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The Center on Education Policy is a national, independent advocate for public education and for more effective public schools.
Past CEP Reports
"The Good News Behind Average NAEP Scores" (January 2006) View Report
The Center on Education Policy is a national, independent advocate for public education and for more effective public schools. The Center helps Americans better understand the role of public education in a democracy and the need to improve the academic quality of public schools. We do not represent any special interests. Instead, we try to help citizens make sense of the conflicting opinions and perceptions about public education and create the conditions that will lead to better public schools.
What's New
Upcoming Events from CEP
State Test Score Trends Through 2007-08
Part I, Is the Emphasis on "Proficiency" Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students?
This report is the first in a series of reports describing results from CEP's third annual analysis of state testing data. The report provides an update on student performance at the proficient level of achievement, and for the first time, includes data about student performance at the advanced and basic levels. Also included are profiles for each state, which show trends in reading and math for basic, proficient, and advanced levels in elementary, middle, and high school. The study provides an in-depth look at the full range of student performance in order to better understand whether the No Child Left Behind Act's focus on proficiency has caused teachers to shortchange students at either end of the academic spectrum. View Materials
CEP Forum on the Economic Stimulus Package
On April 30, 2009, CEP convened a forum to discuss the impact of the economic stimulus funds on the federal role in elementary and secondary education. Audio and text transcripts of the meeting are available here.
Letter to Secretary Duncan on Stimulus Package Issues
On May 19, 2009, CEP sent this letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outlining the major issues raised in our April 30, 2009 forum regarding the early implementation of the economic stimulus package as it affects states and school districts. View Materials
Education Week Commentary
In the May 13, 2009 issue of Education Week, this commentary, written by Jack Jennings, Caitlin Scott, and Nancy Kober, discusses what CEP has learned from five years of researching and writing about schools in restructuring under the No Child Left Behind Act. View Materials
Guest Editorial in the Tucson Citizen
On May 14, 2009, the Tucson Citizen published this guest editorial from CEP that addresses Arizona's high school exam policies for alternate paths for graduation and the state's testing policy for high school students who are learning English. The newspaper invited Jack Jennings and Ying Zhang to write this editorial because of research CEP conducted in five Arizona high schools. This research resulted in two reports, Conflicts Between State Policy and School Practice: Learning from Arizona's Experience with High School Exam Policies and Caught in the Middle: Arizona's English Language Learners and the High School Exit Exam, which are posted on the CEP Web site under the High School Exit Examinations tab. View Materials
Compendium of Key Studies of the No Child Left Behind Act
As part of our project to rethink the federal role in elementary and secondary education, CEP has prepared this compendium, which summarizes the findings of major studies of the implementation and effects of NCLB conducted by various organizations and agencies. Both this compendium and CEP's broader project to rethink the federal role are intended to help policymakers make decisions informed by evidence from research. View Materials
Big Money for School Improvement: Title I School Improvement Funds Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriations
States and school districts will receive an unprecedented amount of funding — more than $4.5 billion — in the coming months targeted at providing extra assistance to schools that have failed to meet achievement targets under the No Child Left Behind Act. This report outlines how the Title I school improvement funds are distributed to school districts and what types of activities those funds can support. View Materials
Conflicts Between State Policy and School Practice: Learning from Arizona's Experience with High School Exam Policies
This report looks at how local educators perceive and act on state policies designed to help at-risk students and English language learners achieve the levels of proficiency needed to pass state high school exit examinations and graduate. Our findings are based on data from school observations and interviews with more than 50 school administrators, teachers, and other school staff in Arizona. View Materials
Assistance to Schools in NCLB's Restructuring Phase of Accountability
These three reports discuss the efforts of the state education agencies and school districts in California, Maryland, and Michigan to provide assistance to persistently low-performing schools, known as schools in restructuring. These schools have been designated for major governance changes because they have failed to meet accountability targets under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) for at least 5 consecutive years. The reports also discuss these states' experiences with trying new approaches to accountability and technical assistance under the NCLB, such as growth models and differentiated accountability plans.
Top Down, Bottom Up: California Districts in Corrective Action and Schools in Restructuring under NCLB
Author: Caitlin Scott
View Report
Looking For New Ways to Make Progress: School Restructuring in Maryland, 2008-09 Follow-Up Report
Author: Brenda Neuman-Sheldon
View Report
Expanding Restructuring and Taking on High Schools: An NCLB Follow-up Report in Michigan
Author: Caitlin Scott
View Report
Press Release
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Public Schools
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the economic stimulus package, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This law provides an unprecedented amount of federal funding for education. This summary describes the key components of the ARRA and discusses some of the implementation issues that are not yet decided. View Materials
Who Gets Title I Funds From the Economic Stimulus Package?
This CEP report examines the Title I funding provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. View Materials
Annual Report
The Center on Education Policy has issued a report on its activities for the calendar year 2008. This report also describes the Center's plans for 2009 and shows CEP's overall impact. View Materials
Summary: Lessons from the Classroom Level about Federal and State Accountability in Rhode Island and Illinois
In the winter of 2008, the Center on Education Policy released reports examining the impact of national and state accountability systems on curriculum, instruction, and student achievement in Rhode Island and Illinois. Using classroom observations and interviews with school administrators, instructional specialists, teachers, parents, and students, CEP developed case studies of 12 schools in the two states. This report summarizes the common findings across the two states and discusses findings that were unique to each state. View Materials
Rethinking the Federal Role in Elementary and Secondary Education
The Center on Education Policy has undertaken a project to rethink the federal role in elementary and secondary education. As a first step, CEP has commissioned a series of papers on key issues, requiring the authors to provide evidence of the effects of various programs and initiatives, and to provide recommendations. Each paper is peer-reviewed by individuals with diverse points of view on the issue. Also, CEP convened a series of public forums to discuss several of the papers. The result of these efforts will be a set of recommendations for President Obama and the new Congress for shaping the federal role in elementary and secondary education. To view the papers that have been issued to date, follow this link.
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