Public Agenda surveyed Illinois residents to learn about how they view public higher education and what would help it serve them and the state better. Three research briefs highlight key findings from the broader survey findings. This brief finds that nearly three in four residents--including majorities of Democrats, independents and…

In the 2023 report "Colorado's Longitudinal Data Landscape. Report to the Education Committees of the Colorado House of Representatives and the Colorado Senate. Statute: 23-1-141," the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) provided a detailed overview of Colorado's long history of efforts to support more connected, longitudinal…

This account of practice describes how elected representatives, politically appointed managers and career officers of the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council have adopted action learning as a way of learning how to transform their institution, an important aspect of which has been to find locally situated ways of establishing and consolidating the…

Independent Demonstration Projects is a strategy to innovate for government without prior approval of officials. The innovator implements their idea as a minimum viable product, independent of the government. Once the innovation is operating, it creates pressure on officials to sustain and expand it with government resources. This case illustrates…

The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with an increasingly authoritarian presidential administration, is challenging the nation, institutions, even individual citizens with a fundamental stress test, raising the question whether basic principles, institutions and values will survive this crisis intact. The rule of law, and the respect citizens have for…

High-quality K-12 instructional materials can meaningfully improve teaching practice and student achievement, especially when paired with professional learning support. Yet state policymakers have usually left ultimate authority for textbook selection to school district leaders. Consequently, the quality of materials across U.S. classrooms and…

Pursuant to California Education Code 88922 and Assembly Bill 231, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the Board of Governors for California Community Colleges are pleased to release the Guided Pathways Grant Report for Fiscal Years 2021-2023. This report includes a summary of the California community colleges' progress in…

Colorado has led the nation in supporting the success of all Coloradans, enacting bold policies, and continuing to build a Colorado for all. These efforts have all been informed by robust stakeholder engagement paired with data analysis. Various initiatives over the years have improved the state's ability to use data to inform these goals. With…

In this article, Frederick Hess discusses a concept he calls "greenfield schooling." The premise is simple: Profound educational improvement requires more than fine-tuning systems that have evolved over two centuries; it requires policymakers and educational leaders to revisit organizing assumptions about the grammar of schooling. In…

As state political leaders look toward a postpandemic era, they are being presented with complex economic and workforce development challenges that will require intensive, intentional collaboration between business, higher education, and state government. Workforce participation rates remain far below prepandemic levels, businesses continue to…

Policymakers have debated how schools should respond when transgender students (students who are assigned one sex at birth but identify with the opposite sex) seek to use facilities or participate in school activities consistent with their gender identity. One prominent area of contention is the participation of transgender athletes in school…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) invited states to use multiple measures of "higher-order thinking skills and understanding," including "extended-performance tasks," to create state assessment systems that support teaching for deeper learning. However, few states have been able to navigate federal assessment requirements…

The 2018 election cycle resulted in new governors in 20 states and two territories. This change will have further ripple effects as new governors in many states appoint new chief state school officers, state board of education members, and other state education leaders. If properly understood and leveraged, each new governor's transition period…

Quality non-degree credentials can lead to good jobs and family-sustaining wages. But not all non-degree credentials lead to good outcomes -- and when they don't, they entrench economic inequalities that impact people of color and women. National Skills Coalition's new report "The Non-Degree Credential Quality Imperative" encourages…

Over the past 80 years' university administrators have exhibited flexibility in their responses to evolving government funding patterns. One possible factor in these changes is the consequences of policy decisions at the federal and state government levels that have resulted in institution wide policy decisions in colleges and universities. These…