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

Has Student Achievement Increased Since 2002? State Test Score Trends Through 2006–07
Using testing data from all 50 states, this study addresses two key questions: has student achievement increased and have achievement gaps narrowed since the No Child Left Behind Act was enacted in 2002. A comparison is also made between state test results and results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. View Materials

Some Perspectives from Rural School Districts on The No Child Left Behind Act
This CEP report examines the impact of NCLB on student achievement and teacher quality in some rural districts and the challenges those rural districts face in complying with the Act. The findings in this report are drawn from CEP's 2006-07 nationally representative survey of school districts and from interviews with administrators in eight rural districts in various parts of the country. View Materials

Open Letter to District of Columbia Public School Officials on School Restructuring
To assist officials of the District of Columbia Public Schools with their efforts to develop and implement school restructuring plans consistent with the No Child Left Behind Act, on May 28, 2008, the Center on Education Policy sent an open letter to Chancellor Rhee, State Superintendent Gist, and Board President Bobb outlining the key lessons we have learned from studying the NCLB school restructuring process. CEP has examined school restructuring in Michigan for four years, and restructuring in California and Maryland for three years. This summer, CEP will also issue reports on the restructuring process in Georgia and Ohio. The key lessons shared with DCPS officials are based on examining data related to restructuring in those five states as well as detailed case studies of 19 districts and 42 restructuring schools within those districts. Letter

Many States Have Taken a "Backloaded" Approach to No Child Left Behind Goal of All Students Scoring "Proficient"
This report examines the interim objectives for student achievement established by states in their accountability plans for the No Child Left Behind Act. These objectives lay out the percentages of students that must score at or above the proficient level on state tests each year, on the way toward meeting the law's ultimate goal of 100% of students achieving proficiency by school year 2013-14. These annual objectives are used by states to determine whether schools and districts have made adequate yearly progress. CEP's analysis found that almost half of the states (23 states) have "backloaded" their trajectories for reaching 100% proficiency. In other words, they have called for smaller achievement gains in the earlier years of the trajectory and much steeper gains in later years, as 2014 grows nearer. Another 25 states and the District of Columbia have adopted a more incremental approach that assumes steadier progress toward the 100% goal. The two remaining states have blended trajectories that do not fit readily into the backloaded or incremental categories. View Materials

The Sit Down Dinner: Formalizing Restructuring Under the No Child Left Behind Act in Michigan
This report describes Michigan's school restructuring efforts under the No Child Left Behind Act, and includes findings from case studies of nine schools in four school districts: Detroit Public Schools, Flint Community Schools, Harrison Community Schools, and Willow Run Community Schools. Key findings from the report include (1) more Michigan schools are in restructuring due to a greater number of high schools entering restructuring; (2) the state offers additional assistance and monitoring to restructuring schools through intermediate school districts and other regional entities; (3) turnaround specialists remain the most popular restructuring option; and (4) federal Title I funds increased, but state financial difficulties hinder restructuring. View Materials

State High School Exit Exams: Students with Disabilities — Policy Brief 3
States with mandated high school exit exams consistently report low pass rates for students with disabilities. These low pass rates have led educators to implement various intervention and remediation programs. Yet these gaps persist until the end of 12th grade, even though students have had multiple opportunities to retake the exam. This brief highlights some of the most common alternative paths to graduation for students with disabilities in states that require students to achieve passing scores on exit exams to receive a high school diploma. View Materials

State High School Exit Exams: Patterns in Gaps in Pass Rates — Policy Brief 2
In this brief, the Center on Education Policy highlights two patterns in state high school exit exam pass rates. States with higher percentages of white students passing exit exams also tend to report higher percentage pass rates for students of color. Furthermore, states with higher overall pass rates tend to report smaller achievement gaps between subgroups. Why do these relationships exit? View Materials

Instructional Time in Elementary Schools: A Closer Look at Changes for Specific Subjects
This report examines the magnitude of changes in instructional time in elementary schools in the years since NCLB took effect in 2002, and is a follow up report to Choices, Changes, and Challenges: Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era that was issued by CEP in July 2007. View Materials

State High School Exit Exams: A Move Toward End-of-Course Exams — Policy Brief 1
States continue to move toward end-of-course exams. The use of end-of-course exams as a graduation requirement began with one state in 2002, four states in 2007, and an expected 12 states in 2015. This brief illustrates this shift and summarizes some of the upcoming changes. View Materials

