Are SREB States Making Progress? Tapping, Preparing and Licensing School Leaders Who Can Influence Student Achievement

Looks at the progress SREB states are making in developing systems to identify, prepare, and assess future school leaders

Hot Air: How States Inflate Their Educational Progress Under NCLB

A new Education Sector analysis finds that many states are systematically overstating their performance under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, hurting students and undermining the law's credibility in the process

Fatal Gaps: How Missing Records in the Federal Background Check System Put Guns in the Hands of Killers

This report analyzes newly released FBI data showing millions of records identifying seriously mentally ill people and drug abusers are missing from the NICS database because of lax state reporting. The data also show that 52 of 61 federal agencies that are required to submit records have not done so. The 50-state analysis identifies which states are best and worst at reporting, and examines the strategies that have helped some states succeed

Mitigating Damages From Coastal Wetlands Development: Policy, Economics and Financing

This paper looks at the problem of modeling the welfare consequences of the effects of environmental changes on the bioeconomic equilibrium of fisheries. The equilibrium catch equation is suggested as the most appropriate mechanism for modelling these effects. Several different models are presented, based on the availability of data. It is shown that a model in which the equilibrium catch function is estimated directly as a function of environmental quality will be superior to a model which takes the stock effects from an independent ecosystem model. Models are also suggested for those cases in which only proxies for stock levels are available, and for those cases in which no stock data are available.Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Public Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty,

The Elections Performance Index 2012: The State of Election Administration and Prospects for the Future

In 2012, The Pew Charitable Trusts unveiled the Elections Performance Index, or EPI, an online tool that provides the first comprehensive assessment of election administration in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.The revised interactive adds data from the 2012 elections and makes it possible for the first time to compare performance across two presidential election years. Users can get the broad national picture by reading the brief here and visit the website for additional fact sheets

States' Evidence: What It Means to Make 'Adequate Yearly Progress' Under NCLB

States will soon announce the schools or districts that did or did not make "adequate yearly progress," or "AYP" under NCLB. But the question that provides the most insight into a school's performance is not whether a school made AYP, but rather how a school did or did not make AYP

Broken Records: How America's Faulty Background Check System Allows Criminal to Get Guns

The report, entitled Broken Records, uses data culled from the Department of Justice and various state sources and gives failing grades to 22 states for having grossly inadequate criminal, domestic violence, and mental disability records. North Carolina received the top grade of B+, followed by New York and Michigan, which received B's. Indiana maintains the worst records in the country.Each state compiles felony conviction, mental disability, and domestic violence records for use by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and state agencies to approve or disapprove gun buyers under the Brady Law. Because states have failed to computerize many of these records, thousands of prohibited buyers have been able to obtain guns even after undergoing a background check.AGSF found that, according to state and federal sources, 9,976 prohibited buyers throughout the nation obtained a gun because of faulty records. Under federal law, if the state or federal government cannot complete a background check within 3 business days, gun dealers may turn over a firearm to a buyer. AGSF warned that this number represents only the tip of the iceberg, as the figure does not include the thousands of others who might have obtained guns illegally because mental disability and domestic violence records are either not part of the database or totally nonexistent in many states

Progress Being Made in Getting a Quality Leader in Every School

Reviews the progress made by the SREB states in improving their school leadership through redesigning the process of preparation and development of school principals. Describes promising practices being implemented, and offers practical guidance

Unchartered Territory for the Bluegrass State : Lessons to be learned from over a Quarter-century of State Charter School Legislation

Charter school success or failure is not simply a matter of chance. Both the existence and aggregate quality of charter schools in a state depend on the provisions of state charter school laws. These laws address a wide range of issues and vary from state to state. But the experiences of states with significant charter sectors, as well as those with innovative charter policies, provide important lessons for the charter school movement as a whole

Power Amidst Renewal: Foundation Support for Sustaining Advocacy After Disasters

Follows up a 2007 report on the effectiveness of foundations and nonprofits in advocating for systemic changes in the Gulf Coast and lessons learned. Calls for collaboration, regionalizing agendas, and integrating advocacy into missions and grant periods