These days, a number of individuals are making sure that the nation’s young people are not left behind, and in addition, a number of organizations have been passionately involved in these efforts as well. One such group is Achieve, which was founded in 1996 by the nations’ governors and business leaders. As their website notes, “Achieve serves as a significant national voice for quality in...

Benchmarks for Science Literacy, a companion publication to the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) project "Science for All Americans," describes "what all students should know and be able to do in science, mathematics, and technology by the time they graduate from high school." Offered as "a tool to be used by educators in designing a curriculum," Benchmarks is a...

The Center for Civic Education is a non-partisan educational corporation started in 1969 in Calabasas, California, to educate America's citizens about democratic principles. Their website's "About Us" section has a powerful quote by Thomas Jefferson that sums up their rationale and goals for starting the Center: "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people...

The Common Core establishes nationwide benchmarks for reading and math, and has so far been adopted by 43 states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). As the official site of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, there is much to offer here for K-12 educators, parents, and the generally curious. Sections of the site cover...

Building on President Bush's earlier "No Child Left Behind" educational prospectus for the United States, this 148-page report explicates the Department of Education's 6-point plan for the upcoming years. The six points discussed in detail throughout the body of the report include improving student achievement, creating a culture of achievement, and enhancing the quality of access to postsecondary...

This month, Education World, a prime distributor of free K-12 educational materials on the Web, offers its annual "best of" series, collected from the previous twelve months's lesson plans, curriculum articles, book reviews, Website reviews, and other educational aids. There are ten links per series, and the top five offer summary annotations for quick browsing.

This report from the RAND organization analyzes results from the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) state test scores of 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996. The report is unique in offering comparative data on similar student demographics across states, allowing the authors to examine the impact of state educational reforms on comparable populations. The results show that some states are...

Published by the Brown Center on American Education at the Brookings Institution, this report asks the question: "How well are American students learning?" Released in December 2007, this most recent edition of the report examines the latest test score data on math and reaching achievement. The report also offers analyses of enrollment patterns in private and public schools as well as an...

Educators across the United States are always looking for compelling new resources to use in the classroom, and this fine website sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education delivers high-quality resources for just that purpose. The Doing What Works website contains content based on the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences' "What Works" clearinghouse. First-time visitors can...

The Scout Report doesn't usually review three-minute videos, but this one from Vox is worth it. First, because the video itself explains in sharp detail the seemingly incomprehensible pedagogy behind the "new math" that the Common Core utilizes to help students draw logical conclusions about the underlying principles of mathematics. And second, because the accompanying article, with its yellow...