This report raises questions about the support given to new teachers who come to teaching through "alternate routes." It focuses on new teachers in high-needs schools, comparing the perspectives of those from traditional teacher education versus those from three alternate-route programs: Teach for America, Troops to Teachers and The New Teacher…

Surprisingly, given the level of leadership anxiety about math and science education in the United States today, national research conducted by Public Agenda shows that the number of parents who worry about whether local schools are teaching enough math and science has declined since the mid-nineties. In 1994, 52 percent of parents said that it…

This study details parents' and students' current thinking about math, science and technology (MST) education and their satisfaction with the existing curriculum which most experts see as vastly below world-class standards. The study finds just 25% of Kansas/Missouri parents think their children should be studying more math and science; 70% think…

This issue of "Lessons Learned" carries the heading "They're Not Little Kids Anymore: The Special Challenge of New Teachers in High Schools and Middle Schools." It goes without saying that almost all parents love their children dearly, but nearly 9 in 10 admit "kids become a lot more challenging when they hit the teen years." So in a way, it…

This report explores the true position of public libraries today, in the minds not only of library users, but of the people who run libraries and those who provide oversight and funding. This study is the first step in the development of a national agenda for libraries and library funding in the 21st century. Findings from this study indicate…

The American Diploma Project, an influential consortium that includes Achieve, Inc., The Education Trust, and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation believes that expectations about what youngsters learn in high school must be raised dramatically. According to the group, "the diploma has lost its value because what it takes to earn one is disconnected…

It is not the kind of atmosphere most adults would find helpful if they needed to study and learn-high dropout rates, kids promoted without learning, schools short on money, profanity and disrespect, fighting, drug and alcohol abuse. Yet these are "very serious" problems in schools, according to surprisingly large numbers of the nation's black and…

This report is the third in a series of "Reality Check" reports finds that five years into the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act and over a dozen years into the so-called standards movement in American education, the public now sees these reforms as "necessary, but not sufficient." This is consistent across a number of indicators…

This is the fourth in a series of reports from Reality Check 2006, an ongoing set of tracking surveys on education issues. Reality Check surveys attitudes among public school parents, students, teachers, principals and superintendents on a regular basis. In surveys on education, it is not uncommon for the public, parents and teachers to see…