New Report: An Early Look at the Economic Stimulus Package and the Public Schools

Posted by on December 14, 2009

An early look at ARRA implementation

A new report from the Center on Education Policy (CEP) examines implementation by state education agencies and governors’ offices of ARRA provisions for elementary and secondary education. States seem more confident about fulfilling program assurances to create longitudinal data systems and adopt new academic standards than about improving effectiveness and distribution of teachers and turning around low-performing schools. This is perhaps because the first set of goals can be accomplished by state actions, said Jack Jennings, CEP’s president and CEO, whereas the second set are “more explicitly local responsibilities, and their implementation will depend a great deal on local decisions.” Thirty-three states are considering adopting common standards for core subjects. Twenty-one states said adoption of internationally benchmarked standards were critical to meeting assurances for rigorous standards. Most states are planning longitudinal data systems for tracking student achievement. Professional development was most frequently mentioned as a strategy for improving teaching, as well as for implementing new standards and turning around low-performing schools. This suggests states are choosing traditional strategies over those that could be more expensive, controversial, or sweeping. Teacher recruitment and placement, and redesigning school schedules and calendars, were also popular strategies to reform low-performing schools.

See the report: http://www.cep-dc.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=document_ext.showDocumentByID&nodeID=1&DocumentID=299