At a crucial moment with the best possibility of an ESEA re-authorization on the near horizon and with only about one year left before the end of the Obama administration, long-serving Education Secretary Arne Duncan has stepped down. It is unclear why, but we do know that the President wanted Read more
When President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law in 2002, the U.S. national high school graduation rate was 72.6 percent. Today, the national high school graduation rate has reached an all-time high of 81 percent and the number of low-graduation-rate high schools has declined Read more
When looking at education issues today, it is interesting to review the events and people involved in shaping federal education policy over time. There is rich history of landmark events that directly influenced today’s education policy climate, including the debate over appropriate roles for states and the federal government. The Read more
In lieu of Congress re-authorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the most recent version of which is No Child Left Behind (2001), the Education Department under Arne Duncan has used waivers to allow states to avoid the repercussions associated with not meeting the demands of NCLB. This is essential Read more
Michele McNeil at Education Week describes in a recent article how the Education Department, under Secretary Arne Duncan, continues to use NCLB waivers to enforce its policy goals. The situation, which we have blogged about before here and here, is essentially that Congress has yet to pass a new version Read more
ASCD, one of the largest international organizations of teaching professionals, has set their 2013 legislative agenda, and that agenda, quite simply, is legislation. The “key priority” for ASCD and its members in 2013 in terms of federal public policy priorities is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Read more
A new brief by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) focuses in on the proposals to reauthorize portions of ESEA. The brief is part of a series co-authored by the Center for American Progress (CAP), called “Tightening Up Title I.” This particular brief was written by Frederick M. Hess of AEI Read more
On February 28, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved (in a 23-16) vote GOP-backed legislation reauthorizing portions of ESEA. Two bills, introduced by Rep. John Kline (R) of Minnesota, scale back the role of the federal government in education and give states more wiggle room in designing K-12 Read more
See below for two upcoming opportunities: “Education 2012: What the Election Year Will Mean for Education Policy” Date: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Time: 9:00-11:00am EST* *This event can be attended in-person for those in the Washington, DC area at the American Enterprise Institute, but it will also be livestreamed for Read more
This month, twenty-five education advocacy organizations released a “statement of principles” addressed to Sens. Harkin and Enzi and Reps. Kline and Miller. The statement focused on the role of teacher quality in the reauthorization of ESEA and urged the congressmen to “make every effort possible to spur states and school Read more
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) released his draft proposal for the reauthorization of ESEA on October 11. To date, the proposal has been met with mixed reactions across the country. Civil rights groups assert that the proposal to scrap Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a giant step backwards when it comes Read more
As the reauthorization of ESEA draws nearer, Education Sector’s Policy Director Kevin Carey and Robert Manwaring, a fiscal and policy consultant, argue in a newly released report, Growth Models and Accountability: A Recipe for Remaking ESEA, that Congress should combine a measure of student growth with achievement into a single Read more
Effective teachers are critical to raising achievement and closing longstanding gaps among student subgroups. Unfortunately, access to effective teachers is not equitable or fair. Research shows that students in high-poverty schools are more likely than students in more affluent schools to have the least effective teachers. A new report from Read more