The Second Session of the 99th Nebraska Legislature, convened in 2007, produced an educational idea that was unique in the United States: The Learning Community of the Omaha metropolitan area. Aimed at creating greater educational funding equity, integrating the young people of the Omaha area, and improving student learning achievement, the…

"Education, Equity, and the States" examines how variations in state governance determine how federal initiatives are implemented and makes recommendations for approaching reform from this perspective. The book defines the key ways in which state policy environments differ from one another, illustrates how those differences matter, and…

The notion that the U.S. has a growing skills gap -- the difference between what employers need to fill in-demand positions and the skill of the current workforce -- is a hot topic among policymakers. By 2020, 65 percent of jobs will require postsecondary education and training beyond high school, according to the Georgetown University Center on…

The Innovation Schools Act of 2008, § 22-32.5-102, et seq. C.R.S, was designed to provide a pathway for schools and districts to develop and implement innovative practices in a wide variety of areas to improve student outcomes. The Act provides a formal process that allows schools or groups of schools to petition their local school boards for…

Improving public education has long been a cornerstone of the Democratic platform. Because progressives understand that access to a quality education is the gateway to a better life, their decades-long struggle to promote equal rights and opportunity for all Americans has been deeply tied to their struggle to create an effective public school…

With the final passage of the Focus on College and University Success (FOCUS) Act which was signed into law on April 19, 2016, state universities within Tennessee are heading for major transitions in governance structure and autonomy. With changes moving at a speed atypical of higher education, these six soon-to-be former Tennessee Board of…

The revisions to federal policy reflected in ESSA suggest that federal policy makers are acknowledging the growing research-base on principal effectiveness, and responding by shaping policy to create new opportunities for innovation and improvement in principal preparation and development. Principals, as multipliers of effective practice, are a…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and examine the perceptions of the leadership behaviors of elementary school principals based on previous experience from teachers and principals. The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1031 (80th Texas Legislature, 2007) and House Bill Three (HB 3, 81st Texas Legislature, 2009) to…

Emerging practices in both K-12 and higher education hold great promise in the establishment of equity frameworks. The use of finely disaggregated data, the effort to track additional student groups, and related work, all help to establish policies and tools to monitor the impact of reform efforts to address inequities. State programs and…

Student data privacy is an increasingly high-profile--and controversial--issue that touches schools and families across the country. There are stories to tell in virtually every community. About three dozen states have passed legislation addressing student data privacy in the past two years, and eight different proposals were floating around…

These are the appendixes for the report, "English Proficiency and the Pandemic: How Texas English Learner Students Fared during the COVID-19 Pandemic. REL 2023-144." This study examined levels of English proficiency before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among English learner students in grades 3-12 in Texas. In 2020-2021, nearly…

California community colleges began implementing a landmark law (AB 705) in 2019, making major assessment and placement reforms that have virtually eliminated remedial prerequisites for both English and math. Now that most students are enrolling directly in courses they need to obtain degrees or transfer to four-year schools, their chances of…

California's community colleges began implementing Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705) in fall 2019, making major assessment and placement reforms that moved students away from remedial prerequisites for English and math and into transfer-level courses. This report examines the progress colleges and students have made in shifting toward transfer-level…

California's community colleges began implementing Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705) in fall 2019, making major assessment and placement reforms that moved students away from remedial prerequisites for English and math and into transfer-level courses. In the full report, the authors examine the progress colleges and students have made in shifting toward…

New York City has the largest public school district in the U.S., but the city's diverse educational landscape also includes charter, private, and religious schools, all of which have undergone a major transformation in the two years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two school years, overall school enrollment in the city was down by…