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Waiting to Be Won Over

In the national conversation on teacher quality, there is considerable debate about what teachers think and what they want. Too often assumptions guide the discussion rather than actual evidence of teachers' views. In a new report, Education Sector and the FDR Group provide that evidence, detailing findings from a national survey of public school teachers.

Graduation Rate Watch

College graduation rates for minority students are often shockingly low. And most institutions have significantly lower graduation rates for black students than for white students. But, as Research and Policy Manager Kevin Carey documents in a new Education Sector report, these high-failure rates are not inevitable: Some institutions are graduating black students at a higher rate than white students.

The Benwood Plan: A Lesson in Comprehensive Teacher Reform

Chattanooga's Benwood Initiative is one of the most widely touted school-reform success stories of recent years. And many credit its success to financial incentives used to lure new teachers to low-performing schools. In this report, Senior Policy Analyst Elena Silva argues that Benwood's success was not just about attracting new talent, but helping existing teachers improve the quality of their instruction.

Collective Bargaining in Education and Pay for Performance

Andrew J. Rotherham and Jane Hannaway examine teacher performance incentives and the response of teachers unions in a working paper presented at a recent conference sponsored by the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University.

Rush to Judgment: Teacher Evaluation in Public Education

The troubled state of teacher evaluation is a glaring and largely neglected problem in public education. Co-director Thomas Toch and Robert Rothman of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform examine the causes and consequences of the crisis in teacher evaluation, as well as its implications for the current debate about performance pay.

ES Review: Selections From 2007

From the promise of virtual schooling to the plight of Sallie Mae, the second edition of the ES Review brings together, in one setting, some of our best work from 2007.

A Sum Greater Than the Parts: What States Can Teach Each Other About Charter Schooling

States with a significant charter sector know firsthand that the success or failure of a charter school is not a matter of chance, but subject to variances in state laws and a state's educational, political, and regulatory climate. In this report, Sara Mead and Andrew J. Rotherham draw on the experiences of 12 states, proposing those lessons that are necessary for charter school quality and growth.

Leading the Local: Teachers Union Presidents Speak on Change, Challenges

Presidents of 30 local teachers unions in six states speak candidly about their views on a number of education issues, revealing that they are focused on far more than the traditional union priorities of wages, hours, working conditions, and due process for their members.

Information Underload: Florida's Flawed Special-Ed Voucher Program

Despite its growing popularity and the extensive attention it has received from both state and national education reformers, Florida's McKay voucher program has yet to prove that it works as either an adequate school-choice or special-education reform measure.

Laboratories of Reform: Virtual High Schools and Innovation in Public Education

Virtual schools are growing rapidly, serving over 700,000 students in the 2005–06 school year. But these schools are proving to be more than just another delivery system for students; they are bringing about reforms that have long eluded traditional public schools.