Not for the Timid: Breaking Down Barriers, Creating Breakthrough High Schools in Ohio
This report presents the results of an analysis of perceived barriers to high school redesign and real impediments embedded in federal and state statutes and regulations, as well as in local district policies in the state of Ohio.
School Safety in Urban Charter and Traditional Public Schools
Analyzing data from the 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), this working paper finds that charter schools consistently reported significantly fewer issues with threats to persons or property and fewer behavioral problems than traditional public schools.
How the Federal Government Shapes and Distorts the Financing of K-12 Schools
This paper examines the categorical program strategy by which the federal government and most states try to target extra funds for particular purposes.
Paying for School Finance Adequacy With the National Average Expenditure Per Pupil
This working paper shows that many districts have accelerated student learning by reallocating funds to emphasize targeted assistance to students, fewer non-instructional burdens on teachers, greater use of instructional technology, coaching for teachers, and class size reduction targeted on core classes only.
Making Resource Decisions Amidst Technical Uncertainty
This working paper paper suggests how a performance-driven system would allocate funds, monitor performance, search for more productive models of instruction, and replace less effective schools and programs.
Conditions for Student Success: The Cycle of Continuous Instructional Improvement
This paper explores how schools can seek “continuous improvement.”
Creating the Political Conditions for Major Changes in School Finance Policy
This paper asks whether significant changes in public education finance are politically feasible.
Learning Science Meets School Finance: The How People Learn Framework as a Tool for Resource Decisions
In this paper, Diana Sharp and John Bransford show how the learning sciences can be applied to school finance.
Improving Title I Funding Equity Across States, Districts, and Schools
This report demonstrates that there are many promising alternative ways to allocate and use funds under Title I, the federal government’s largest K-12 funding program.
School Finance Systems and Their Responsiveness to Performance Pressures: A Case Study of Texas
New accountability systems require that states and districts accomplish something never accomplished before—ensuring that all students meet state standards. This report explores how these expectations have altered resource decisions in Texas.
