Stakeholder engagement and collaboration are essential to the development of an effective state plan. Engaging a diverse group of stakeholders tasked with working together to create education policies that will have a positive, lasting impact on students is not as easy as it sounds. Experts in the field argue that the traditional stakeholder…

Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, state teams have been preparing their state plans aligned with ESSA for submission in April or September 2017 to the U.S. Department of Education. Because ESSA lands much of the decision-making and responsibility in education at the state and local levels, state education leaders…

The authors argue that the ongoing research by the National Academies, the National Research Council, and the National Science Foundation are imperative. The findings and recommendations on what the school systems of America must do to develop specific educational programming will position the U.S. at the forefront of the world's economies if…

Increased attention to proposed federal early childhood education (ECE) legislation has sparked a debate on what the future holds for state-funded ECE systems. This brief explores how the goal of universal preschool is being shaped by the federal agenda and examines state programs in various stages of development. President Obama's Preschool for…

This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

Educational productivity offers a perspective but not a solution for many of the problems in American education. Because education produces several different products, several kinds of educational policy outcomes can be defined as productivity increases. These include improving classroom methods, curriculum structure, curriculum content,…

State policy for higher education in Massachusetts as elsewhere renders certain courses of action attractive while placing obstacles to other courses of action by the legislature, government officials, coordinating and governing boards, and other agencies and persons engaged in or planning for higher education. Policy may take the form of…

The major policy points made in the paper are that: (1) New York State needs a comprehensive system of occupational education which serves all persons needing job preparation and which uses all available public and private resources; (2) such a system will make available to every person a continuum of educational opportunities beginning in early…

The results of selected Wisconsin Council on Vocational Education activities (and consequent recommendations) from July 1, 1986 through December 31, 1988, are reported, pursuant to the requirements of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act. In addition, the following sections also appear: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Executive…

This document reviews the work of the Higher Education Coordinating Board of Minnesota during the 1987-88 period, highlights trends and conditions in Minnesota postsecondary education, discusses the major policy issues facing Minnesota, and presents the Board's legislative agenda for 1990-91. Board projects included adoption of a vision statement…

The Ministry of Education in the state of Victoria, Australia, prepared six papers outlining new educational policies in the early 1980s. To encourage local implementation of the recommendations contained in the sixth paper, "Curriculum Development and Planning in Victoria," the ministry's Curriculum Branch is writing 10 "curriculum…

This technical report provides a detailed presentation of the status of Minnesota postsecondary education, summarizes policy issues studied by the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board, and reviews programs administered by the Board. Section 1 reviews enrollment trends and projections, student characteristics, and Minnesota's investment in…

Reviews the history of Pennsylvania's higher education system since 1755. States that the Community College Act of 1963 imposed a funding system that has proved both inadequate and difficult to change and has discouraged the formation of new colleges. Discusses the current state of community college sponsorship, enrollment, funding, and outcomes,…

Maine and Vermont have been national leaders in state-level coordination of high school reform. Both recently developed almost interchangeable, new, voluntary, statewide frameworks that describe multiple ways high schools should change. Both frameworks--Promising Futures (Maine Commission on Secondary Education 1998) and High Schools on the Move…

Since the development of the Educational Technology Plan PK-12 in 1996, the state of Wisconsin has made great strides to ensure that the technologies necessary for fostering student growth and achievement are available to urban, suburban, and rural children alike. This addendum, intended to supplement the 1996 plan, will provide Wisconsin's school…