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

The Window is Closing on Sensible School Reform
This article, written by CEP Director Jack Jennings, appeared in The Hill on March 2, 2010, and discusses the critical last chance that effective ESEA reauthorization now faces. View Materials

CEP Recommendations for Reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
In 2008, the Center on Education Policy undertook a project to rethink the federal role in elementary and secondary education. As a first step, CEP 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 was 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. We also compiled a compendium of key studies on the No Child Left Behind Act. Both the papers and the compendium are posted on this page.

In February 2010, CEP issued its recommendations for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act). In developing these recommendations, CEP drew upon these papers, forums, research compendium, as well as CEP's comprehensive studies of NCLB and our long-term experience with federal policies. The document, Better Federal Policies Leading to Better Schools, provides guidance for President Obama and the Congress in shaping the federal role in elementary and secondary education. View Materials

Improving Low-Performing Schools: Lessons from Five Years of Studying School Restructuring under No Child Left Behind
This report synthesizes five years of CEP's research on state and local efforts to improve persistently low-performing schools in accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act. CEP conducted this research in six states -- California, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New York, and Ohio -- and in 23 districts and 48 schools within those states. The report also makes recommendations for improving federal assistance in this area. View Materials

An Early Look at the Economic Stimulus Package and the Public Schools: Perspectives from State Leaders
This report looks at the early efforts of states to implement the elementary and secondary education provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The findings are drawn from a survey of officials in state education agencies and governors' offices in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Key findings concern the financial condition of state education budgets, progress toward meeting the reform assurances, interest in national content standards and the Race to the Top Funds, and requests by the states for financial and regulatory relief. View Materials

State Test Score Trends Through 2007–08: Has Progress Been Made in Raising Achievement for Students with Disabilities?
Using data from state reading and mathematics tests, this report takes an in-depth look at the performance of students with disabilities and highlights the problems with the testing data for these students. View Materials

State High School Exit Exams: Trends in Test Programs, Alternate Pathways, and Pass Rates
The report draws from CEP's eight-year study of high school exit exams to identify long-term trends in state policies and student performance. It highlights a growing trend among states to establish alternate pathways to graduation for students who are struggling to pass exit exams. The report also analyzes exit exam pass rates and finds that 11 of the 16 states showed an average annual growth in the proportion of students passing the test in reading and 13 states showed average annual growth in mathematics. Although many states narrowed the gaps in initial pass rates between the various student subgroups over the years, the gaps remain large in both subjects. View Materials

State Test Score Trends Through 2007-08: Are Achievement Gaps Closing and Is Achievement Rising for All?
This report examines testing data from all 50 states to determine if achievement gaps between subgroups of students are narrowing. The report also looks at the achievement trends of subgroups of students at the elementary school level. View Materials

Rethinking the Federal Role in Elementary and Secondary Education: Summaries of Commissioned Papers
In 2008 and 2009, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) commissioned a series of major papers to assist in rethinking the federal role in elementary and secondary education. Authors were asked to review areas of activity in which the federal government has been involved over the past half century, determine the purposes of the federal programs, examine the evidence of their effect on education, and make recommendations for the future role of the federal government in public education. CEP also convened a series of public forums to discuss many of the papers. Later in 2009, the Center on Education Policy will issue a set of recommendations for President Obama and the Congress for shaping the federal role in elementary and secondary education. These recommendations will draw upon the evidence based analysis presented in these papers. This document contains summaries of the papers arranged by order of commission. Full papers can be found on under "Rethinking the Federal Role" tab on the left side of CEP's home page. View Materials

State Student Achievement Testing Data
This brochure invites research and analysis of the unique stockpile of data found on CEP's Web site regarding K-12 testing results from all 50 states. The brochure describes the wealth of available test data and explains how to access that information. View Materials

CEP Comments on Proposed Requirements for Title I School Improvement Funds
On September 24, 2009, the Center on Education Policy submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education on the proposed requirements for Title I school improvement funds that are provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. CEP's comments are informed by seven years of research on the No Child Left Behind Act, especially detailed work in six states studying their school improvement efforts. View Materials

Common Standards Article
The American School Board Journal (September 2009) contains an article on national or common academic standards written by Jack Jennings, CEP's president. 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

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