This Special Report captures analysis of 42 governors' State of the State addresses and the education-related proposals mentioned within. In 2021, governors unsurprisingly focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for students, teachers and education more broadly. The six major themes among education-related proposals this year were…

The Top 10% Plan admissions policy has now been in place in Texas for over two decades. We analyze 18 years of post-Top 10% Plan data to look for evidence of increased access to the selective Texas flagship campuses among all Texas high schools. We provide a detailed description of changes in enrollment patterns at the flagship campuses from Texas…

The persistent problem of sexual assault on college campuses is receiving attention in both the public sphere and state legislatures. Although a considerable body of research examines various aspects of campus sexual assault, such as rates and reporting, scholars have not examined how state characteristics and interstate dynamics influence the…

The purpose of this study was to determine which states have policies about caseloads in special education and to examine the differences between those policies. Specifically, which states have policies about caseloads in special education? What are the specific details outlined by the policies? After examining the policies for each state and…

COVID-19 caused students across the country to postpone or change their plans for college while simultaneously dampening job prospects. Hardest hit are families in poverty and students of color, both educationally and economically. Career pathways that include college and career preparation in high school can benefit students, but for that to…

The population of English learners (ELs) in K-12 schools continues to grow. Between the 2009-10 and 2014-15 school years, the percentage of English learners increased in over half of the states, and in 2017, English learners made up 10.1% of the total student population. Research suggests that in their transition to English, non-native speakers…

This document discusses specific learning disabilities identification (SLD ID) determination implications and considerations with distance learning and school reentry due to COVID-19.

High school feedback reports can allow states, districts and schools to evaluate the transition of students from high school to postsecondary education. These reports or data systems contain a variety of information on a state's high school graduates, including postsecondary enrollment data, developmental education needs and first year…

In the United States, students are assigned to public schools based on where they live. School districts have set boundaries and students living in the neighborhoods within those boundaries attend the district's schools. The district's boundaries are further delineated into attendance zones, in which particular homes and neighborhoods are assigned…

Textbooks are a widely used educational intervention that can affect student achievement, and the marginal cost of choosing a more effective textbook is typically small. However, we know little about how textbooks get from the publisher to the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways mathematics textbook adoption practices…

This paper reviews state strategies for incorporating performance assessment in policy and practice. Specifically, the paper reviews the use of performance assessment in 12 states in the Innovation Lab Network, a group committed to developing systems of assessment that provide meaningful measures of college and career readiness. This review…

In this paper, we note the contrasting positions occupied by social and financial capital in state and federal education policy and compare their relative impacts on student learning. To make such a comparison, we analyzed data from a representative sample of Michigan's elementary schools using multilevel structural equation modeling to examine…

Access to relevant learning resources is an important aspect in ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all as outlined in the sustainable development goal 4 (SDG4). The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has identified the development of open educational resources (OER) as a potential answer to these…

This research brief summarizes the major findings from a multi-year research study of the long-term impacts of student grade retention. The study examined New York City students in grades 3 through 8 subject an assessment-based promotion policy in academic years 2003-2004 through 2011-2012, following them through the 2015-2016 school year. This…

This Special Report -- drawing on insights from a technical working group of experts in arts education, state data systems and state policy -- offers guidance on key arts-education metrics many states could track by using data they already collect.