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Other IEL Publications

Teacher Leadership in High Schools: How Principals Encourage It—How Teachers Practice It is a new brief from IEL that shines a spotlight on the significant role of teacher leadership in high schools across America. The focus, however, is on the role principals play in nurturing this resource, and the ways in which teachers practice their leadership inside and outside the school. The report provides a definition of teacher leadership and describes the conditions that tend to exist in schools where it is practiced. The report is based on research conducted by IEL, in collaboration with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), and supported by a grant from the MetLife Foundation. Read an announcement about the brief. Download a free copy of the brief.

A Public Policy Primer: How To Get Off the Sidelines and Into the Game is intended to demystify policymaking and provide the average person with the guidelines, insights, and a “know-how recipe” to be able to help shape local and national policy decisions. Written in a conversational tone by noted expert David C. Hollister, a life-long public servant and former mayor of Lansing, MI, the Policy Primer uses his personal experience to illustrate key elements of effective (or ineffective) policymaking. Even people who work inside the policymaking world will find Hollister’s interpretation a useful resource, as he lifts the lid on the state house and Congress and pulls back the curtain on what occurs behind the scene. The Policy Primer is co-published by the Michigan Education Policy Fellowship Program, where Hollister has served as a resource person for 25 years. It is available for free download (PDF) from either IEL or the MI/EPFP.

Preparing Leaders for Rural Schools: Practice and Policy Considerations This report provides field-based, joint insights — not silver bullets, not research findings, and not final solutions — collected from people working in and familiar with rural places and rural schools from Alaska to Louisiana to New Mexico and points in between.

IEL at 40: Passing the Test of Time provides a brief history of IEL and it's background story.

Preparing School Principals: A National Perspective on Policy and Program Innovations, (pdf or html) focuses on two areas in which state policies and programs can have particular influence on school leadership. Those two areas, identified by co-authors Elizabeth L. Hale and Hunter N. Moorman (both of IEL), are: (1) licensure, certification, and accreditation requirements; and (2) administrator training and professional development. This document is a distillation of the national conversation about school leadership and principal preparation programs and presents promising approaches and practices in and/or across state systems, in local school districts, in universities and colleges, and in new provider organizations across the nation. The report is a joint publication of the Illinois Education Research Council (IERC, http://ierc.siue.edu) and of IEL and is available for free by download. Hard copies available from IEL for $5/copy. October, 2003. 

Leaving Too Many Children Behind: A Demographer’s View on the Tragic Neglect of America’s Youngest Children by Harold "Bud" Hodgkinson
In this passionate polemic, Dr. Hodgkinson focuses his renowned expertise on America’s most vulnerable population: children from birth to five years old. Through a variety of statistical data and other sources, he paints a “politically incorrect” picture of projected outcomes for what he feels are shortsighted state and federal policies, which will ultimately undermine the best intentions of No Child Left Behind. The report argues that key assumptions driving standards-based school reform and accountability testing do not fairly and adequately deal with the effects that poverty, low parent education levels, child abuse, neglect, and other factors, including race, have on a child’s chances before they start first grade. Click here for the press release. May, 2003. $12 prepaid; bulk prices available upon request.

All One System: A Second Look
by Harold L. Hodgkinson
Linkages between K-12 education and higher education are stronger than ever ... but not close enough to overcome critical gaps in student achievement, according to a new report, All One System: A Second Look, by Harold L. Hodgkinson, director of IEL's Center for Demographic Policy. Hodgkinson published a landmark report in 1985, All One System, which presented the argument that the nation's graduate schools were dependent in part on the quality of its kindergartens and that there was a single system of education underlying all educational segments from kindergarten through college. 1999. $15.

All Over The Map: A Look At State Policy to Improve The American Public High School
by Monica Martinez and Judy Bray
This report, issued by the National High School Alliance, examines trends, policy assumptions, and tensions that key state education statutes and board requirements hold for high schools. The state policies considered are divided into three categories: policies specific to high schools; policies that detail opportunities to learn; and policies that are new and in rapid flux. Hard copy available for free upon written request by either fax (202) 822-8405 or e-mail -- shipping costs may apply. 44 pages, June 2002.

Doing Comparatively Well: Why the Public Loves Higher Education and Criticizes K-12
by John Immerwahr
Dr. Immerwahr explores public attitudes about K-12 and higher education and identifies trends that suggest that higher education's "honeymoon" with the public may be waning. The report is based on a wide range of public opinion surveys and focus groups conducted by Public Agenda during the past five years. 1999. $15.

Bringing Tomorrow Into Focus: Demographic Insights for the Future
by Harold L. Hodgkinson
This brief paper is for the diverse individuals in business, government and nonprofit organizations -- policymakers as well as practitioners -- who want to see how the present leads into the future. Almost any strategic planning activity will benefit from a consideration of the eight trends that form the basis of this paper. 1996. $15.

Governing Public Schools: New Times, New Requirements
by Jacqueline P. Danzberger, Michael W. Kirst and Michael D. Usdan
This new report provides a comprehensive examination of the state of school governance today including the first data from a national assessment of how local school boards view their own effectiveness. The report suggests new expectations and roles for school boards and maps out state and local actions that can spark governance reforms. 1992. $15.