This report describes the implementation efforts of the first grantees under the Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) and how they aligned with program priorities. Begun in 2018, SFEC is one of the key U.S. Department of Education programs designed to address disparities in family engagement in schools. The program provides grants to…

This volume serves as a companion to the "Lessons from the First Statewide Family Engagement Centers: Alignment with Federal Priorities and Factors Influencing Implementation" report. The report focuses on the Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) program and provides insights into its implementation and alignment with federal…

Boosting literacy among school-age children remains a national priority. Nearly one third of students in the United States have not developed the foundational reading skills needed to succeed academically, with students living in poverty, students with disabilities, and English learners especially at risk. Starting in 2010, Congress invested more…

Counselors are a common school resource for students navigating complicated and consequential education choices. However, most students have limited access to school counselors. We study one of the largest U.S. policies to increase access to school counselors -- California's Supplemental School Counseling Program. The program increased the average…

During the 2016 session, the General Assembly and Governor established the New Economy Workforce Grant Program (WCG). This grant program, the first of its kind in the nation, provides a pay-for-performance model for funding noncredit workforce training that leads to a credential in a high-demand field. The program also includes requirements for…

When people talk about "community college leadership," they typically refer to presidents or other executive leaders, mirroring a common societal perception that leaders are individuals at the top of an organization's hierarchy. However, leading from the middle is not a contradiction in terms. A growing number of community college…

Youth apprenticeship programs can give students access to valuable work-based learning experiences that provide insights into how their interest can connect to education and the workforce. Although these programs are often beneficial for participants, there is little data to show the programmatic landscape and impact. There are many challenges…

In 2019 the Pennsylvania Treasury launched a state-wide children's savings account (CSA) initiative, Keystone Scholars. Keystone Scholars provides $100 in college savings to eligible families - all children born or adopted in Pennsylvania after January 1, 2019. In this introductory research brief, we describe how CSAs are an important tool for…

This paper examines how colleges respond to the introduction of broad merit aid programs. Previous research has emphasized the impact of merit aid on enrollment, student choices, and post-matriculation outcomes. Yet much less is known about how state-implemented merit aid programs affect colleges' financial decisions. To explore impacts, college…

Parents in California encounter a complex landscape of early care and education (ECE) options for their young children (King et al., 2019). Not only must they seek out opportunities that fit their budget and their schedule, but they also strive to find a safe, loving environment in which their children will grow and learn. For some families,…

This qualitative study examined the impact of mentor and new teacher pairings on the self-reported benefits of a statewide mentoring program for new teachers. Participants included 147 new teachers and 89 mentors in a Midwestern, rural state. Teacher demographics included all grade levels, different content areas, job alike and job not-alike…

As college promise programs proliferate across the United States with noted intentions to promote access through increased affordability, it is necessary to understand the relationship between these programs and other forms of financial aid, including loans. Using federal, state, and program-level data, we leverage a natural experiment to estimate…

We replicate and extend prior work on Florida's Bright Futures merit aid scholarship to consider its effect on college enrollment and degree completion. We estimate causal impacts using a regression discontinuity design to exploit SAT thresholds that strongly determine eligibility. We find no positive impacts on attendance or attainment, and…

Importance: Children experiencing parental opioid use disorder are a growing population at heightened risk of physical and mental health issues over the life course. Yet these children are less likely to receive comprehensive, ongoing health care and their parents are more likely to report barriers to access health care for their children.…

Purpose: Where and how rehabilitation and long-term services and supports (LTSS) occur for individuals with brain injury (BI) has shifted dramatically over the last few decades. Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) 1915(c) waivers allow states to offer LTSS that is tailored to the needs of underserved populations in the community…