In 2018, the Network for Public Education and the Schott Foundation issued a report entitled "Grading the States." That report examined America's commitment to democracy by grading each state and the District of Columbia on the number of publicly-funded but privately-governed educational "choice" programs it had and whether…

This dissertation is comprised of three essays, each examining a different topic in labor economics. In Chapter 1, I examine the productivity and selection effects of K-12 teacher tenure by leveraging variation from New Jersey's TEACHNJ Act. This law extended the pre-tenure period from three to four years and allowed districts to dismiss…

The problem addressed in this study was that although administrators in a rural northeastern Maryland school district are complying with state Senate Bill 651 by not suspending students in prekindergarten through second grade, administrators continue to struggle with preventing severe offenses from happening and reducing office referrals. The…

This study examined the perceptions of practitioner teacher and mentor teachers about the development of instructional self-reflection and self-regulation skills through the first round of a state-mandated mentoring for practitioner teachers during the 2020-2021 school year. The referenced Louisiana mandate requires mentoring for certain…

The Annual Condition of Secondary Career and Technical Education Report provides information on student enrollment in career and technical education courses and programs during academic years 2017 through 2021. Demographic characteristics of secondary career and technical education students and educators and information on career and technical…

This quantitative study examined the proportions of students enrolling in and completing transfer-level math pre- and post-Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705), as well as different predictors affecting the completion of transfer-level math within the first year. The study drew attention to the relationship between students' race/ethnicity and the…

In this article, we share preliminary data of our small pilot study utilizing Democratic Queer Theory framework (Camicia, 2016) and mixed methods data collection sought to understand if teachers are implementing LGBTQ+ curriculum in elementary schools. When evaluating the data collected, we found that California credential candidates are not…

Florida's governor and legislature have mounted a multipronged assault on the intellectual autonomy of Florida's public colleges and universities. Florida is not alone, and Governor DeSantis' political success is already a model for other red-state governors to follow. Higher education leaders must find compelling ways to argue that the pursuit of…

This report is the second in a series that highlights findings from an evaluation of State School Safety Centers (SSSCs) being carried out by WestEd's Justice and Prevention Research Center and funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The first report in the series utilized survey data from school safety key informants (e.g., SSSC staff,…

In this study, I explore the discourse surrounding parental rights in U.S. public schools, with Virginia as a focal point. Analyzing two sets of model policies regarding the treatment of transgender students--one established under a Democratic governor and another implemented following the election of a Republican candidate championing parental…

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is required, under Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill (E2SSB) 5315 (2023), to submit an annual report to the Legislature regarding the placement of students receiving special education services at entities known as nonpublic agencies (NPAs). As of December 2023, there are 94 NPAs…

While researchers have shown great interest in understanding teacher evaluation, little is known about how teachers' actions and interactions surrounding evaluation affect the dual goals of evaluation--accountability and development. Using data collected during a yearlong ethnographic study at three schools (combined with follow-up interviews four…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) appears to offer states and districts discretion to develop teacher evaluation policies, including those that may use Value Added Models (VAMs). While scholars are discussing this flexibility, limited attention has been paid to the potential role of the law in connection with the future use of VAMs in…

Background: School wellness legislation has potential to impact the health of children and alter the obesity crisis in the United Sates. Little is known about how state lawmakers perceive child wellness legislation effectiveness relative to obesity prevention. Our purpose was to understand state lawmakers' perceptions of childhood obesity and…

We explore institutional change and organizational learning in higher education in the context of a large-scale reform of developmental education in Florida. We use statewide survey data to examine administrators' perceptions of the use and effectiveness of accountability metrics, methods to identify solutions to improve student outcomes, and…