In a critical year for state education policy, State of the State addresses offer time for new and incumbent governors to outline policy priorities and elevate successes. For the past 20 years, we've tracked, analyzed and identified education policy trends in governors' State of the State addresses to help you understand trending education issues…

Governors' State of the State Addresses signal policy priorities for the coming year and allow state policymakers to get a sense of trending issues in their state and other states of interest. This year to date, 44 governors have delivered their address, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education reverberated across many of them.…

After an active election season, State of the State addresses offer time for new and incumbent governors to outline policy priorities and celebrate state accomplishments. Since 2005, we've tracked, analyzed and identified education policy trends in governors' State of the State addresses to help you understand trending education issues across…

Understanding how key governance roles are structured and relate to each other helps clarify complex systems for policymakers. Every state has the same or similar policymaking roles; however, each of the roles operate differently in the context of each state's governance model. This interactive resource provides a national overview of the key…

The Elementary and Secondary Schools Education Act (ESEA) was finally reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The reauthorization was long overdue and with its passage comes much hype and some misinformation about what the law permits and does not permit. The purpose of this brief is to outline some of the key accountability…

Education Commission of the States (ECS) strives to keep its constituency apprised of education policy trends across the states. To provide a comprehensive overview of educational priorities outlined by governors, ECS summarized the education proposals and accomplishments detailed in every 2015 State of the State address delivered to date. Each…

Many state and education leaders continue to support and employ methods that prevent schools and principals from undertaking the efforts that they think are most needed to improve education in their classrooms. The use of state categorical grants--funds to school districts with strict limits on their use--exemplifies this lack of innovation in…

How a state chooses to design its system of funding schools is ultimately a question of education governance, determining who--state policymakers, school districts, or school principals--gets to make the decisions about how and where funding is spent. States have two primary ways of funding schools: the foundation, or base funding that is intended…

In January 2011, teams of government education leaders and grantmakers from 13 states convened for Moving Forward with a Transformative Education Agenda: Practical Solutions for States and Districts, a first-ever national discussion of how grantmakers and state and local education officials might work together to promote elementary and secondary…

School personnel are using Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports in public schools throughout the United States. A number of studies have evaluated the universal level, or Tier 1, of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports. In this study, the authors describe and analyze the interventions offered as options for use for Tier 2 in middle schools…

In this report, Pre-K Now, a campaign of the Pew Center on the States, evaluates gubernatorial proposals to determine which leaders see voluntary, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs as essential. The news is good: The majority of governors are prioritizing pre-k, and though more modest than in recent years, gubernatorial proposals for FY10…

This article will address important puzzles about community colleges and their roles with baccalaureate delivery. To that purpose, the article is organized into five key sections. First, the rationale underlying the community college baccalaureate (CCB) and key policy issues will be described. Second, a glossary of terms will be offered to provide…

By late 2008, the United States was in the midst of its most severe economic recession since the 1930s, brought on by a collapse in real estate prices and exacerbated by the failure of many large banks and financial institutions. Heeding calls from economists, Congress and the Obama administration passed a historic law in early 2009 to stimulate…

By late 2008, the United States was in the midst of its most severe economic recession since the 1930s, brought on by a collapse in real estate prices and exacerbated by the failure of many large banks and financial institutions. Heeding calls from economists, Congress and the Obama administration passed an historic law in early 2009 to stimulate…

No matter where teachers, state officials, and testing experts stand on the debate about school accountability, they generally agree that the United States' current multiple-choice-dominated Kinder-12 tests are, to use language borrowed from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, "in need of improvement." Now, federal officials are…