Brookings Today, 5/13/14

A roundup of some of the content published today by Brookings.

• Evaluating teachers with classroom observations. Russ Whitehurst, Matt Chingos and Katharine Lindquist examine the design and performance of new teacher evaluation systems in four urban school districts.

• Richard Reeves and Quentin Karpilow explain the money bottleneck in the american opportunity structure.

• Is Mexico Taking the Best Approach to Anti-Money Laundering? asks Andrés Rozental.

• Darrell West looks at how space exploration propels scientific discovery, tourism, mining and the economy.

• The West’s enduring importance. Bruce Jones says the U.S. has more than enough power to resist challenges.