Even in good economic times, many adults in the United States have trouble finding jobs that pay enough to support their families. One policy response has been to help these workers build more skills, with promising findings from some sector-based programs that train individuals to work in specific high-demand industries. The Pay for Success Clean…

The mental health crisis in higher education is a systemic challenge requiring coordinated action at national, state, and institutional levels. The SHEEO-JED Mental Health and Wellness Learning Community, launched by the State Higher Education Officers Association (SHEEO) and The Jed Foundation (JED) in the fall of 2023, brought together state…

This paper provides an analysis of government-supported workforce development programs in the United States and selected states as of the end of 2024. We provide an overview of the topic of workforce development, defining this to include activities and funding mechanisms that aim to increase the skills of workers and help them succeed in the labor…

This report responds to the requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Direct certification is a process conducted by the states and by local educational agencies (LEAs) to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household applications.…

By providing early access to education, early childhood and community-based programs are helping to close the achievement gap prevalent among children from impoverished homes.

The U.S. Department of Education's Policy to Performance project was funded in 2009 to build the capacity of state adult basic education (ABE) staff to develop and implement policies and practices that would support an ABE transition system. Policy to Performance states were selected though a competitive process. State adult education directors…

All of the states in this study have recently been involved in school accountability system reform. Since 2011, the states have taken advantage of a federal program to give them flexibility around certain requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 (NCLB), the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary…

The goal of this publication is to provide a snapshot of some of the publicly available resources describing efforts across Race to the Top States to ensure that turnaround schools have effective leaders. It is based on a review of Race to the Top State Annual Performance Reports, including State reports of Year 1 accomplishments and second year…

The "Policy to Performance Toolkit" is designed to provide state adult education staff and key stakeholders with guidance and tools to use in developing, implementing, and monitoring state policies and their associated practices that support an effective state adult basic education (ABE) to postsecondary education and training transition…

This project assesses the feasibility of creating a voluntary, nationwide data dictionary that can be used to standardize the reporting of postsecondary accountability reporting requirements for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (otherwise known as Perkins IV). Variables, field codes, and programming instructions,…

The Education Commission of the States reviewed all 36 Race to the Top (RttT) round II applications. Each of the 36 states that applied for round II funding referenced pay for performance under the heading of "Improving teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance." The majority of states outlined pay for performance…

There are now nearly four million children born in the United States who have undocumented immigrant parents. In the current debates around immigration reform, policymakers often view immigrants as an economic or labor market problem to be solved, but the issue has a very real human dimension. Immigrant parents without legal status are raising…

Tuition futures programs and alternative plans are considered that might be enacted in New York State. Tuition futures is a college finance technique that involves a guarantee of stable tuition rates in return for payment years in advance. After describing tuition increases nationwide and in New York State, information is provided on prepayment or…

This is a comprehensive listing of federal and state bilingual programs in New York State by funded project, program or district, number of pupils in program, grade level, language or type of program, grant amount awarded, and project director or contact person. The following types of programs are represented: (1) basic programs funded by the…

Focusing on the development of unemployment insurance since the first federal legislation was enacted in 1935, this report provides the background and highlights of federal and New York State laws on coverage, the amount and direction of benefits, entitlement and disqualification provisions, and methods of financing. The first of three sections…