In this paper, we report the description and evaluation of an annual workshop titled "Capacity Building Workshops for Competitive S-STEM Proposals from Two-Year Colleges in the Western U.S." which was offered in June of 2019, 2020, and 2021 with the goal of facilitating submissions to the NSF S-STEM program from 2-year colleges (2YCs).…

The Trump administration's push to scale back the federal role in education could mean more autonomy for states. But this increased decision-making power will also make state K-12 accountability more important than ever. States must ensure education funding is used effectively, especially for those students furthest from opportunity. While some…

Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are one potential strategy to support educational transformation or improvement, and this focus inherently requires new ways of working for both practitioners and researchers. This paper seeks to understand how RPP engagement within an EdD program supported the development of practitioner-scholars through a…

The mental health crisis in higher education is a systemic challenge requiring coordinated action at national, state, and institutional levels. The SHEEO-JED Mental Health and Wellness Learning Community, launched by the State Higher Education Officers Association (SHEEO) and The Jed Foundation (JED) in the fall of 2023, brought together state…

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) encourages states to promote equity in Career Technical Education (CTE) through data analysis, funding, technical assistance, professional development, and regular engagement of stakeholders representing learners with special population status. While Perkins V…

The number of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) is on the rise, and these institutions now represent about one in five colleges and universities in the United States (Excelencia in Education 2024). Collectively, these two-year and four-year colleges and universities enroll just over a third of all undergraduate students in the nation. HSIs also…

Local communities are increasingly becoming concerned about what to do about changing climatic conditions and they want to know more about how to best work together to address complicated socioecological issues. This paper addresses this need by presenting findings from four exploratory case studies (two in Maine and two in Oregon). The…

Over the last several years, the guided pathways approach to whole-college redesign has become a national movement in community colleges. Approximately 300 colleges are implementing guided pathways reforms as part of formal state or national initiatives, and many more are doing so on their own. Some of the earliest colleges to implement guided…

In fall 2018, Community College Research Center (CCRC) researchers conducted site visits at eight community colleges implementing guided pathways to learn how they are managing the whole-college change process involved. These colleges are among the 30 nationally that were in the first cohort of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)…

An innovative system-building initiative known as the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice (SLECoP) is transforming U.S. STEM education through cross-sector partnerships between schools, afterschool and summer programs, libraries, museums, and businesses, among others. Although logic models exist to describe how SLEs can make positive…

This paper reviews state strategies for incorporating performance assessment in policy and practice. Specifically, the paper reviews the use of performance assessment in 12 states in the Innovation Lab Network, a group committed to developing systems of assessment that provide meaningful measures of college and career readiness. This review…

Communities around the country are converging on a new approach to raising achievement for low-income children. This approach draws on two reform movements: (1) full-service community schools that provide wraparound health and social services to children and families, and (2) Prenatal through Grade 3 initiatives to improve quality, alignment, and…

This article describes some of the remarkable accomplishments of the states that have participated in the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Financing Policy Project (IECMH-FPP). The purpose of the IECMH-FPP is to support states' advancement of IECMH assessment, diagnosis, and treatment policies that will contribute to the healthy…

This brief explores the lessons learned from the 2016 Parents and Children Thriving Together: Two-Generation State Policy Network (PACTT Network), a collaboration between the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). Through this initiative, five states explored how to use the two-generation approach to…

The process of conducting peer interviews has not been widely reported on as a participatory method. Youth gardens are known to support individual and community health and well-being. Producing for the Future utilized the principles of community-based participatory research within a gardening and microenterprise program for low-income youth. In…