The Department of Education’s planned release of the first year of School Improvement Grant (SIG) data has important implications for the future of the program – and for reform generally.  While much of the early attention devoted to SIG has focused on its cost-effectiveness, in light of the ongoing debate over school and district human-capital policies the question of which of the four SIG modContinue Reading »

The response to the Department of Education’s release of early results from the School Improvement Grant program has run the gamut from “the data are terrible and we’ve wasted billions of dollars” to “the data tell us nothing,” with a lot of hedging in between. The data suggest that 65 percent of SIG schools had higher proficiency rates in math and 64 percent had higher rates in reading in theiContinue Reading »

“Hurry, please. We have so much time and so little to see. Wait a minute! Strike that. Reverse it. Thank you.”

No doubt, many state and local educators know exactly how Mr. Wonka felt. Motivated by NCLB’s impending 100% proficiency deadline, adoption of the Common Core, and federal initiatives like Race to the Top and ESEA waivers, states and school districts are embarking on a multi-proContinue Reading »

This guest blog post was written by Christopher Caruso, Senior Vice President for ExpandED Schools, TASC.  Contact him at ccaruso@tascorp.org

Christopher Caruso, Senior Vice President for ExpandED Schools, TASC.

The federal government and many school districts are placing major bets on more learning time as an enabler of student progress. More than 90% Continue Reading »

Checking in on SIG. Three reporting powerhouses teamed up with 18 news outlets to take a comprehensive look at the School Improvement Grant program and how its money is being used. Education Sector created an interactive map of SIG grantees last year. (Education Week)

Embalming bodies is a science. A Washington state college student explains why she commutes five hours daily (round-trip)Continue Reading »

An early nod from the powers that be. The U.S. Department of Education checks in on the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, which is the subject of an ongoing series in the local newspaper, highlighting the district’s efforts to use $8.7 million in federal money to improve academic performance. (Las Vegas Sun)

When money runs dry. Boston officials are trying to find ways to sustaiContinue Reading »

What's important to know about ELT? Click image to enlarge.

Today Education Sector releases Off the Clock: What More Time Can (and Can’t) Do for School Turnarounds. You may recall, in 2007 ES analyst Elena Silva wrote On The Clock: Rethinking the Way Schools Use Time, where she argued that improving the quality of instructional time in school is at leaContinue Reading »

Revised ESEA bill wins bipartisan support … by watering down provisions related to teacher evaluations. Primarily, the revision takes out requirements to include student achievement data in those evals, allowing states and districts to assess educators as they see fit. Policy Analyst Anne Hyslop was one of the first on Monday with analysis on this provision. There’s more here, here, and a bit mContinue Reading »

SIG guidelines from the U.S. Department of Education indicate that state education agencies (SEAs) must ensure that all Tier I and Tier II schools—the very worst performing– are funded before the slightly better-performing Tier III schools in a district. But at least one state—Louisiana—found a way around this requirement. Rather than automatically funding all Tier I and IIs first,Continue Reading »

Continuing our week-long look at who is getting federal School Improvement Grants and what they’re doing with the money, the map below shows all of the charter schools across the country that are receiving federal SIG grants:

Dashboard 3 <br /><a href=”#”><img alt=”Dashboard 3 ” src=”http:/&aContinue Reading »