The Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) is required to protect students from discrimination based on sex, which can include sexual harassment. Senate Report 117-130 and House Report 117-397 include a provision for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine DODEA's response to unwanted sexual behaviors. This report examines…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Policy Priorities." Contents include: (1) IDRA Kicks Off 50th Anniversary…

In this research article, authors Hillary Parkhouse, Virginia Massaro, Melissa Cuba, and Carolyn Waters examine teachers' perceptions of their responsibilities to support undocumented students and the barriers they encounter in fulfilling them. Since the 1982 Plyler v. Doe decision guaranteed public K-12 education to undocumented students, there…

The United States' social and economic inequities stood in high relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, spotlighting the glaringly disproportionate systemic injustices related to public health and the economic impact on minoritized communities. Realities of structural and institutionalized racism and classism were exposed to greater degrees as we…

In this report, State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) builds upon the research and recommendations from prior publications with a focus on the role of state leadership in supporting districts and schools to increase high-speed connectivity and access for students and educators. SETDA firmly believes that high-speed broadband…

As U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan works with other Obama administration officials on policy responses to the shootings at a Connecticut elementary school, he brings a personal and professional history that has acquainted him with the impact of gun violence. As schools chief in Chicago from 2001 to 2008, he was affected by the gun deaths…

For teachers to effectively teach students who enter the U.S. educational system from other countries, they must first learn about the complexity of the immigrant experience, taking into account themes such as race, generational immigration, class, formal education, and language. When these themes are taught through the immigrant narrative, they…

The author's community, which includes parents of the 62,000 students who attend schools in Volusia County, Florida, has been baffled over the conflicting nature of Florida's school grading system of A, B, C, D, F based on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, and the federal system of pass or fail. While many of the 80 schools in her…

During the summer of 2010, school districts across the country reported almost daily on their plans to lay off staff because of sharp declines in aid. Hundreds of thousands of teachers' jobs were on the line. If these losses materialized, class sizes would skyrocket and educational enrichment activities would be lost. Some districts shortened…

Since the initiation of PL 94-142 enacted by the United States Congress in 1975, special education has been mandated, funded and regulated by the federal government. There have been both benefits and drawbacks to this initiative. In positive terms and most importantly, children who require different educational services are identified, and…

While US parents have historically played supporting roles in schooling, they are becoming increasingly involved in education advocacy and policy. Contemporary school reform requires political muscle to enact controversial changes, meaning entrenched interest groups such as teachers unions have traditionally enjoyed an outsized impact in the realm…

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history, yet the United States has failed to ratify it, despite the efforts of countless supporters. Opponents of ratification in the United States have been effective at preventing ratification by asserting that the CRC will damage family…

This article focuses on the intersections among language, literacy, and culture, and what these intersections have meant for the author personally, and what they can mean for students who have been marginalized, neglected, or made invisible by traditional understandings of the role of education. Although not linked conceptually in the past, the…

From 2009 to 2010, the Community Food Security Coalition advocated for more federal support and funding for farm-to-school programs as Congress considered reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act. Farm-to-school initiatives aim to improve the quality and healthfulness of student meals through the inclusion of more fresh fruits and vegetables provided…

There is no denying that physical educators have traditionally been considered second-class citizens within the K-12 educational system in the United States. In some cases the low status of physical educators has resulted from the views of others (e.g., colleagues, administrators, parents, etc.), while at other times physical educators themselves…