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Sector Spotlight
Report Release: Reforming Teacher Pensions for a Changing Work Force
New Education Sector report examines teacher pensions and details the problems facing current state pension programs.
Sport or Not? A Question for the Courts
Senior Policy Analyst Elena Silva interviewed by the New York Times on Title IX.
Teachers Unions as Agents of Reform
Brad Jupp, an architect of Denver's landmark performance-based teacher pay system, ProComp, is an outspoken advocate of both labor organizing and quality education for disadvantaged kids. In this interview, Jupp talks about ProComp, his views on teacher unionism, and the future of the teaching profession.
Education Sector Welcomes Three New Board Members
Education Sector's board of directors names three prominent leaders in the fields of education and journalism to the board: David W. Breneman, Richard Lee Colvin, and Peter McWalters.
For-profit colleges: Do they shortchange students?
Policy Director Kevin Carey comments on a recent Senate HELP Committee hearing on for-profit colleges.
Explainers
Explainers
Education Sector Explainers give lay readers insights into important aspects of education policymaking. They are not intended to be technical manuals.
Understanding Teachers Contracts
Despite increasing attention to contract reform, the public often has no idea what a typical teachers contract looks like. This interactive Education Sector explainer offers a side-by-side comparison of common provisions found in contracts and highlights the differences and similarities between two contracts on key dimensions, including teacher pay, evaluation, and transfers.
Moving Targets: What It Now Means to Make Adequate Yearly Progress Under NCLB
This Education Sector Explainer builds on the 2007 report States' Evidence: What It Means to Make 'Adequate Yearly Progress' Under NCLB. It is an up-to-date resource for evaluating each state's annual benchmarks through the 2009-10 school year and how those benchmarks have changed over time.
Understanding NAEP: Inside the Nation's Education Report Card
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is one of the most trusted resources for comparing student achievement across states and demographic groups. But it is also one of the most complex tests in existence. This Explainer is a guide to understanding NAEP's complex features and the challenges ahead.
States' Evidence: What It Means to Make 'Adequate Yearly Progress' Under NCLB
States will soon announce the schools or districts that did or did not make "adequate yearly progress," or "AYP" under NCLB. But the question that provides the most insight into a school’s performance is not whether a school made AYP, but rather how a school did or did not make AYP.
Making the Cut: How States Set Passing Scores on Standardized Tests
Passing or "cut" scores are a key factor in determining the rigor of state tests, which matter more than ever before under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Yet when states and the media report student results on exams, they rarely include information on passing scores or the process by which they are determined. This Explainer describes how cut scores are set and why they matter.