While the 1960s differentiated staffing movement fueled a new era of teacher quality consciousness, it failed to ignite the transformative reforms its leaders hoped for. If this innovative design is to take hold in 21st century schools, as we propose, then we should take a good long look in the rearview mirror before setting a new course.

Recent economic research suggests that colleges siphon off a significant portion of federal education aid rather than lowering costs to students

India’s education policies should encourage private initiative and focus on learning outcomes

Schools should prepare themselves for the leaner years ahead by tightening up operations, rethinking staffing, and using technology smartly.

With state budgets under considerable strain, the time has come for the federal government to take a hard look at the capacities of state education agencies to fulfill progressive education mandates.

Once little more than a blip on the radar of American higher education, for-profit colleges now enroll about 1 in 10 of the nation’s postsecondary students. And this fast growth has not gone unremarked. The past year has brought unprecedented scrutiny and often harsh criticism of proprietary education from policy makers, regulators, and the news media.

The real question isn’t whether we should pay all teachers more or less; it’s how to pay the right teachers more, in a way that serves students and maximizes the bang we get for the educational buck.

The broader issue of how we can rethink the teaching profession, make fuller use of talented teachers, and wisely spend the dollars we do have is more important than debating what the "right" wage level should be.