Managing More Than a Thousand Remodeling Projects: School Restructuring in California
This report describes California's school restructuring under the No Child Left Behind Act, and also includes findings from case studies of nine schools in four school districts: Grant Joint Union, Oakland Unified, Palmdale Elementary, and Tahoe-Truckee Joint Unified. View Materials

CEP Testimony on NCLB School Restructuring
On January 24, 2008, Dr. Caitlin Scott, CEP consultant, testified before California's Little Hoover Commission about school restructuring under the No Child Left Behind Act. The Little Hoover Commission is an independent state oversight agency that investigates state government operations and aims to promote efficiency, economy, and service. The testimony is based on CEP studies of restructuring in California, Maryland, and Michigan, as well as CEP's five-year study of NCLB, our annual reports on Title I funding, and our 2007 study of state capacity. View Materials

Recognition of CEP's Accomplishments During 2007
The Center on Education Policy received various recognitions during 2007. Education Week, using polling data, named CEP as one of the ten most influential education organizations in the country. The American Educational Research Association awarded CEP one of its highest honors, and an article appeared in an AARP magazine about CEP's president. For more details, click on the links below.

• Ten Most Influential Organizations
• AARP: NRTA Live & Learn: Is "No Child Left Behind" Working? by Alexandra Starr
• AERA Presents Distinguished Public Service Award to CEP's Founder

Making Mid-Course Corrections: School Restructuring in Maryland
This report describes findings from case studies of 10 Maryland schools undergoing restructuring in accordance with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The ten schools are located in four school districts in Maryland: Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools; Baltimore County Public Schools; and Prince George's County Public Schools. Interviews were also conducted with state officials. View Materials

Caught in the Middle: Arizona's English Language Learners and the High School Exit Exam
In this report, we present a portrait of how some Arizona educators, students, and families are faring with the state exit exam, known as Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards or AIMS. In particular, we examine how Arizona’s exit exam policy is influencing the education of English language learners (ELLs)—a group of students that is caught in the middle of challenges and controversy about exit exams and education in Arizona. This report also attempts to identify the effects of the exit exam on ELLs in Arizona and to understand why districts and high schools in Arizona continue to struggle to raise pass rates for ELLs. View Materials

Reading First: Locally Appreciated, Nationally Troubled
Despite problems with the federal administration of the Reading First program, this CEP report finds that the program is widely credited by state and local officials for lifting the achievement of students who receive Reading First services. Overall, more than three-fourths of states and two-thirds of districts with Reading First grants reported that the program's assessment and instructional programs were important causes of gains in student achievement. Further, the report finds that Reading First's impact is felt far beyond the participating schools, with more than half of Reading First districts using elements of Reading First in non-Reading-First schools and in the upper grades. Similarly, states reported that more than 3,000 non-Reading-First districts participated in state-led Reading First professional development. View Materials

Behind the Numbers: Interviews in 22 States about Achievement Data and the No Child Left Behind Act Policies
This report describes findings from a series of interviews with education leaders in 22 states. These interviews were conducted with the intent of providing a context for better understanding the achievement trends identified in CEP's June 2007 report, Answering the Question That Matters Most: Has Student Achievement Increased Since No Child Left Behind? Several key findings that emerged from the interviews: (1) there is limited research-based evidence that corroborates or explains achievement trends or monitors instructional impact; (2) many states have made changes in their testing systems since NCLB took effect in 2002, often in ways that have caused "breaks" in the compatibility of test data and made it invalid to track trends over several years; (3) many states are actively pursuing additional changes in their assessment systems that will continue to affect the comparability of test data in the future, and many states indicated that they intend to increase the amount of test data available to the public; and (4) almost half of the states interviewed emphasized the need for federal technical assistance (and often funding) to help states and school districts develop the capacity to collect and analyze the complex assessment and other data required by NCLB. View Materials

Are Private High Schools Better Academically Than Public High Schools?
This study, based on an analysis of the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988-2000, finds that, once family background characteristics are taken into account, low-income students attending public urban high schools generally performed as well academically as students attending private high schools. The study also found that students attending traditional public high schools were as likely to attend college as those attending private high schools. In addition, the report also finds that young adults who had attended any type of private high school were no more likely to enjoy job satisfaction or to be engaged in civic activities at age 26 than those who had attended traditional public high schools. View Materials