Motivated by the need to improve teaching and learning and by federal priorities reflected in requirements for grant programs such as Race to the Top and the Teacher Incentive Fund, many states are developing teacher evaluation systems that include measures of individual teachers' contributions to their students' learning growth. One way to…

Federal legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, mandates that individuals with disabilities be integrated in all aspects of life from education to employment to independent living. A recent development involves a settlement reached between the United States and the…

Newly implemented state policy dealing with school finance created several consequences in a school district to include school configuration and restructuring of educational programs. This case describes how a new school finance law changes the entire dynamic of a school district and its newly appointed superintendent. The superintendent…

By August 1 of each year, each charter school in New York State is required by law to complete and submit an Annual Report to the New York State Education Department's (NYSED) Charter School Office and to the school's charter entity, and to post the report on the charter school's website. The Annual Report Guidelines include general instructions…

With nearly 2 million college-educated immigrants and refugees in the United States unable to fully utilize their professional skills, better understanding of the elements of successful programs and policies that reduce the waste of advanced education and skills can benefit immigrants, their families, and the U.S. economy more generally. This…

Extensive research has conclusively demonstrated that children's social class is one of the most significant predictors--if not the single most significant predictor--of their educational success. This three-part study combines a statistical analysis of early skills gaps among a recent cohort of children and changes in them over time with a…

Student Debt and the Class of 2016 is the Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS') twelfth annual report on the student loan debt of recent graduates from four-year colleges, documenting the rise in student loan debt and variation among states as well as colleges. State averages for debt at graduation ranged from a low of $20,000 (Utah)…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Opening Doors: Strategies for Advancing Racial Diversity in Wisconsin's Teacher Workforce." The report is the second of a pair of Wisconsin Policy Forum reports that address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in Wisconsin's teacher workforce. The impetus for this research is both…

As national attention has increasingly focused on the potential for high-quality early childhood education (ECE) to improve children's school readiness, states have developed quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) to document the quality of ECE programs, support systematic quality improvement, and provide clear information to families…

Earning college credit in high school matters to students and parents. Students who earn college credits by taking a college-level course while in high school are more likely to enter college and succeed. Through these experiences, students become familiar with college expectations, academic behaviors, and habits of mind; get a head start on…

For more than two decades, states have been required to report publicly on the academic performance of schools and districts. These school rating systems have received increased public attention amid growing concerns about the prevalence and cost of standardized testing in schools. According to a recent Gallup Poll, 64 percent of the public…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines improving college affordability, focusing on a view from the states. Following an opening statement by Honorable Tom Harkin (Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) and Honorable Michael B. Enzi (U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming), the…

Student fees make up 20% of the total cost of tuition and fees at the typical four-year public, yet little research has been conducted to examine institutional-level and state-level factors that may affect student fee charges. I use panel data to find that institutional selectivity and athletics spending do not influence student fee levels.…

Two independent studies conducted by Baker, Sciarra, and Farrie (2015) and Augenblick, Palaich and Associates (2015) reveal Alabama's public school funding mechanism to be regressive and inequitable. The recommendation from both of these studies is to develop a funding formula including per pupil-based allocation and supplemental categorical…

Career and technical education (CTE) programs of study are subject to rigorous state and federal accountability systems that provide information on key student outcomes. However, while these outcome measures can form a basis for identifying high- and low-performing programs, they are insufficient for answering underlying questions about how or why…