Interviews with a broad swath of current and former Teach For America alumni and current corps members reveal a decided preference for school leaders whose personality traits are akin to superhero/ines--charismatic, courageous, demanding--and who have a tendency to try to usher in greater student achievement via primarily managerial agendas,…

Can the nation's schools meet today's challenge of providing all students with the skills they will need to thrive in the rapidly changing economy and society of the 21st century? The authors point out in this article that a large percentage of children, overwhelmingly from low-income families, end their formal schooling without the…

A program of helping students learn French by integrating students' native tongue into their school instruction, along with French--the country's national language--promises to improve education outcomes in one of the world's poorest nations.

Ontario embraced a provincial lead improvement plan that was designed to improve its 5,000 schools by focusing on literacy and numeracy, improving high school graduation, and improving public support for education. Its primary strategy was developing networks of educators and building their capacity for growth.

Have efforts to improve schools neglected high achievers? A growing chorus of critics is voicing concern for the achievement gap, but not the gap between well-to-do and poor students, or white and non-white students. The gap that most worries them is the one between U.S. students and students in other industrialized nations. Among the 34 nations…

The success of the Montgomery County Public Schools rests on a pervasive culture of high expectations and a commitment to the teachers and other staff. Too many reform efforts fail to engage and support the workforce. When the staff members are engaged, they will translate standards into something meaningful for each student.

It would be wrong for the United States to provide universal prekindergarten education for three reasons. First, the overwhelming majority of three- and four-year-olds already have access to various forms of preschool. Adding a publicly financed program would be costly and unnecessary. Second, a universal program still would not reach the neediest…

To take unbundling or any reform wisely, we need to focus on what we're asking people to do and why, what it would look like to do it, and how we expect our actions to lead to particular results. Unbundling, like other reforms, will work well for some students and not for others.

While attending an August in service, the author thoughtfully listened to a consultant's rationale for a multi-year process to standardize the county's 9th grade English classes. After reminding the group of the literacy crisis, the consultant assured them that standardization would solve at least two problems of equity. First students in the same…

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland has made progress on the dual dimensions of excellence and equity for its 140,000 students, about half of whom are black or Hispanic. Beginning in 1999, with the leadership of Supt. Jerry Weast, MCPS managed to boost the achievement of its top quartile of students while the lower quartiles…

Uncle Sam has expanded his reach into the nation's schools during the last five decades. Those forays frequently have been motivated by concerns over equity and a growing interest in promoting academic excellence. An overall working assumption has been that federal prodding and assistance could help encourage states and localities to better meet…

Good schools can go a long way toward helping poor children achieve more, but the fact remains that educational inequity is rooted in economic problems and social pathologies too deep to be overcome by school alone. Ending the cycle of disadvantage requires prevention and early intervention programs that help families who are desperately…

After-school learning, summer learning, and family involvement in learning are major predictors of children's development, educational achievement, and school success. The United States will not achieve its national goals of equal educational opportunity without addressing the importance of and inequities in out-of-school learning opportunities.…

In panel discussions and brainstorming sessions, participants at PDK's Summit on Global Education shared their ideas for ensuring that a global perspective becomes an integral part of teaching and learning. Ms. Young was on the scene and summarizes the many angles that were addressed.

In her article, Megan Hopkins offered that teaching residency can allow Teacher for America (TFA) to capitalize on its existing strengths and contribute more effectively to a better future for both low-income students and the schools that serve them. In this article, the author agrees with Hopkins' vision and asserts that the teaching residency…