In 1997, SREB launched a comprehensive middle grades improvement effort, Making Middle Grades Work. This research report examines the design and implementation of this comprehensive improvement effort in 52 middle grades schools in 16 states. The study addresses four basic questions: 1) Is student achievement higher for eighth-graders in the network than for other eighth-graders? 2) Why do schools with similar demographics perform differently? 3) Why is achievement higher for students in schools that have implemented the design more fully? 4) What can states, districts, and schools do to improve middle grades achievement? The report includes a summary of findings and recommendations for states, districts, and schools.

What's New "AYP" Information Tells Us About Schools, States, and Public Education

This report documents how AYP provides important new information about academic achievement in America's public schools. This year's first-ever application of the AYP formula is providing the foundation for school improvement efforts in all 50 states by uncovering large achievement gaps, identifying schools that have made significant progress, and recognizing schools with high percentages of low-income and minority children meeting state proficiency benchmarks.

The First Year: Student Performance on 10th Grade Benchmark Standards and Subsequent Performance in the First Year of College (2001–2002)

Council of Chief State School Officers: Accountability Systems

This paper presents state-by-state data on the qualifications of teachers in grades 7–12. The 50-state results from the Schools and Staffing Surveys of 1994 and 2000 show the percentage of teachers in each state that are fully certified and have a major in their assigned teaching field. The analysis is intended to help state leaders, educators, and others obtain a picture of highly qualified teachers in their state and to be able to compare their state statistics with states across the nation. Since states have some flexibility in meeting the standard for highly qualified teachers outlined by NCLB, the analyses presented in this paper from a national survey may be useful as a common benchmark for use by states as they develop their own state-specific definitions and measures.

No Excuses: Lessons from 21 High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools by Samuel Casey Carter

Many educators make excuses for the failure of most public schools to teach low-income children. But across the nation dozens of high-performing principals have identified those effective practices that allow all children to excel regardless of income level. In this report, Samuel Casey Carter, a former Bradley Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, examines the common practices of twenty-one principals of low-income schools who set the standard for high achievement. The lessons uncovered in these case studies provide an invaluable resource for anyone interested in providing increased educational opportunities for low-income children.

State Content Standards: A 50 State Resource

This webpage provides information gathered from state department of education web sites by the Council of Chief State School Officers on K–12 academic standards and a direct link to each state's current standards in various subjects.

Resources and Best Practices for Implementing No Child Left Behind

These resources and best practices have been compiled by AASA to help you implement the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act or ESEA 2001. We've searched far and wide to find the most useful tools, resources, and best practices, as well as articles and organizations, to provide you with a one-stop resource to better implement the provisions of this law.

Thinking K–16: A New Core Curriculum for All: Aiming High for Other People's Children

This publication by The Education Trust looks at how to develop curriculum to better prepare children for post-secondary education.

State Supported Prekindergarten Programs in SREB States: Growing in Hard Times

This report profiles state-funded prekindergarten programs in the SREB states and includes information on program characteristics, 2002–2003 enrollments and funding, and recent or anticipated changes in program operations. Numbers of 4-year-old children served by state pre-K programs and Head Start are compared with estimated numbers of 4-year-olds living in poverty to measure how states are doing in providing high-quality, pre-K opportunities to at-risk children, as called for in the SREB Goals for Education. The report finds that 12 SREB states are serving at least as many at-risk children as there are children in poverty, and two other states are very close to meeting that goal.

Spinning Our Wheels: Minority Teacher Supply in SREB States

In state after state, the percentage of minority teachers is not increasing as fast as the percentage of minority students, and the gap is not narrowing. Despite states' efforts to address the problem, the percentages of minority teachers in SREB states have not increased significantly. This report looks at policies and practices in the SREB states in recent years.

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