Today, state education agencies (SEAs) and their leaders face unprecedented demands. What was once a low-profile job of managing federal aid, providing curricular guidance, and ensuring compliance with various legal obligations is now a far more visible and politically fraught task. The new roles required of state education agencies due to the No…

According to a report released by the National Academies' National Research Council, the U.S. Department of Education needs a high-ranking official to oversee its efforts to expand Americans' proficiency in foreign languages and knowledge of international affairs. The report was prepared by a committee convened to review the "adequacy and…

Matteo Fontana, the student-aid official in the U.S. Department of Education who was suspended last month in an ethics case, issued a controversial high-stakes legal ruling in 2004 that benefited his former employer, Sallie Mae, on the day before the nation's top student lender completed its transition from a government-founded lender into a…

At a June 2007 forum, Vietnam's president and minister of education outlined an ambitious plan to overhaul their country's troubled educational system, while a panel of American academics and scientists highlighted the importance of higher education to Vietnam's rapidly growing economy and suggested potential models for reform. Two decades after…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), the federal government provides millions of dollars annually to assist schools that have not met state academic goals. In the 2006-2007 school year, over 10,000 such schools were identified for improvement. NCLBA requires states to set aside 4 percent of their Title I funds to pay for school improvement…

This article profiles a vocational charter school located in Atlanta as an institutional model for customized industry training in the high-tech production firms located nearby. Social partnerships with business and industry, parents and educators, and elected officials will be illuminated, exhibiting new forms of neoliberalism that reconstitute…

The purpose of this study was to investigate and explore the differences, if any, between North Carolina high school principals' and counselors' perceptions of the implementation strategies of their freshmen academies. The results of this study provide additional knowledge to educational administrators, policymakers, and district leaders, as they…

The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program is a new, one-time appropriation of approximately $48.6 billion that the U.S. Department of Education will award to Governors to help stabilize State and local budgets in order to minimize and avoid reductions in education and other essential services, in exchange for a State's commitment to advance …

Since the 1940s, public officials at the local, state and federal levels have used student loan forgiveness programs to attract individuals to critically needed occupations and underserved communities. In exchange for a work commitment, the loan program forgives (or repays) an amount of the employee's student loan. Traditionally, these programs…

Charter schools emerged in the early 1990s as a strategy for improving student learning and increasing quality educational options, often for underserved students and communities. The charter school idea centers on the promise of increased autonomy for accountability for results. Thus, the charter movement has helped to lead the charge--and has…

Schools throughout New England face a common problem: a shortage of teachers who are fully qualified to teach science, mathematics, special education, bilingual education, foreign languages and English. Shortages are expected to spread soon to other teaching fields due to a second common problem: New England has the oldest teaching force of any…

This article presents an excerpt from the interview of Karen Hughes, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. Hughes discusses the Bush administration's effort to attract foreign students to the United States and to send American students overseas. She also talks about what American colleges and universities can do to help.

While faith schools have always been an integral part of the English state-maintained system of education, during Tony Blair's period as Prime Minister there was a distinct encouragement of the sector. This article assesses the long-term effects of such support. (Contains 1 table.)

State-level policy attention to young children's early learning opportunities burgeons; a sense of urgency exists to identify reform agendas that are both effective and sustainable. "P-3" often is used as the term for the first level of a seamless P-20 system that stretches from early childhood through post-secondary education. While it…

This survey was conducted with funding from The James Irvine Foundation. Its goal is to inform state policymakers, encourage discussion, and raise public awareness about Californians' opinions on issues affecting the state's public colleges and universities. It is the fifth annual PPIC (Public Policy Institute of California) Statewide Survey on…