Transforming schools through mastery learning may solve education's existential crisis, offering today's learners the relevance and individualization they need while returning to the most ancient form of assessment, proving that learning has occurred. Mastery learning requires significant change to all the norms and practices of school, altering…

The 2024 Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (IEPI) Legislative Report provides a comprehensive analysis of California's efforts to improve student success, institutional effectiveness, and equity across its 116 community colleges. Covering activities from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, this report highlights key findings,…

The Washington Student Achievement Council's (WSAC) Regional Partnerships (RP) strategy invests in cross-sector partnerships that are committed to increasing local postsecondary attainment through geographically and culturally responsive approaches. In this first installment of the RP Learning Brief Series, the Washington Student Achievement…

A system of climate learning includes students, educators, administrators, educational leaders, community members, and others across different contexts and from diverse lived experiences. As people begin to foster climate learning within these systems, the work of drawing people together in this work can seem daunting. However, the lessons from…

Postsecondary enrollment is in decline, and like many other states, Washington is experiencing significant, ongoing challenges to enrollment. In response to ongoing enrollment challenges, institutions and states are considering new practices to engage with prospective students. Research shows that automating aspects of the enrollment process can…

Over the past decade, Illinois has emerged as a national exemplar of how state policy can drive systemic change in civics education. The Illinois Civic Mission Coalition, a pan-ideological alliance of educators, policymakers, and civic organizations, has shaped the state's civics education vision. The coalition built a scalable infrastructure of…

Partnerships funded by the Washington Student Achievement Council's (WSAC) Regional Challenge Grant (RCG) are only in their second year of funded work. Still, early evidence makes clear the impact of these disciplined investments. Financial aid application rates, high school graduation rates, and even college retention rates--these critical…

By the time Donald J. Trump was running for president in 2024, he had landed on a clear vision for the federal government's role in education. In short, he had concluded that the federal government's power over education should be relinquished to states, local communities, and, most importantly, families. Early into his second term, Trump has…

Community-led solutions to educational challenges "can and will" sustainably increase the number of Washingtonians with education and training after high school. This framework demonstrates how the authors measure short- and long-term outcomes to capture partnership impact and population-level change. Washington Student Achievement…

For many years schools located within concentrated areas of poverty in an urban school county in south Florida have experienced alarmingly high teacher turnover rates and alarmingly low academic performance scores. In 2015, in a lauded expose printed by the "Tampa Bay Times," five schools, all of which would go on to become part of the…

Although multiple studies have examined the impact of school turnaround, less is known about reforms under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). To advance this literature, we examine North Carolina's Restart (NCR) model. NCR aligns with ESSA by giving school leaders increased flexibility. Also, NCR differs from previous turnaround models by…

School improvement is complex and difficult, especially in comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) schools, which concurrently struggle with multiple challenges. To guide state education agencies (SEAs) in supporting schools, this report summarizes the resources that SEAs have identified and developed, insights from national technical…

School improvement is complex and difficult, especially in comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) schools, which concurrently struggle with multiple challenges. To guide state education agencies (SEAs) in supporting schools, this annex provides (1) the resources that SEAs have identified and developed to support the identification and…

This appendix contains programmatic updates regarding the Washington Student Achievement Council's (WSAC) regional partnership work: (1) Strategic Involvement; (2) Long-Term Outlook Based on the 2025 Biennial State Budget; (3) Upcoming Report on Regional Partnership Outcomes for the 2024-25 Academic Year; and (4) Reapplication and Investment…

This appendix provides summaries of work for Research Challenge Grant (RCG) partnerships. Each partner section includes a theory of change and a summary of impact. There are thirteen partners included in this appendix.