We estimate the effects of Race to the Top (RTTT) on teacher qualifications, work environments, and job attitudes. Drawing on the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey, we create a nationally representative data set of public school teachers from 1988 to 2018. We adopt an event study difference-in-differences…

The Biden administration is pursuing two higher education policies through a series of rulemaking processes that aim to make higher education more affordable and less risky for students. One policy focuses on the system's back end by helping students repay their loans, and the other focuses on the front end by cutting off access to federal aid for…

We used NVivo for inductive semantic coding of 619 Black caregivers' qualitative responses from the RAPID Survey regarding about they were coping with the challenges of COVID-19. Kinship networks and religion/spirituality were the two most frequently mentioned coping strategies followed by government financial support (e.g. stimulus money, food…

Since 2016, the biennial "Early Childhood Workforce Index" has tracked the status of Early childhood educators (ECE) workforce policies in order to identify promising practices for improving early educator jobs and changes over time. This fourth edition includes new analyses as well as updated policy recommendations. Highlights include:…

Teacher quality is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement, and closing the growing pay gap between teachers and other college graduate professionals is critical to public education. This report provides an update to a series that has tracked public school teacher wages and compensation over the last two decades.…

For decades, the federal government has expected vocationally focused programs in higher education, especially among for-profit colleges, to lead to gainful employment in a profession. In the mid-2010s, the U.S. Department of Education developed gainful employment (GE) regulations that sought to tie a program's federal financial aid eligibility to…

During the 2020 period of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education delivery changed drastically. Using document analysis and interviews with staff and students, in this article I address how the practice of financial aid changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff reported that these changes created problems with technology and radically increased…

As COVID-19 rapidly changes the economic landscape throughout the country, higher education institutions (HEIs) are facing new, constantly evolving challenges. To address these challenges, federal and state governments are quickly drafting laws and regulations that are impacting colleges and universities, and their employees. This article briefly…

In recent years, there has been substantial interest in micro-credentials in post-secondary education. In November 2019, Australian skills ministers agreed to fast-track work exploring micro-credentials in the national vocational education and training (VET) system, with the aim of ensuring that the system responds more effectively to the needs of…

Digital inclusion is key to a better and fairer economic future where every Californian can thrive. But social and physical distancing requirements necessitated by the pandemic have shined a spotlight on the dramatic digital divide facing California's workers, as well as the inequities of that divide. It's time for policies to change so that every…

Enacted in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was designed to increase collaboration among workforce systems at the federal, state, and local levels to integrate the array of programs and services available to job seekers and businesses through American Job Centers (AJCs). WIOA requires the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to…

As California policymakers start to chart a path forward beyond COVID-19, it is important to first understand and reckon with the pandemic's impact on child care programs and individual educators. This research paper presents findings from a survey of 953 California ECE programs and providers in June-July 2020. The results provide an in-depth view…

Research shows that school functioning and student achievement often suffer when effective principals leave their schools and that principal retention is related to the conditions they experience in five areas: working conditions, compensation, accountability, decision-making authority, and professional learning. A recent NASSP-LPI study examined…

Strong and stable school leadership is critical for success in schools across the nation. The duties of the principal are many and varied. Principals, for example, can oversee instruction, purchase curricular materials and supplies, and provide professional learning and supports for teachers. Carrying out these duties effectively makes a…

The State of the Early Childhood Workforce (SECW) Initiative is a groundbreaking multi-year project to shine a steady spotlight on the nation's early childhood workforce. The SECW Initiative is designed to challenge entrenched ideas and policies that maintain an inequitable and inadequate status quo for early educators and for the children and…