The Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative (MBLC) is a demonstration project taking place in 47 schools in Washington State led by the Washington State Board of Education (SBE). The schools are receiving funding and participating in professional learning and a statewide network to support implementation of mastery-based learning (MBL) and culturally…

The Higher Education Act as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) contained several provisions to increase access to higher education for youth and adults with intellectual disability. One outcome of these provisions was the appropriation of funds by Congress to create a model demonstration program aimed at developing and…

During the 2023 Legislative Session, the Legislature considered House Bill (HB) 1479, a measure which would have prohibited isolation and further restricted restraint in public schools. While the bill did not pass, the Legislature provided the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) with designated state funds to begin actualizing…

The Families Forward Demonstration (FFD) examined new strategies to increase the earnings of parents who owe child support but are unable to fully meet their obligations due to low earnings. It also focused on "responsive" child support services that helped parents understand their support obligations, and even suspended certain…

This report explores the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Deep-End Initiative, which is helping juvenile justice jurisdictions safely and significantly reduce youth confinement -- especially for young people of color. In America today, youth of color are consistently over-represented in courtrooms and detention centers, youth prisons and other…

The 2012 Transmedia Demonstration Stations program study is part of the multiyear CPB-PBS "Ready To Learn" summative evaluation initiative by Education Development Center, Inc., (EDC) and SRI International (SRI). Through a series of related studies, the authors are documenting, and, whenever possible, measuring the impact of PBS KIDS…

This paper presents a practical framework for relational practice with birth families, organized around parental visitation. The approach was developed in the Birth Family Foster Family Connections Project, a three-year collaborative research demonstration project between a large private agency and the Washington State Department of Child and…

The reauthorization of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA") as amended by the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" ("NCLB") relied on two notable policy instruments to improve education: accountability and flexibility. "NCLB" complements accountability with several new flexibility…

Flexibility and accountability are two levers for change that occupy an increasingly prominent place among federal strategies for educational improvement. In return for introducing higher academic standards and performance-based accountability systems, states and districts have been granted increasing flexibility over how they may use the funding…

Perhaps the most ambitious example of the way in which flexibility and accountability have been brought together can be found in the State Flex and Local Flex demonstration programs. Although no additional resources are provided to participating states and districts, the enhanced flexibility granted under State Flex and Local Flex allows…