The educational achievement and attainment of young people in the United States has been a long-standing issue of concern. While analyses of long-term trend data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that students in the United States have made gains in reading and mathematics over the past few decades, a sizeable…

Race to the Top is the latest in a line of federal programs reshaping K-12 education. This article traces the history and goals of Race to the Top, with particular attention paid to the means by which practicing classroom teachers are evaluated and held accountable for student learning as measured by standardized tests. Implications for music…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association representing the technology leadership in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is SETDA's ninth annual report on select educational technology activities. This year's report includes…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and the National Association of State Title I Directors (NASTID) drafted this paper to spark local discussions on the coordinated uses of funds to implement technology in the classroom. State and local Title I and Title IID directors can work together to ensure that these ideas are…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the federal stimulus package, will over the next two years provide all states with federal funding to support early learning opportunities for 3- and 4-year-olds. This investment clearly reflects Washington's acknowledgement of the link between high-quality early education and the nation's…

Decades of research show that quality pre-kindergarten programs can make a critical difference in children's school readiness and their future educational success. Investments in early learning are proven to yield important short- and long-term benefits for students and school districts. Driven by this strong evidence, the movement to expand…

This annual report provides a national perspective on Title II-D for federal fiscal year (FY) 2008 (2008-09 school year), as well as emergent trends based on data from the past seven years. Title II-D is the only federal education program with funds explicitly targeted to support state and local effective uses of educational technology in the …

High-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten has emerged as an important policy to improve the nation's education system. Based on strong evidence from rigorous longitudinal research and recent program evaluations, reform-minded principals, superintendents, school board members and other leaders have embraced early education as an effective strategy…

State and local educators encountered both opportunities and obstacles in their first year of implementing the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In 2009, the ARRA, better known as the economic stimulus package, provided $3 billion for SIGs to help reform persistently low-achieving…