Governors plays a central role in ensuring that public educational institutions provide students with the knowledge and abilities required for a successful life and career. The systemic use of data from education and labor markets informs governors and other policymakers of the effectiveness and efficiency of their existing postsecondary systems…

The federal government announced in late 2011 that as an alternative to waiting for Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the U.S. Secretary of Education would consider requests from states to waive certain requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The opportunity to request waivers…

Awarding credits based on student mastery of content and skills can remove barriers to increasing student readiness for college and careers, according to a new issue brief released by the National Governors Association. This brief shows how governors can lead efforts to foster alternative methods of awarding credit by working to: (1) Build…

Education and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are important in a global economy increasingly focused on high-growth, technology-driven occupations. Yet, many states face a shortage of STEM-skilled students and workers. A number of states have built powerful and productive STEM education and skills strategies to…

Public colleges and universities, which educate the vast majority of the nation's students, are an important part of states' economic competitiveness efforts. These institutions face a number of pressures that will demand increased productivity and a data driven investment strategy moving forward. Increasing productivity in higher education will…

Recognizing that higher education, including community colleges, four-year colleges, and research universities, cannot help drive economic growth in their states unless students' academic success is linked to the needs of the marketplace, governors and state policymakers are beginning to move beyond their focus on getting more students to get…

STEM--science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--is critical to and supportive of many education reforms being undertaken today, from adoption of common internationally benchmarked standards to better teacher preparation to enhanced coordination across the entire K-20 education system. In fact, STEM is not a separate reform movement at…

A principal's effectiveness impacts both teachers and students. Effective principals improve the retention of effective teachers and the outcomes of students. Although all schools can benefit from an effective school principal, there is an emergent need for schools that are chronically low-performing. As states look for ways to turn around…

The 2011 Governors Education Symposium, co-hosted by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Hunt Institute, focused on advancing education reform with limited resources, improving postsecondary completion and productivity, preparing career- and college-ready students and measuring and evaluating effective teaching.…

Governors face unprecedented demands across state government to deliver vital services in an environment of constrained resources. Higher education is no exception. States must increase the number of high-quality college graduates within available funding to meet workforce needs and compete globally. To meet this goal, policymakers--including…

Improved college completion rates are critical to the future of the United States, and states must have better data to understand the nature of the challenges they confront or target areas for policy change. The 2010-2011 National Governors Association (NGA) Chair's initiative, "Complete to Compete", recommends that all states collect data from…

The long-term health of each state's economy rests on the state's ability to educate and eventually employ citizens who contribute to its economy by filling jobs in a variety of sectors. With the globalization of the economy and shifts in supply and demand for a wide variety of occupations, students in public schools need effective teachers and…

In the modern economy, a college degree has become the gateway to the middle class. Nearly 75 percent of future jobs will require a postsecondary degree or certificate, and many of these job openings will be in middle-skill professions that require more than a high school degree but less than a four-year college degree. Although the demand for…