This report illustrates the statewide implementation and effectiveness of school breakfast in Ohio. In the 2024-2025 school year, approximately 94% of Ohio schools with USDA nutrition programs serve breakfast. In the 2023-2024 school year, 27.2% of enrolled children participated in the School Breakfast Program and 54.5% participated in the…

Background: Children residing in households with very low food sufficiency (VLFS), where there is "often" not enough to eat, are more likely to experience academic, health, and psychological challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a temporary universal free school meals (UFSM) policy was implemented, improving food access for children…

As part of Maryland's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding allotment, the Maryland State Department of Education created the Maryland Leads initiative, which committed the state's set aside funds to local education agencies to implement at least two of seven high-leverage strategies. In February 2022, 23 LEAs were…

The COVID-19 pandemic instigated a global educational crisis, compelling an abrupt transition from traditional in-person instruction to emergency remote teaching. This sudden shift underscored the need for robust learning management models capable of navigating unprecedented disruptions. The objectives of this research were to ascertain the needs…

Public school systems across the U.S. have made major investments in tutoring to support students' academic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate a large urban district's efforts to design, implement, and scale a district-operated, standards-based tutoring program across three years. We draw on extensive interviews and survey…

Background: The closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted teacher licensure pathways. During that time, prospective teachers had less access to student teaching experiences, fewer program and course completion opportunities, and a reduced ability to prepare for and pass state licensing examinations. In response, a State…

This report presents the findings of the process evaluation of the Stronger Practice Hubs (SPH) programme. The SPH programme was launched in November 2022 to run as a two year programme, though was subsequently extended to the end of March 2025. The aim of the programme was to support settings to address the impact of the pandemic on young…

In response to urgent student mental health needs across Virginia's college campuses, the 2022 Virginia General Assembly appropriated funds to support a two-year mental health workforce pilot program at public institutions of higher education. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in consultation with the Virginia Health Care…

Many U.S. college students are unable to meet their basic needs and struggle to secure regular food and housing. Colleges across the United States have recognized the importance of helping to meet the basic needs of their students and are increasingly providing support to students in the form of emergency aid, food pantries, and assistance with…

High-impact tutoring is a research-based approach to providing individualized instruction for students and accelerating learning. It was one of the most popular uses of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) dollars, with 10 states spending a portion of their funding on large-scale tutoring initiatives. Illinois was one…

School-based mental health clinics are the ideal venue to provide mental health services for youth due to their accessibility and lack of stigma compared with other community treatment centers. There were challenges associated with the abrupt shift to remote education and clinic services caused by COVID-19, but some school-based mental health…

Academic advising, if done effectively, can play a significant role in supporting student retention. However, as a relatively new field in South Africa, there is limited locally contextualised research into advising interventions and their effectiveness. So, there is a need for evidence-based approaches that will lead to more intentionally…

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated student achievement, with declines rivaling those after Hurricane Katrina. These losses widened achievement gaps between historically marginalized students and their peers. Three years later, achievement remains behind pre-pandemic levels for many students. This paper examines 2022-23 academic recovery efforts…

Education officials have long hoped that the statewide academic assessments most students take each year could be used not only for accountability but also to guide instruction. Congress established the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) program in 2015 to help address this goal, offering up to seven states temporary flexibility…

This appendix volume supplements "Evaluating the Federal Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority: Early Implementation and Progress of State Efforts to Develop New Statewide Academic Assessments. Evaluation Report. NCEE 2023-004" analyzing the early progress of the first five assessment systems participating in the Innovative…