This report provides background information on Forest Service (FS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) revenue-based payments and a brief overview of a related payment program--the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. Because the revenue-based, Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (SRS), and PILT payments interact…

Subject to the South African Schools Act, 84 of 1996 section 16(1), the governance of every public school is vested in its governing body and it may perform only such functions and obligations and exercise only such rights as prescribed by the Act. Section 30(1a) of this Act demands school governing bodies to establish committees and appoint…

This article provides a history of the two large-scale assessment consortia that were funded in 2010 as part of the Race to the Top Competition, the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC), and the Smarter-Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). I compare the goals the consortia were funded to meet between 2011…

California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) launched the five-year "Puedes! Caminos, Cariño, y Carreras in a Post-Pandemic Era" grant in Fall 2022 to enhance educational opportunity and attainment for Hispanic students in California's southern Central Valley. Building on the successes of Year 1, the project achieved notable…

California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) was awarded a five-year grant, "Puedes! Caminos, Cariño, y Carreras in a Post-Pandemic Era", that began in Fall 2022, to support educational opportunity and attainment of Hispanic students. Guided by the program goals, Year 1 activities demonstrated effective project operations on multiple…

This toolkit that can empower state leaders to transform their vocational-technical schools for the better. It builds on "Hands-On Achievement," a book detailing the Massachusetts model that Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research published earlier in 2022. The toolkit describes three keys to success, provides a brief history of…

The population of English learners (ELs) in K-12 schools continues to grow. Between the 2009-10 and 2014-15 school years, the percentage of English learners increased in over half of the states, and in 2017, English learners made up 10.1% of the total student population. Research suggests that in their transition to English, non-native speakers…

Policy barriers at the national and state levels are preventing many student veterans from achieving their academic and professional potential. Layers of rigid rules determine when, where, and how post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients -- most student veterans -- can utilize their service-connected education benefits. Policymakers should work to knock down…

Because the needs of homeless children and youths are so extensive and varied, State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) must become part of a system of services to ensure that these vulnerable children and youths can receive the support they need to attain an education. The McKinney-Vento Act, the Federal law that…

More than 100 U.S. institutions of higher education hosted Confucius Institutes (CIs), Chinese government-funded language and culture centers, on campus during the late 2000s and 2010s. While CIs provided a source of funding and other resources that enabled U.S. colleges and universities to build capacity, offer supplemental programming, and…

The U.S. Department of Education is committed to supporting innovative advances in educational technology to improve teaching and learning across the nation's education systems and to support educators as they incorporate emerging technology into their learning communities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education is a complex and rapidly…

The portfolio management models (PMM) has emerged as an important idea in educational governance over the last decade. In PMM systems, a district or other form of authorizer oversees a collection of independent organizations that operate schools according to their particular philosophy and strategic orientation. Yet underlying the design of PMMs…

Some anomalies in the legislation governing National Research Ethics Service Research Ethics Committee (REC) member categories are discussed. It is suggested that not only may some members be in the wrong category, but that the legislation identifies individuals who are simply ineligible for any form of REC membership.

Within the next few years the majority of jobs in the U.S. will require some type of postsecondary credential. However, less than half of adults in this country currently possess a credential beyond high school. Though they may not have a college degree to show for it, most adults have likely gained significant and valuable learning through their…

Since the reauthorization of The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) in 2008, postsecondary programs that include individuals with intellectual developmental disability have seen a phenomenal increase. In 2015, a National Coordinating Center along with 52 Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID)…