About 19 million people submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year, making it one of the most commonly experienced federal administrative processes. The widespread reliance on the complicated form and underlying calculation of financial need have spurred efforts to simplify and improve the application process and…

This case study analysis explored the experience of senior level first-generation college students without access to intensive academic support programs for first-generation students at a northeast public research university. This study asked the question: how do senior college students who identify as both first-generation and are not served by…

The innovation coaching framework describes the support innovation coaches provide school-based implementation teams as they implement innovative programs and initiatives that support transformational change in student outcomes. The Maine Department of Education (MDOE) and the Region 1 Comprehensive Center (R1CC) co-designed this framework to…

In Spring 2025, the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) launched one of its most concentrated financial aid outreach campaigns yet. The goal: Raise Washington's historically low Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion rates so more students could access the aid they deserve. With only three months left in the school…

The Washington Student Achievement Council's (WSAC) regional partnership model of state investment is in its third academic year, and the positive impacts are accumulating. This report unpacks four key areas where regional partnerships are designing, piloting, and implementing strategies with direct impacts on learners' access to education and…

Transformative learning has been widely used in the field of adult education for over twenty years, but until recently has received little attention in the field of world languages. Drawing on best practices and the research of distinguished international world language experts, this volume provides theoretical and classroom-tested models of…

Through their response to the pandemic, teachers unions overplayed their hand and exposed inherent failures of the one-size-fits-all government school system. Families are now thankfully figuring out that there isn't any good reason to fund institutions when they can fund students directly instead. Support for school choice is through the roof,…

School vouchers are state-funded programs--often called scholarship programs--that allow students to use public monies to attend a private school. The state provides a set amount of money, typically based on the state's per-pupil amount, for private school tuition. There are currently 27 voucher programs in 16 states and the District of Columbia.…

School vouchers are state-funded programs--often called scholarship programs--that allow students to use public monies to attend a private school. The state provides a set amount of money, typically based on the state's per-pupil amount, for private school tuition. There are currently 27 voucher programs in 16 states and the District of Columbia.…

Each year, millions of children age 5 and under receive publicly funded early care and education services. Federal appropriations for Head Start and the Child Care and Development Fund were $9.8 and $8.1 billion respectively in fiscal year 2018. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to identify and describe all state early care and…

This report is prepared in compliance with HB 1661, which requires the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF or the Department) to report to the legislature on development of and progress toward achieving outcome goals for children, youth and families. In addition, this report provides an update on other supportive…

While more students than ever are completing high school with a diploma, the American education system has a long way to go until each and every student is prepared for what comes after graduation. Unless significant advancements are made in closing existing gaps in educational attainment, America's current employment gaps will worsen as the…

Little is known about how the expansion of state pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs affects low-income children with disabilities in Head Start. Using almost 30 years of administrative data of all Head Start programs and a differences-in-differences design, this study tests the possibility that, as state pre-k differentially draws relatively more…

In 2014, the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) thrust adult educators into a dramatically new landscape of service expectations and partnership requirements to increase the ability of providers to meet the employment needs of students and employers. The coronavirus pandemic created an accelerating demand for adult education…

This study drew data from a randomized trial of a statewide prekindergarten program in Tennessee and presents new evidence on the impacts of preK on third-grade achievement using administrative data on children's neighborhood environments. Results indicate that preK had no measurable impact on children's third-grade math achievement regardless of…