How do students and alumni of for-profit colleges feel about their schools and the value of their education? Do they have distinct expectations, priorities, and needs compared with students who choose to study at not-for-profit institutions? Are prospective students effectively weighing their options before deciding to enroll at for-profit…

Are parents an untapped resource in improving and reimagining K-12 education in Kansas City? What do they think would enhance student learning and what are they willing to do to help their children get the education they deserve? These are among the questions explored in an in-depth survey of 1,566 parents with children now in public school in the…

This paper reports findings from a national random sample survey of more than 600 young Americans, asking them for their views on jobs, college, and their own economic prospects. The survey was designed to shed light on questions such as these: (1) How do young Americans think about college and jobs as they become working-age adults and begin…

Members of Generation Y (those born between 1977 and 1995) have been characterized as creative, innovative, self-confident, highly educated, and educationally minded. They like to share what they've learned in small groups and are dissatisfied with workplaces that are technologically inferior. They have a strong moral drive to make a difference in…

As a new decade dawns, teachers stand at the center of a policy vortex. They serve as the primary focus of one of the Obama administration's four pillars of educational reform--effective teachers and leaders. Educational reformers of all stripes have focused tremendous energy on thinking of ways to identify effective teachers and in turn recruit,…

This paper offers a summary of key findings from a telephone survey of 1,204 California parents conducted in September and October 2009 in both English and Spanish. The survey was prefaced by four focus groups: in Oakland, San Jose, Fresno and Los Angeles. The survey highlights several important themes for educators and policymakers, the most…

Congress and the Bush administration tried to reform immigration policy in 2006 and failed. A year later they tried again, with no more success. The truth is that if this nation is going to overhaul immigration policy, it only makes sense to listen to the people who will be most affected by it: immigrants. To craft a just and practical policy,…

"With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them" asks young Americans why so many college students drop out. This study is designed to test the assumptions many individuals make about college students today and why so many of them fail to graduate. It also helps to identify solutions that young people themselves say would help most. With underwriting from…

In many respects, Hispanic families share the aspirations and anxieties of many other families nationwide: They are keenly focused on the role completing high school and going to college will play in their children's future. Students and young adults see success in school and college as key to interesting work and a prosperous future, and most are…

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…