The Federal STEM Education Strategic plan recognizes the importance of building computational literacy today. This document is aligned to the Computational Literacy Interagency Working Group (IWGCL) objectives to: (1) develop a common operational definition; (2) identify existing research on computational literacy; and (3) identify existing…

This report explores motives, experiences, and outcomes of the Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth (P3)--a federal program to improve services for "opportunity youth" by increasing flexibility for sites focused on systems change--and makes recommendations for federal leaders to improve its appeal and impact. Building on…

The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, which provided nearly $2 billion over four years to help community colleges meet employers' needs more effectively was a response to the 2008 recession. Distributed by the U.S. Department of Labor, the original TAACCCT funding brought colleges…

This paper contends that state bans on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices are indicative of a broader political agenda to restrict scholarly analyses and practitioner outreach that reveal how societal inequities, policy failures, and racialized deficit framings of marginalized students--not perceived…

The Race to the Top (RTTT) program incentivized states to use innovation for systemwide improvement of student outcomes, but little is known about how RTTT-funded innovation was sustained after the RTTT program ended. This mixed-methods study examined state and district approaches to sustaining an international innovation called "lesson…

As our education systems continue to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic we urge the next administration to prioritize investing wisely in the future of our nation through federal programs and policies that support the nation's 50 million K-12 public school students. A comprehensive and significant investment in the education of our public school…

The higher education narrative has been dominated by the student loan crisis as of late. While the magnitude of this problem is often oversold, borrowers do sometimes need help. However, debt forgiveness plans, such as those proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), deliver the biggest benefits to those who need it…

Federal student loans help many college students access and complete postsecondary degrees that would not have been attainable otherwise. But years of well-intentioned policymaking have left the student loan system a complicated mess that is difficult for borrowers to navigate and leads to unfair and inefficient distributions of taxpayer dollars.…

Purpose: In this manuscript, we aimed to (1) illustrate the differences in school-university partnership under the school reform and renewal models and (2) describe the practice of and learning about school-university partnership by reflecting on the three large, federally funded projects, all conducted under the school renewal model.…

Rising college prices and student debt, the growth and collapse of online for-profit colleges, and expansions of federal grant, loan, and loan forgiveness policies have increased calls for more accountability in our higher education system. And there is significant consensus among lawmakers that the existing set of quality assurance policies for…

Educational reforms have occurred throughout the history of public education. In 2009, the federal Race to the Top initiative was born and included many educational reform models. To have these reform models gain traction at the state level, a call was made by the U.S. Department of Education (Race to the Top Program Executive Summary, 2009) for…

In this paper, we report on our investigation of news coverage of accountability reform in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal during the implementation and assessment of New York's Race to the Top-inspired teacher evaluation system. In systemically analyzing how these prominent media outlets narrated this contentious moment in…

New teacher evaluation reform efforts in the United States hold principals accountable for improving teaching and learning. Yet little is known about how effective principals are at these instructional leadership tasks or how principals experience and adapt to the demands of teacher evaluation reform over time. In the current study, principals (n…

Like the depiction of plagues in apocalyptic science fiction, neoliberalism continues to infect education at all levels. This infection causes educators to care not for the children, but to embrace the figure of the Child. Reproductive futurism, in the imagined redemptive figure of the Child has been regulating the structure of education not for…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are the foundation for discovery and innovation. STEM skills are increasingly important for all Americans to succeed in the workplace and in their everyday lives. To develop these skills, the Nation must engage in a collaborative effort to ensure that all Americans have access to…