U.S. Education Reform and National Security
U.S. Education Reform and National Security

Author: Joel I. Klein

Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations

Published: 2014-05-14

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 087609521X

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The United States' failure to educate its students leaves them unprepared to compete and threatens the country's ability to thrive in a global economy and maintain its leadership role. This report notes that while the United States invests more in K-12 public education than many other developed countries, its students are ill prepared to compete with their global peers. According to the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment that measures the performance of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science every three years, U.S. students rank fourteenth in reading, twenty-fifth in math, and seventeenth in science compared to students in other industrialized countries. The lack of preparedness poses threats on five national security fronts: economic growth and competitiveness, physical safety, intellectual property, U.S. global awareness, and U.S. unity and cohesion, says the report. Too many young people are not employable in an increasingly high-skilled and global economy, and too many are not qualified to join the military because they are physically unfit, have criminal records, or have an inadequate level of education. The report proposes three overarching policy recommendations: implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security; make structural changes to provide students with good choices; and, launch a "national security readiness audit" to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness.

The Transformation of Title IX
The Transformation of Title IX

Author: R. Shep Melnick

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2018-03-06

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0815732406

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One civil rights-era law has reshaped American society—and contributed to the country's ongoing culture wars Few laws have had such far-reaching impact as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Intended to give girls and women greater access to sports programs and other courses of study in schools and colleges, the law has since been used by judges and agencies to expand a wide range of antidiscrimination policies—most recently the Obama administration’s 2016 mandates on sexual harassment and transgender rights. In this comprehensive review of how Title IX has been implemented, Boston College political science professor R. Shep Melnick analyzes how interpretations of "equal educational opportunity" have changed over the years. In terms accessible to non-lawyers, Melnick examines how Title IX has become a central part of legal and political campaigns to correct gender stereotypes, not only in academic settings but in society at large. Title IX thus has become a major factor in America's culture wars—and almost certainly will remain so for years to come.

Presidents, Congress, and the Public Schools
Presidents, Congress, and the Public Schools

Author: John F. Jennings

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781612507965

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In Presidents, Congress, and the Public Schools, longtime policy analyst Jack Jennings examines the evolution of federal education policy and outlines a bold and controversial vision for its future. He assesses the impacts of Title I and NCLB, and explores the variety of ways that the federal government has intervened in education. He concludes by setting forth an ambitious national agenda to ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn. "No one knows more about ESEA and especially Title I than Jack Jennings. Here he tells a remarkably unbiased, informed, and crisp story about the politics, battles, and decisions made by Congress over the past fifty years. As Jennings makes clear, the story is not over. His conclusions propose a new and important course for Congress." -- Marshall (Mike) Smith, former under secretary, U.S. Department of Education "Jennings has written an admirably bold proposal for overhauling the federal role in K-12 education, with an eye to both student learning and equity. Arguing that NCLB has not lived up to its promise, he presents a blueprint for an improved balance in the federal-state relationship, one providing flexibility and accountability. His ideas merit serious attention and debate." -- Elizabeth DeBray, professor of educational administration and policy, University of Georgia "If you agree with everything in this book you probably didn't read it closely. But if you don't read it you're missing a unique account of federal education policy from someone who was in the middle of it for decades. Jennings offers a concise history and some ideas about new directions that show what federal education policy has accomplished and how much work remains." -- Andrew J. Rotherham, cofounder and partner, Bellwether Education "Only Jack Jennings could have written this unique and important account of federal involvement in education. Presidents, Congress, and the Public Schools is a must-read contribution to American education policy that will stimulate important conversations about our future." -- Gene Wilhoit, founder and executive director, Center for Innovation in Education, and partner, Student Achievement Partners Jack Jennings is the founder and former CEO of the Center on Education Policy. He served for twenty-seven years as a subcommittee staff director and then as general counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. Michael J. Feuer is the dean and professor of education at The George Washington University, and president of the National Academy of Education.

Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century
Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century

Author: Paul Manna

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2013-01-03

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0815723954

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A Brookings Institution Press with the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Center for American Progress publication America's fragmented, decentralized, politicized, and bureaucratic system of education governance is a major impediment to school reform. In this important new book, a number of leading education scholars, analysts, and practitioners show that understanding the impact of specific policy changes in areas such as standards, testing, teachers, or school choice requires careful analysis of the broader governing arrangements that influence their content, implementation, and impact. Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century comprehensively assesses the strengths and weaknesses of what remains of the old in education governance, scrutinizes how traditional governance forms are changing, and suggests how governing arrangements might be further altered to produce better educational outcomes for children. Paul Manna, Patrick McGuinn, and their colleagues provide the analysis and alternatives that will inform attempts to adapt nineteenth and twentieth century governance structures to the new demands and opportunities of today. Contents: Education Governance in America: Who Leads When Everyone Is in Charge?, Patrick McGuinn and Paul Manna The Failures of U.S. Education Governance Today, Chester E. Finn Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli How Current Education Governance Distorts Financial Decisionmaking, Marguerite Roza Governance Challenges to Innovators within the System, Michelle R. Davis Governance Challenges to Innovators outside the System, Steven F. Wilson Rethinking District Governance, Frederick M. Hess and Olivia M. Meeks Interstate Governance of Standards and Testing, Kathryn A. McDermott Education Governance in Performance-Based Federalism, Kenneth K. Wong The Rise of Education Executives in the White House, State House, and Mayor’s Office, Jeffrey R. Henig English Perspectives on Education Governance and Delivery, Michael Barber Education Governance in Canada and the United States, Sandra Vergari Education Governance in Comparative Perspective, Michael Mintrom and Richard Walley Governance Lessons from the Health Care and Environment Sectors, Barry G. Rabe Toward a Coherent and Fair Funding System, Cynthia G. Brown Picturing a Different Governance Structure for Public Education, Paul T. Hill From Theory to Results in Governance Reform, Kenneth J. Meier The Tall Task of Education Governance Reform, Paul Manna and Patrick McGuinn

Standards-based School Mathematics Curricula
Standards-based School Mathematics Curricula

Author: Sharon L. Senk

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-07-24

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 1000149366

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The Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1989 set forth a broad vision of mathematical content and pedagogy for grades K-12 in the United States. These Standards prompted the development of Standards-based mathematics curricula. What features characterize Standards-based curricula? How well do such curricula work? To answer these questions, the editors invited researchers who had investigated the implementation of 12 different Standards-based mathematics curricula to describe the effects of these curricula on students' learning and achievement, and to provide evidence for any claims they made. In particular, authors were asked to identify content on which performance of students using Standards-based materials differed from that of students using more traditional materials, and content on which performance of these two groups of students was virtually identical. Additionally, four scholars not involved with the development of any of the materials were invited to write critical commentaries on the work reported in the other chapters. Section I of Standards-Based School Mathematics Curricula provides a historical background to place the current curriculum reform efforts in perspective, a summary of recent recommendations to reform school mathematics, and a discussion of issues that arise when conducting research on student outcomes. Sections II, III, and IV are devoted to research on mathematics curriculum projects for elementary, middle, and high schools, respectively. The final section is a commentary by Jeremy Kilpatrick, Regents Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Georgia, on the research reported in this book. It provides a historical perspective on the use of research to guide mathematics curriculum reform in schools, and makes additional recommendations for further research. In addition to the references provided at the end of each chapter, other references about the Standards-based curriculum projects are provided at the end of the book. This volume is a valuable resource for all participants in discussions about school mathematics curricula--including professors and graduate students interested in mathematics education, curriculum development, program evaluation, or the history of education; educational policy makers; teachers; parents; principals and other school administrators. The editors hope that the large body of empirical evidence and the thoughtful discussion of educational values found in this book will enable readers to engage in informed civil discourse about the goals and methods of school mathematics curricula and related research.