SCHOOL REFORM

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher
The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Transitions and the Role of Supportive Relationships was conducted by Harris Interactive Inc®. This report is the twenty-second in the series of surveys sponsored annually by MetLife since 1984. This year's report examines the essential aspects in student and educator transitions including the supporting relationships. The current study incorporates the perspectives of key stakeholders in exploring this issue: new public school teachers in grades K-12, public school principals in grades K-12, and secondary public school students in grades 7-12. Topics in this survey include: the role of principals in staffing and managing schools, the general attitudes, expectations and challenges associated with education, the profiles of teachers likely to leave their profession, and the various relationships surrounding the transition for new teachers, principals and students.

The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA)
Making the Grade in College Prep:
A Guide for Improving College Preparation Programs ( PDF )
The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) believes the time has come to articulate a framework that can assist practitioners, funders and policy makers in structuring and evaluating college preparation programs. This report offers research-based solutions that offer the scaffolding for such a framework, including nine intervention strategies that practitioners, researchers and policy analysts might consider for improving program performance.

Preparing for College:
Building Expectations, Changing Realities  ( PDF )
The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) developed nine hypotheses pertaining to central aspects of college preparation programs. This report looks at what research literature says about the influence of each on college preparation and enrollment.
  • A rigorous academic curriculum
  • Academic, college, and career counseling
  • Co-curricular activities
  • Incorporation of students' cultures
  • Family and community engagement
  • Peer support
  • Mentoring
  • Timing of interventions
  • Funding priorities
Thinking K-16

Thinking K-16 - Published periodically by The Education Trust, this series of reports examines critical educational issues in depth and presents them in language that is clear and accessible for general readers, as well as for educators. Each issue of Thinking K-16 cuts through rhetoric to get at the impact on students, and concludes with practical recommendations for action. Thinking K-16 can be downloaded for free at: http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust (use the scroll down menu under the tabs). Examples include:

Good Teaching Matters: How Well-Qualified Teachers Can Close the Gap
- Thinking K-16, Summer 1998. 16 pages.
Youth at the Crossroads (download available only): Facing High School and Beyond
- Thinking K-16, Winter 2001. 24 pages.

A New Core Curriculum For All: Aiming High For Other People's Children
- Thinking K-16, Winter 2003. 32 pages.

Additional Links

Gear Icon BulletA Call to Action: Transforming High School for all YouthPrintable Document Format Icon - The National High School Alliance has produced this document, A Call to Action: Transforming High School for All Youth, to provide leaders at the national, state, district, school, and community levels with a common framework around which to engage a diverse cross-section of stakeholders in the hard work of transforming high schools for all youth.

Gear Icon BulletAccountability for Better Results: A National Imperative for Higher EducationPrintable Document Format Icon - Citing increasing global competition, low rates of college completion, and a college access and success gap for minority students, a national commission of political, business, and higher education leaders called for a “fresh approach” to accountability designed to increase access and lift graduation rates for all students. Toward these ends, the National Commission on Accountability in Higher Education recommended an ongoing and vigorous dialogue targeted on meeting the educational needs of the American people, issuing a series of recommendations designed to improve student preparation, public investment in educational priorities, teaching and research, cost-effectiveness, and the availability of key data.

Gear Icon BulletChalkboard Project - Chalkboard Project is a collaborative effort among a variety of independent Oregon foundations with no axe to grind. Chalkboard is not your usual policy wonk or political suspects. We are Oregonians—and parents, voters, neighbors, mothers, grandfathers—who believe every public school student deserves a quality education that will lead to success in college, in the workplace, and in life.

No Child Left Behind - The official U.S. Government website for the No Child Left Behind act, this page contains a toolkit for teachers, a parent guide, information on accountability, proven methods, and much more.

Oregon Proficiency-Based Admission Standards-System (PASS) - Aligns college admission with Oregon's statewide K-12 school improvement plan. School-reform legislation enacted in Oregon requires all secondary schools to offer the performance-based CIM and CAM (Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery). High schools are engaged in large-scale curricular and program redesign as a result of these requirements. OUS seeks to be a helpful and supportive partner as Oregon schools make these significant changes. For example, PASS allows students to use the results from many CIM and CAM assessments to meet proficiency-based college admission requirements.

Oregon Department of Education - Find out the latest information about the state of education in Oregon.

Gear Icon BulletPublic Agenda - Public Agenda provides unbiased and unparalleled research that bridges the gap between American leaders and what the public really thinks about a wide range of issues including education.

The What Works Clearinghouse - was established by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, and the public with a central, independent, and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education. It is administered by the Department through a contract to a joint venture of the American Institutes for Research and the Campbell Collaboration.