The Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS) program has helped thousands of families afford postsecondary education, and is reported to have helped motivate students to set higher goals for themselves, and to pursue postsecondary education in Alaska. Evidence indicates APS recipients are better prepared for college. However, the reach of these…

State postsecondary data systems contain a wealth of information--including detailed records about individuals--that allow states to analyze and improve their postsecondary education systems. The entities that maintain these systems operate in a context of concern about the privacy and security of educational records. They have both an interest in…

The use of the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) to improve early childhood education program quality is based in part on assumptions that the quality of programs can be measured and that quality ratings are associated with meaningful differences in learning outcomes for children. This report reviews all of the state QRIS validation…

This report describes the work done by the 48 State Deaf-Blind Projects awarded grants by the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in late 2013. The report documents the technical assistance and dissemination activities carried out by the Projects and their collaborative activities, describes the needs for…

Since 2010, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) has periodically administered the "Strong Foundations" survey, which documents the content, structure, and effective use of state postsecondary student unit record systems (PSURSs). This report highlights the results of the fourth administration of the survey,…

This report addresses two key questions about postsecondary student unit record data systems (PSURSs): (1) What data are collected by various parties; and (2) how do these entities use the data to inform policy decisions? This 2016 report is both a follow-up and a redesign of two previous "Strong Foundations" reports by SHEEO (2010 and…

This document represents the findings of the Greater Akron and Canton Regional Chambers of Commerce under an Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Ohio Department of Development Graduate Retention Initiative (GRI) Planning Grant. The document also includes a proposal for the implementation phase of the initiative with a geographic scope…

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), just over 70 percent of students nationally arrive in high school with reading skills that are below "proficient"--defined as demonstrating competency over challenging subject matter. Of these students, nearly half do not exhibit even partial mastery of the knowledge…

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) is a state-funded program in Texas that provides grants to districts for the implementation of locally-designed performance pay plans. All districts in the state are eligible to receive grants, but participation is voluntary. As D.A.T.E. continues in its second year of operation with approximately…

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, is a federally-funded system of grants that focuses on preparing low-income students to enter and succeed in postsecondary educational programs. GEAR UP grants extend across 6 school years and require that funded districts begin providing grant services to students no…

This study examines why 51 schools declined an invitation to participate in a state-funded educator incentive initiative, the Texas Educator Excellence Grant (TEEG) program. Using data from an ongoing evaluation of the TEEG program conducted by the National Center on Performance Incentives (NCPI) under contract with Texas Education Agency, this…

Using the "HSTW" ["High Schools That Work"] Assessment Reading Test results, SREB [Southern Regional Education Board] has identified a set of literacy-based experiences that may contribute to higher reading achievement. This report explains the different school and classroom practices experienced by students reading above and below the Proficient…

World-wide communication, information gathering, and information sharing are possible through the Internet. Nebraska and its educational community are in the process of connecting to this resource. Fifteen Educational Service Unit (ESU) servers, located across the state, provide access to the Internet for almost all public K-12 schools. Currently,…

The federal Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, project strives to equalize low-income students' access to higher education by increasing their participation in rigorous coursework, providing expanded opportunities for low-income students and parents to learn about postsecondary educational opportunities…

This paper reports on an evaluation of Florida's McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities, which makes a school voucher available to any special education student. The program currently serves 9,202 students out of 375,000 eligible special education students. Based on two telephone surveys (one of parents currently using a McKay…