State and district leaders have a chance under ESSA (the 2016 Every Student Succeeds Act) to use their new funding flexibility to take a new approach that focuses on excellence for teachers, and students. This brief explains four opportunities to go beyond the requirements of ESSA to achieve a culture of excellence, one that attracts even more…

As people who were involved with drafting the 2010 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP), the authors have taken the opportunity to respond to the very interesting perspectives in this special issue. The thoughts here represent only their views and are not an official statement of either the US Department of Education or the NETP Technical…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization requires State Education Agencies to establish a school choice policy for students attending a persistently dangerous school as defined by the state. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) stipulates that a school can be deemed unsafe as a whole entity or for an individual student who is the…

The school and district report cards were created by the 1999 Oregon Legislature. The legislation requires that the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) produce and issue a report card to all public schools and districts in the state. The report cards are designed to: (1) Communicate the many good things occurring in Oregon's public schools; (2)…

This issue of the monthly newsletter for the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) includes the following articles: (1) Education Spending Bill Kills Funds for Title V; (2) New Report Examines Private School Enrollment Patterns; and (3) CAPENotes. (Contains 2 tables.)

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Another Positive Step for ESEA Reauthorization: Testifying Before Congress, Duncan Calls for Reauthorization in 2010,…

In this article, the author talks about a report from Education Sector, a Washington think tank, which concludes that little information exists on whether the $3 billion spent annually by the federal government on teacher quality as part of the No Child Left Behind Act has improved the effectiveness of U.S. educators. The Teacher and Principal…

The ever-increasing standards of No Child Left Behind regulations and various state assessments have put more pressure on teachers and administrators to monitor the learning process. Fortunately, the advent of technology is allowing teachers to test more often to prepare students for high-stakes tests and for districts to understand results for…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Obama Administration Releases ESEA [Elementary and Secondary Education Act] Blueprint: Proposal to Overhaul NCLB [No…

This study investigated the inclusion of English language learners (ELLs) in state standards and assessments, as measured by comments made by peer reviewers in the federal evaluation of states' standards and assessments. As required by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), reauthorized in 2004 as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), states…

In 1983, the U.S. Department of Education report, "A Nation at Risk," found that about 13 percent of 17-year-olds were functionally illiterate, SAT scores were dropping, and students needed an increased array of remedial courses in college. Such trends threatened opportunities for American children and the collective national future.…

Business intelligence (BI) tools offer schools the ability to look beyond a routine statistic, such as what percentage of students have passed a given test. Through data analysis, schools can view specific scores for a select group of students, for example, and compare that data to other groups, classes, or teachers. That is the kind of…

This guide was developed to serve as a resource for the staffs of state education agencies and local education agencies who are responsible for producing state, district, or school report cards of the type required under many state or district accountability systems as well as under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The guide is not intended to…

A long standing debate among policymakers as well as researchers is whether and how funding affects the quality of education. Often missing from the discussion is information about the costs of providing education at the school level and below, yet such information could impart a better indication of the linkages between outcomes and resources…

This paper provides, in summary form, a discussion of the central issues arising from an examination of State Accountability Workbooks prepared for Peer Reviews through the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and subsequent approval discussions made by ED. These issues have their genesis in requirements set forth under the No Child Left Behind Act…