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Change Urged for Federal Education Policy

Federal policy can improve education, but we need change. That message comes from Democracy at Risk: The Need for a New Federal Policy in Education. The new report for the Forum for Education and Democracy uses the anniversary of A Nation at Risk and the upcoming reauthorization of NCLB to illustrate that, after 25 years of education reform, we are further behind in providing a 21st century education than in 1983.

Recommendations for change include:

Federal Priority #1: Pay Off the Educational Debt

  • Link federal education support to state progress toward opportunity to learn,
  • Meet the federal obligation for funding programs for students with special needs,
  • Invest in high-quality pre-school and health care that enable students to come to school ready to learn.

Federal Priority #2: Develop a World-Class Cadre of Skilled Educators

  • Create incentives for recruiting teachers to high-need fields and locations.
  • Strengthen teachers' preparation by focusing on how to teach diverse learners, evaluating teacher performance, and creating professional development schools.
  • Launch teaching residency programs in high-need communities.
  • Support mentoring for all beginning teachers.
  • Create sustained, practice-based, collegial learning opportunities for teachers.
  • Develop teaching careers that reward, develop, and share expertise.
  • Mount a major initiative to prepare and support expert school leaders.

Federal Priority #3:Support Educational Research, Development, and Innovation

  • Document and disseminate promising practices.
  • Invest in the development of higher quality standards and assessments for genuine accountability.
  • Develop data bases, shared measures, and tools to advance educational practice.

Federal Priority #4: Engaging Local Communities

  • Foster family engagement in school life and school improvement.
  • Provide for genuine community involvement in school improvement processes.
  • Place schools at the center of community education.

Source: Forum for Education and Democracy, Democracy At Risk: The Need for a New Federal Policy in Education

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