools may not be the basis for a sustainable, large-scale movement for change in education. Education management organizations and other similar service providers may be needed to help charter schools become a serious force for change. (WFA)

Examines the current condition of the charter-school movement. On the one hand, the demand for and satisfaction of charter schools is high; on the other, opposition to charter schools is growing. Suggests that changes, including a national organization to press for accountability, are needed for the movement to succeed. (WFA)

Contends that special education's process-based accountability system--one that relies on procedural rules, exhaustive documentation, and legal threats as the only means of holding schools and educators accountable--is ineffective. Proposes that schools shift from a process-based accountability system to one driven by results with a focus on…

Reaffirms the six principles of special education. Suggests that problems in special education follow from the failure of schools to comply fully with the law. Further suggests that academic outcomes are too narrow of a measure and that teachers be held accountable for a broader range of outcomes. (WFA)