Despite the efforts of parents, educators, and activists to oppose standardized testing through the act of opting out, most states and federal law still require students to take annual standardized tests. While key arguments of the opt-out movement in a state legislative process are explored, this case study focuses on those legislators who…

State policymakers and the public at large have a vested interest in the successful governance of their higher education institutions. The citizens who are appointed or elected to serve as board members of a state's colleges and universities oversee valuable public assets that they hold in trust for the state and for current and future…

Dual enrollment programs allow students to earn high school and college credit simultaneously. As dual enrollment programs have grown, policymakers across the country have been increasingly attentive to the issue of who has access to these courses. In 2019, states considered at least 219 bills related to dual enrollment; nearly half of those…

During its 2020 session, the Utah Legislature passed S.B. 111, "Higher Education Amendments"--a sweeping change to higher education structure and governance that merges the Utah System of Higher Education and the Utah System of Technical Colleges. While passing the legislation only took a matter of weeks, the process leading up to the…

Conservatives should be for school safety. It sounds so easy that it should go without saying. But the sad fact is that the progressive-minded education establishment has subordinated safety to "social justice." America's schools should not be governed by the whims of progressive groupthink. They should be governed by school boards that…

This causal-comparative study examined the effect of revised placement rules on throughput student success for transfer-level mathematics students in California community colleges. This study was timely and relevant in providing insight into the educational reforms instituted by the AB705 legislature in California community colleges to maximize…

AB 471 requires that the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing report to the Governor and the Legislature each year on the number of teachers who received credentials, certificates, permits and waivers. This report provides data collected by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and addresses several questions regarding the…

This paper aims to understand American 'neofascist anti-gender education' by firstly contextualizing it within international campaigns, and secondly reporting on US specificities. Using a Critical Discourse Analysis of 1629 US state-level bill submissions from 2018 to 2024, this paper reports on a study querying (1) which neofascist anti-gender…

Children's health is affected by physical activity (PA) opportunities throughout the school day. Schools are a central venue for children meeting physical activity recommendations, and multiple areas, such as recess, have been established to protect against childhood obesity and overweight. Senate Bill 1083 is a law that addresses recess policies…

In Massachusetts, as is true nationally, teachers are less racially diverse than students. As of the 2021-22 school year, 87 percent of teachers in the state were White, compared with only 54 percent of students. In response to this disparity, Massachusetts lawmakers have proposed legislation targeting the shortage of teachers of color. In this…

In this report, drawing on the spring 2022 American Instructional Resources Survey, the authors examine teachers' awareness of and responses to limitations on how they can address race- or gender-related topics in their instruction. Teachers experienced limitations that infringed on their instructional autonomy, which included their choice of…

Recently, attention surrounding LGBTQ+ people, perspectives, and histories in K-12 schools have been subject to renewed public debate. In 2023, state legislatures in the United States have passed more anti-queer laws than ever before, many of which target queer youth (HRC, 2023). Some of these state laws ban the teaching of and about queer people…

This report analyzes access through the lens of enrollment for Black residents who are between the ages of 18-24. At The Education Trust, it is believed enrollment is just one component of higher education access, and that retention, completion, and student outcomes should be considered as well. While nearly 74% of the institutions in the sample…

This overview describes themes from the "Tribal Advocacy for Educational Change: Systemic Approaches" webinar. Tribal leaders from New Mexico and Washington addressed the ongoing realities of colonization that impact public education systems. They detailed how tribes, governments, and Native-serving organizations are designing systemic…

Alaska's last literacy blueprint was written in 2011. A lot has changed in 12 years. Since then, Alaska adopted new English Language Arts standards to reflect the advanced literacy students need to be ready for college and careers. The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (DEED) adopted the Alaska Native Cultural Standards for…