CAP -Illinois the New Leader in Education Reform?, 2011
In June 2011 Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed Sentate Bill 7 that overhauled state policies on teacher hiring, tenure, reductions in force, and dismissal, Illinois's experience provides some key lessons for those states to adopt as they consider the work ahead.

CAP - Measuring Inequity in School Funding, 2011 
This paper discusses the differences in per pupil funding across states by highlighting measures of spending and effort. It then examines the problem of intrastate fiscal inequity and surveys some of the different measures that are used to characterize a state’s level of funding equity among districts within a state. It then compares and contrasts the different measures and presents data on states’ fiscal equity using a variety of measures. The data demonstrate that many states are not fairly funding their school districts.

GWU Center on Education and the Workforce - The Undereducated American, 2009
The analysis of wage and employment datat shows that the United States has been underproducing college-educated workers for decades. Postsecondary education is in high demand among employers--and as the recovery takes hold and hiring resumes, it will continue to be in high demand.The undersupply of postsecondary-educated workers has led to two distinct problems: a problem of efficiency and a problem of equity. The result is that U.S. has become the global industrialized leader in income inequality.

Center for American Progress - Working Learners Need Innovative Education Models, 2009
The Obama Administration recently announced the America's Graduation Initiative which aspires to return the U.S. to the top echelons of college attainment. One element of this reform is an effort to increase communitiy college graduation by 5 million in 2020.
To accomplish this, the workforce development system will have to adjust to a working student body that has low literacy rates, limited English and no post secondary degree or credential.

The Brookings Institution - Don't Forget Curriculum, 2009
The Brookings Insitution's Brown Center on Education Policy encourages the Obama Administration to better integrate curriculum innovation and reform into its K-12 education policy framework, which has thus far focused on early childhood education programs, common standards, charter schools, and more effective teachers. These other topics are more politically popular, but the effect sizes for curriculum reform are larger, more certain, and less expensive.

Jobs for the Future - Innovations in College Readiness, 2009
This report examines outcomes and emerging practices at early college high schools. The study finds that the Early College High School Initiative has had a positive impact on young people underrepresented in higher education, such as low-income youth, first-generation college goers, English language learners, and minorities. The programs target these populations and encourage them to take college coursework during their junior and senior year of high school.

The Center for American Progress - Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Innovation, 2009
This report examines the state of innovation in the nation's educational systems, and provides an interactive map that shows state-by-state performance on the study's measures of educational innovation. This follow-up to CAP's 2007 study focuses not on the current status of state educational systems, but on what individual states are doing to better position themselves to adopt imaginative solutions for the education challeneges of the future.

Pre [K] Now - Votes Count: Legislative Action, 2009
In states across the country, the fiscal picture has become extremely dire, and lawmakers are struggling to reconcile growing public needs with shrinking revenues. This challenging budget year has highlighted the best as well as the worst practices in high-quality pre-kindergarten policy-making and has separated the true champions for young children from more tepid supporters. Decades of research have documented measurable gains in young children’s school readiness and a benefit-cost ratio for states of 7:1 from high-quality pre-k. For FY10, lawmakers in most states continued to recognize the importance of both early education’s proven benefits for children and families and its strong returns on investment.

New Teacher Center – A Teacher Development Continuum, 2009 
Beginning educators, on average, are less effective than their more experienced peers. The learning curve of beginning teachers poses a challenge for schools. Demographic changes will ensure that this challenge is one that more and more school districts across the national grapple with in the coming years. Supporting the cadre of new educators who will replace them to become more effective more quickly should be a primary goal for policymakers and education leaders alike. 

Pre [K] Now - New Beginnings: Using Federal Title I Funds to SUpport Local Pre-K Efforts, 2009  
State funding for pre-k has increased since 2005, but 70% of three and four year olds still lack access to a quality pre-k program. This brief recommends Title I funding, expanded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and increased federal budget appropriations, as a potential revenue source for pre-k programs. It examines guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and recommends ways for state and local pre-k initiatives to coordinate efforts.

Pre [K] Now - Beyond the School Yard: Pre-K Collaborations with Community-Based Partners, 2009
This report captures the benefits and challenges of developing community-basd parthnerships in pre-k systems, highlights promising practices from communities, and suggests concrete steps and policies to facilitate successful collaborations. 

Center for State Innovation Adequacy Based School Funding, 2008
An adequacy based school financing system that allocates each school enough funding to meet state defined educational standards is the best means of providing a high performance education system for children across the socio-economic spectrum
 
Center for State Innovation Universal Pre-K, 2008
Pre-K initiatives are a proven alternative whose long-term benefits-- financial and social -- far exceed the costs of implementation.

CAEL – Adult Learning, 2008
Demographic patterns demonstrate that relying on the traditional K–16 pipeline to meet the educational and workforce needs of our states and the nation will not be enough. The economic and personal benefits that individuals gain from education argue for greater focus and emphasis on adult learning.