Half of states' schools face steep achievement requirements

05.20.08

About half of the states have steady annual goals for increasing the percentage of students passing, or working at their proper grade level. But the other half set the bar very low early on, and starting about now expect big annual achievement gains, according to a report being released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy.

Nearly 11,000 schools, or a little more than 10% of all public schools — from elementary to high school — have missed their state-set progress goals and are taking corrective steps, according to the Education Department.

That number has been rising slowly and is expected to grow at a faster clip over the next few years.

Top News

11.19.08

New Jersey Supreme Court orders school funding fact-finding

If New Jersey wants the state's highest court to approve its new formula for funding its schools, the state needs to show that it is providing sufficient resources for its poorest districts.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ordered fact-finding hearings on the state's new education-funding formula before the justices will rule on whether it should permanently replace the old system that favored certain largely poor, urban school districts.

Click here to read more

Report: Reading First Impact Study

This preliminary study found that, on average, children in Reading First programs are not reading any better than those who are not. The final report on Reading First is due in 2009 and will include an additional year of data.

Click here to see the full report.