This qualitative study examines the experiences of student leaders working in partnership with teacher leaders to implement Vermont's Act 77, a state mandated personalized learning policy. Drawing on a theoretical framework that connects the zones of mediation and knowledge brokering research, this study explores the question: How do youth and…

State legislatures and education agencies have increasingly been turning to high-quality instructional materials (HQIMs) as a key lever for systemic improvement of student learning. Louisiana's accomplishments in this area have been particularly noteworthy, evidenced by modest improvements in student outcomes, "large and intriguing…

State governments are regularly reexamining the statewide board governance arrangements over public higher education, enacting governance reforms that change the structure or authority granted to boards by state legislatures. While previous research has studied governance reforms, there is a lack of recent studies on such reforms and what…

Dual enrollment, also known as dual credit, allows students to take college courses during high school. Studies have shown that dual enrollment has a positive impact on students' educational attainment. However, dual enrollment is complicated to implement given that it requires a partnership between a high school or district and a postsecondary…

Florida Senate Bill 1720 drastically changed developmental education, beginning in fall 2014. This paper considers affected faculty members' perceptions and experiences with the passage and implementation of reform, according to focus group data provided by 294 participants at 21 Florida College System institutions between 2014 and 2019. We found…

In 2022, Tennessee overhauled its education funding formula to improve outcomes for the 1 million students in the state. The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act (TISA) was designed to simplify the existing funding formula and more equitably allocate resources to schools. Bellwether's case study, "After the Policy Win: First-Year…

State governments enact hundreds of policies a year intended to improve outcomes for students. If these policies were self-executing, the impact on American education would be swift and dramatic, and the system today would look profoundly different than it did just one year ago. But the reality is that how a policy is implemented often affects…

Personalized, competency-based learning efforts often take place in a single classroom or school, but not systematically across districts, let alone states. To address this dynamic and increase the scale of personalized, competency-based learning, KnowledgeWorks, an independent nonprofit organization that partners with education stakeholders to…

Social emotional learning (SEL) is a term that encompasses a set of essential life skills including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making (Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning [CASEL], 2024, para. 1). Despite growing interest, many school districts struggle with…

During the global pandemic of the 2020-21 school year, school districts rapidly transitioned from the traditional in-person structure of school to distance learning. This research study sought to understand how superintendents envisioned virtual learning as an option within their school district portfolio, exploring the barriers faced in its…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as reauthorized in 2015, includes a provision to help protect students from sexual abuse and misconduct. ESEA Section 8546 requires states to adopt laws or policies that prohibit K-12 employers from assisting or aiding and abetting school employees, contractors, or agents in obtaining a…

In 2015, Congress added a provision in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to help protect students from sexual abuse and misconduct in schools. ESEA Section 85461 requires states to have in place laws or policies that prohibit schools, local school districts, or state education agencies (SEAs) from…

When it comes to the creation of higher education policy, state legislators are challenged with addressing the diverse academic needs of college students enrolled across a spectrum of institutions. In this paper, we explore how 203 individuals at five rural-serving colleges in Florida engaged in state-wide developmental education (DE) reform using…

The Washington Social Emotional Learning Committee was established in 2019 through Senate Bill (SB) 5082 to address the growing body of evidence that shows the need for improving not only a student's academic abilities, but also their social and emotional competencies which are critical to every child's development. SB 5082 requires the Committee…

In 2019, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5082 (SB 5082), which directed the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to establish a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee to build upon the work of the previous Social Emotional Learning Indicators (SELI) Workgroup. The purpose of the SEL Advisory Committee is to promote and…