This report sheds a new light on the history of the U.S. Department of Education (ED), its abuses of policy, and recommendations for a path forward. The report's evidence, and the long-term political dispositions of America's citizenry, supports the wholesale reform of ED, but not its elimination. The authors have structured their report in this…

Summative assessments measure students' mastery of grade-level academic standards and skills in specific content areas after learning. State summative assessment systems provide students and families, school and district leaders, and state policymakers with valuable data to help understand student progress and school quality. This Policy Guide…

This policy brief describes how State VR agencies are using and can use benefits planning services, as a VR agency-funded service, to help SSDI and SSI beneficiaries address concerns and fears about the potential loss of cash benefits and healthcare benefits (i.e., Medicaid and/or Medicare) as they move into jobs paying substantial wages. The…

This paper explores how PurpleState, a political simulation designed to foster skills and knowledge for informed civic participation, develops students' abilities to counter or resist the effects of political polarization and partisanship. Throughout the simulation, which has been implemented in Virginia and Wisconsin, students are asked to…

Twenty-first century education reform shifted the pursuit of public education from democratic principles to the pursuit of private interests for individual benefit. Reasoning from an applied behavior economic theoretical framework assumes consumers seeking economic benefits from their public schools will seek public schools with more resources.…

The Covid-19 pandemic has vividly illustrated the centrality of frontline workers to the everyday functioning of the American economy and daily life. But while some articles have mentioned the high proportion of immigrant workers in these roles, there has been much less attention paid to the high number of English learners in particular. The…

Inquiry-guided learning (IGL) has widespread appeal in higher education as a suite of teaching strategies that promotes learning through students' increasingly independent investigation of questions, problems, and issues using the methods of inquiry of the disciplines. Framed as especially appropriate for research universities, IGL has been…

A growing number of U.S. companies across a range of industries are designing apprenticeship programs to give workers access to on-the-job learning opportunities that allow them to transition into in-demand jobs and careers. This discussion paper provides a snapshot of the current state of apprenticeship in the United States based on interviews…

In 2010, the Alexandria City Council of Virginia created the Children, Youth and Families Collaborative Commission (CYFCC, or the Commission) with the support of the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS). Establishing the Commission was a groundbreaking step toward addressing the needs of Alexandria's children in a more holistic manner. The…

Students with disabilities and their families across the globe are increasingly setting postsecondary education (PSE) as a future goal, a relatively recent phenomenon. To supplement current knowledge on this goal, we studied parents' means of accessing information and the impact of K-12 inclusive general education experiences on parents' desires…

The report presents results of a 1-year project whose purposes were to explore issues surrounding service provision to families with developmentally disabled members, to assess the status of family support programs nationwide, and to apply this information to the task of developing a family support program in Virginia. Part 1 reflects findings of…

In their 2004 State of the State speeches, the nation's governors cited many issues competing for their attention and their states' resources, including health care, education, crime, and security (Nodine 2004). Among the most compelling challenges were those related to economic development and the ability of a state's workforce to meet the needs…

In the spring of 1985 a task force comprising private sector representatives was convened to formulate recommendations regarding the development of an overall policy framework for employment and training and related systems in Virginia. The task force was asked to focus their efforts on the following policy areas: training and retraining the adult…

This White Paper on child care is the second of four to be published by the Action Alliance for Virginia's Children, and focuses on the affordability and availability of quality child care in Virginia. The paper states that despite federal attempts to simplify funding, funding remains complicated due to differences in the federal and state fiscal…

This background briefing paper synthesizes current thinking and practice on the issue of latchkey children and school-age child care (SACC). The paper defines the problem of latchkey children; reviews related literature and programmatic responses to the problem; reports responses of four southern states; and points out implications for policy…