Several state boards of education have adopted graduate profiles or portraits to better define the skills and knowledge students should master before they graduate high school. This report discusses the graduate profiles developed by the following states: South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. While their entry points and approaches to…

Hakeem, Emily, Jose, and Latisha are all entering preschool in the fall. Their mothers are looking for the highest quality early childhood program they can find. Is there a guide for them to find a five-star program? Are all certified or accredited programs of equal quality? How do these parents and guardians know what defines quality in early…

The six national content standards from NASPE define what a student should know and be able to do as a result of a high quality physical education program. The "NASPE SIX" serve as a North Star to guide teachers as they prepare and implement programs. Simply stated, the NASPE Standards for Physical Education are all about six simple…

In 1982-83, the State of Washington's 299 public school districts (K-12) educated more than 738,000 students; over 70% of these school districts enrolled fewer than 2,000 students and 40% enrolled fewer than 500 students. The small school (fewer than 500 students) graduation rate of 92.6% was 10.6% higher than the statewide average of 82%. Nine…