Expanding access to high-quality, affordable early childhood services is key to state efforts to support families' well-being, ensure that children are ready to succeed in school, and sustain a strong economy. Right now, early childhood data is typically housed in different, disconnected state and local systems. State leaders seeking to provide…

Immigration and education policies between state and federal levels often push students into a cyclical web of contradictions that replicate systemic injustices and leave many students in a conundrum of uncertainty to their access and continued eligibility to attend higher education. Drawing from Critical Race Theory (CRT), Latino Critical Theory…

In New York State, private and religious schools are required to offer a curriculum "substantially equivalent" to what is available in local public schools. Substantial equivalency--which has been law for nearly 130 years--allows parents to direct the education of their children by enrolling them in the school of their choice, while also…

This article provides a concise and objective synthesis of the federal legislation, regulations, and agency policy interpretations; state laws; and case law, including hearing officer and complaint investigation decisions, concerning specific learning disability (SLD) identification since the 2006 IDEA regulations. The results reveal wide latitude…

Students suffer extreme hardship when their postsecondary education is interrupted or significantly devalued by school closure or misconduct. Private postsecondary education in particular can cost tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, fees, equipment, and required materials. These considerable expenses constitute only part of the economic harm…

Purpose: A significant and growing body of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) research examines the experiences of students, employees, and the substance of leadership training. This project aims to complement this work by taking a macro-level look at the broader legal and policy issues that may constrain or enhance a school…

Challenges confront lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and transgender public school teachers or those who are perceived as such or who desire to be open about their sexual orientations or gender identities or expression. Teachers who do not conform to gender and sexual orientation norms currently are and historically have been the subject of…

In this article, we explain how overly prescriptive, rigid state statutory and regulatory policy frameworks regarding teacher evaluation, tenure and employment decisions outstrip the statistical reliability and validity of proposed measures of teaching effectiveness. We begin with a discussion of the emergence of highly prescriptive state…

This dissertation explored the constitutionality of a Georgia law, under both the Georgia Constitution and the United States Constitution, which allows for the removal of elected school board members based on threatened loss of district accreditation. The problem is that elected board members are being removed from office based on district…

In 2011, the Indiana General Assembly passed a broad and ambitious reform package that significantly altered how teachers and principals are evaluated. Senate Enrolled Act 001 (SEA 1) requires: (1) annual evaluation for all certificated employees; (2) objective measures of student achievement and growth; (3) rigorous measures of effectiveness; (4)…

Educational leaders have a substantial degree of control over students and generally have a tremendous influence on the decisions that they make. District administrators are already involved in comprehensive efforts to stem sexual harassment, teen violence and bullying; therefore, they may be well positioned to identify and address the problem of…

The purpose of the report is to inform students, parents, school personnel, and officials of the legal issues related to harassment, bullying, and discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. This report describes existing research on the current school climate for LGBT youth as well as the harmful effects of…

Minimum competency testing (MCT) programs for students are growing in popularity and being adopted by many states. In order to determine the extent of the MCT movement, researchers at North Carolina State University surveyed state departments of education in all 50 states. In updating these data for 1986-1987, it was found that 64 percent of the…

The recommendations and decisions identified in this document are the decisions of the Borrego Pass, New Mexico, School Board. The board was assisted by counsultants who researched both the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and public school practices in the various phases of elementary school operations. Generally, the following format is followed…

Colorado's voucher law was declared unconstitutional by the Colorado Supreme Court on June 28, 2004. Voucher supporters have begun drafting revised legislation designed to address the legal problem. This article calls into question the key financial claim of revenue neutrality--a claim that was central to the promotion and passage of the departing…