In an era where information is both abundant and increasingly complex, school library media centers (LMCs) serve as hubs for learning, creativity, and critical thought. Yet, little to no data exist describing the state of school LMCs in Minnesota. During the 2023 Minnesota legislative session, Minnesota's Multicounty Multitype Library Systems…

Background: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; 2015) constituted a reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and replaced the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. ESSA, although still recognizing the need of standardized testing, diverged from NCLB by transferring a significant amount of power over…

This dissertation comprises an examination of how school districts have allocated the resources they received as a result of the Illinois Evidenced-Based Funding (EBF) for Student Success law. The law was passed in 2017 with the rationale of providing additional resources to school districts based on evidenced-based approaches, with the vast…

California is home to the fifth-largest population of Black people in the United States, approximately 2.8 million individuals. However, when Black Californians seek access to the state's colleges and universities, they face undue bureaucratic and financial barriers. This Equity Alert explores a legislative proposal to create a California…

Amidst debates over book-banning and diversity legislation, this study investigated teachers' literature selection processes, emphasizing the impact of mandates on decision-making. Employing a mixed method design, the research analyzed quantitative survey data from 60 middle-grade teachers, revealing a stable emphasis on specific text…

More than 90% of IDEA funding is allocated to Part B, Grants to States (Section 611), which contains funding and policy provisions related to special education for children ages 3 to 21. The influence of federal Part B, Grants to States funding on state and local funding decisions is twofold: 1) it links eligibility for IDEA grants to compliance…

Education Code section 79511 requires the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office to submit a report each year on the the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Student Achievement Program (AANHPI SAP). The AANHPI SAP is in its second year of implementation with 50 colleges participating. Before the full implementation in the…

The provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) include (1) the requirement for states to periodically review resource allocation in local education agencies (LEAs) serving a significant number of schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement (CSI),…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), most recently comprehensively amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95), is the primary source of federal aid to support elementary and secondary education. The Title I-A program is the largest grant program authorized under the ESEA and was funded at $17.5 billion for FY2022.…

Congress passed three coronavirus relief acts within a 1-year period that provided more than $275 billion for an Education Stabilization Fund to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus, which the President declared as a national emergency in March 2020. This included $189.5 billion for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief…

The primary source of federal aid to elementary and secondary education is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The ESEA was initially adopted in 1965 (P.L. 89-10), and was most recently reauthorized and amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95), which authorized appropriations for ESEA programs through FY2020.…

In spring 2024, the Multicounty Multitype Library Systems, supported by State Library Services, conducted a census of K-12 public and charter schools in Minnesota to learn about the status of school libraries. A total of 1,528 out of 1,777 eligible schools completed the census. The findings can help legislators, school staff, librarians, and…

In this essay, the authors examine a congressional proposal -- the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) -- to allow taxpayers to redirect their federal tax dollars to organizations that would provide funding for students to enroll in private school or to help pay for outside educational supports. Based on the implementation of similar…

During school year 2021-22, around 7.3 million children ages 3 through 21 received special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This act is the primary federal special education law for children and youth with disabilities. Last reauthorized in 2004, IDEA was enacted to ensure access to a…

Education ensures that children from all backgrounds have equal opportunities to succeed. Yet, the education provided for many K-12 students in the state of Texas may not be equal due to the allocation of school funds under House Bill 3 (H.B. 3). To date, the Revenue to Population (RTP) Index and other normalized statistical metrics have not been…