Federally mandated standardized testing (i.e., in core subject areas and certain grade levels), as an element of educational accountability, began in 2002 with the No Child Left Behind Act. With that step, large-scale assessments came to serve as one of the foundations of accountability-based systems and policies not only for districts, schools…

Restraints and other aversives continue to be an active area of legal activity, particularly for students with disabilities. The March/April 2016 issue of Communiqué provided an update of the case law specific to school district use of restraints (Zirkel, 2016). Since then, various sources have provided successive snapshots of state restraint and…

Technology and the need for new skills are shifting the workforce -- requiring workers to be more creative and demanding culturally competent and innovative thinkers who are prepared to solve new global problems. Advocates for STEAM education -- the intersection of science, technology, engineering, arts and math -- believe it builds the habits of…

This is the 44th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2022. Section 664(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the provision of a free appropriate…

Background: By 2014, all states implemented concussion laws that schools must translate into daily practice; yet, limited knowledge exists regarding implementation of these laws. We examined the extent to which concussion management policies and procedure (P&P) documents of New York State school districts comply with the State's Concussion…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process by which children and adults learn to understand and manage emotions, maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. This is the second in a series of four related reports about what is known about SEL programs for students ages 3-8. The report series addresses four issues raised…

In this study, one Southwestern public school district strives to implement a Dual Language (DL) for All Pre-K program that includes students with disabilities. The Arizona Revised Statute § 15-751-755 currently restricts K-12 students who speak a language other than English from entering DL programs until they are deemed English proficient. There…

College enrollment has increased over the past 10 years and is projected to continue growing over the next 10 for both full- and part-time students. At the same time, institutions face low retention and graduation rates. One policy that shows promise in increasing completion rates, especially for adult learners and those who served in the…

This paper is a project report of a policy analysis of educational policies aligned to standards set forth for trauma-informed school districts. Current state policies, mandates, and/or frameworks are under development, and in some states, non-existent. More often than not, expectations regarding trauma-informed implementation in the school…

In this brief we summarize findings from three surveys that sought to learn how county offices of education (COEs) are changing in response to the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and the Statewide System of Support (SSS). COEs have been assigned critically important responsibilities in the implementation of these…

It has become increasingly difficult to succeed in the U.S. workforce with only a high school diploma. While 75% of the middle-class workforce had only a high school education in the 1970s, that percentage dropped to below 40% by 2007. An estimated two-thirds of all jobs in 2020 will require some postsecondary training, up from just a quarter of…

This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

The passage of the 2015, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), affords states funding for many new options to address the needs of learners. One of the prominent options is personalized learning (PL). This study sought to determine how states positioned PL in their state plans. This study used a qualitative research design to analyze state ESSA plans…

(CDOC) Reentry Systems Mapping project, provides an overview of policies in Colorado that shape adult reentry services and how those policies are implemented across the network of service providers. The report describes the landscape of reentry services as they exist today, including those services that were enhanced under recent legislative…

This study identified the policy perspectives of "street-level bureaucrats" in higher education (in this case, community college personnel) and linked them to a typology of 4 policy implementation patterns. The context for this qualitative study is state legislation in Florida (Florida Senate Bill 1720, 2013) that fundamentally reformed…