Explore funded research, reports, and evaluations addressing some of education's most pressing issues. This special collection of literature is made possible through IssueLab, a service of Foundation Center. Sign up for updates to find out about new publications added to the collection.
read more
Receive the latest updates by e-mail
Showing 2,534 reports filtered by "all" sorted by date added
Education and Literacy, Nonprofits and Philanthropy
He Akoranga He Aratohu outlines and reviews the process created to identify, select and allocate grants to projects from Maori and Pacific communities that met the criteria for MPEI (Maori and Pacific Education Initiative).
August 1970
Geographic Focus: Oceanic Region-New Zealand
Children and Youth;Education and Literacy;Employment and Labor
A centerpiece of Massachusetts' public education reform agenda is to ensure all children benefit from excellent teaching. The state's $250 million Race to the Top plan includes strategies for attracting and retaining a quality workforce, instituting a new statewide framework for teacher evaluation, and ensuring high-quality educators in high-needs districts. Achieving the state's goals begins by preparing all teachers to enter their classrooms with the tools needed to be successful. This requires a strong foundation in both theoretical and applied practice. A pervasive challenge is that many teacher preparation programs operate in isolation, removed from the realities of working in today's schools. A new model for teacher preparation is needed, based on strong partnerships between institutions of higher education and school districts that allow for extensive field experiences where teacher candidates develop their craft in the settings where they will ultimately work.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States;North America / United States (Northeastern) / Massachusetts
Disabilities, Education and Literacy
In this Fordham Institute paper, analysts examine public data and find that the national proportion of students with disabilities peaked in 2004-05 and has been declining since. This overall trend masks interesting variations; for example, proportions of students with specific learning disabilities, mental retardation, and emotional disturbances have declined, while the proportions of students with autism, developmental delays, and other health impairments have increased notably. Meanwhile, at the state level, Rhode Island, New York, and Massachusetts have the highest rates of disability identification, while Texas, Idaho, and Colorado have the lowest. The ratio of special-education teachers and paraprofessionals to special-education students also varies widely from state to state -- so much so that our analysts question the accuracy of the data reported by states to the federal government.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
Education and Literacy, Employment and Labor
A teacher's effectiveness has a tremendous impact on a child's learning and academic trajectory. Yet knowing that, and being able to create teacher evaluation systems that successfully measure and document teacher effectiveness, are two very different things. In fact, for as long as anyone can remember, a public school teacher's effectiveness and performance in Ohio classrooms-as in the rest of America- haven't been measured much at all. These critical factors have had little impact on decisions about whether she is retained by her district or laid off, how she is compensated or assigned to a district's school, or how her professional development is crafted. This report, authored by Superintendent Mike Miles, takes a detailed look at the Harrison (CO) School District 2's Pay-for-Performance Plan. The Harrison Plan confronted the dual challenges of defining an effective teacher then identifying all the things that demonstrate her effectiveness. This how-to guide is meant to serve as a tool and model for Ohio's school districts.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Western)-Colorado
Education and Literacy, Science
American science performance is lagging as the economy becomes increasingly high tech, but our current science standards are doing little to solve the problem. Reviewers evaluated science standards for every state for this report and their findings were deeply troubling: The majority of states earned Ds or Fs for their standards in this crucial subject, with only six jurisdictions receiving As. Explore all the state report cards and see how your state performed.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
Education and Literacy
Is it time for Ohio to take bolder steps toward turning around its most troubled schools and districts? If so, what might the alternatives look like? Options for rebooting these troubled schools have come in the form of mayoral control, state takeovers, market competition through charter schools and other choice programs, as well as millions of federal dollars spent on "school turnaround", yet it seems that it might be time to try something new in Ohio. In looking for alternatives to simply doing more of the same, Ohio policymakers are looking to the experiences of other states. Among the boldest and most interesting of these is Louisiana's Recovery School District (RSD), which is accomplishing both significant gains in student achievement and consequential impacts on district-level standards. In this recent report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute author Nelson Smith asks if and how the RSD concept might be a model for Ohio.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Midwestern)-Ohio, North America-United States (Southern)-Louisiana
Education and Literacy
Political leaders hope to act soon to renew and fix the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, also known as No Child Left Behind). In this important paper, Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Executive Vice President Michael J. Petrilli identify 10 big issues that must be resolved in order to get a bill across the finish line, and explore the major options under consideration for each one. Should states be required to adopt academic standards tied to college and career readiness? Should the new law provide greater flexibility to states and districts? These are just a few of the areas discussed. Finn and Petrilli also present their own bold yet "reform realist" solutions for ESEA.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States
Education and Literacy, Employment and Labor
When it comes to public-sector pensions, writes lead author Michael B. Lafferty in this report, "A major public-policy (and public-finance) problem has been defined and measured, debated and deliberated, but not yet solved. Except where it has been." As recounted in "Halting a Runaway Train: Reforming Teacher Pensions for the 21st Century", these exceptions turn out to be revealing -- and encouraging.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Western)-Utah, North America-United States (Western)-Alaska, North America-United States (Midwestern)-Michigan, North America-United States (Midwestern)-Missouri
See More Reports
