In 2013 and 2018, the National Science and Technology Counsel (NSTC) released reports to raise awareness about the rapid growth in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations. One of the ways states are addressing the projected increases in STEM careers and the lack of growth in how many students are pursuing STEM…

Education Commission of the States researched Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) policies in all states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to provide this comprehensive resource. For the purposes of this 50-State Comparison, an SLDS is defined as one with formal connections across two or more of these core agencies. States with at…

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) prepares an annual report on graduates and dropouts in Texas public secondary schools. This report includes state summaries of the annual dropout rate, longitudinal graduation and dropout rates, and state attrition rates. In addition to statewide statistics, the report provides historical information about dropout…

This is the 44th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2022. Section 664(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the provision of a free appropriate…

This document is the latest Grantmakers for Education's (EdFunders) study of what's now and what's next for education philanthropy. It aims to give insight into the priorities of the education funding community, and to help funders understand their role in supporting education innovation that benefits the nation's learners. The findings in this…

The "2023 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California" is the comprehensive state-level roadmap to ensure that all children have the necessary services and supports to reach their full potential. California has an obligation to end systemic injustices that create barriers to kids of color, as well as kids living in poverty, undocumented kids,…

This dissertation includes three chapters focusing on policies directly related to improving college access and success. The first chapter focuses on lifetime eligibility of federal and state financial aid policies. The Pell Grant plays a critical role in helping students across the US to afford undergraduate education. In spite of its importance…

The debate on the stringency of licensure exams for prospective public school teachers is on-going, including the recent controversial roll-out of the educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). We leverage the quasi-experimental setting of different adoption timing by states and analyze multiple data sources containing a national sample of…

We examine more than 1,000 collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in place across California, Michigan, and Washington. We investigate the prevalence of a set of 43 key provisions between and within these states, providing the first comprehensive comparison of CBA terms using data drawn from economically and demographically different districts,…

Since 2011, the government of British Columbia (BC) has focused on building the Canadian province's economy through the development of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) sector. In service of this endeavour, the government launched the "Skills for Jobs Blueprint," which attempts to more clearly align BC's education system with resource…

A rich interdisciplinary literature exists exploring the determinants of state higher education funding policies. However, that work has collectively ignored an important finding from political economy literature: namely, that citizens' preferences regarding public spending are strongly influenced by the state's ethnic and racial context. Drawing…

The study examined how institutional and student characteristics may influence the earning of student success points by state-supported community colleges under the Texas performance funding system that was fully implemented in the 2016-2017 biennium. Texas has historically funded community colleges based on an enrollment formula; however, the…

In order to fulfill their missions, research universities must maintain conditions and capacity for knowledge production and dissemination, while responding to the expectations of governments, other stakeholders, and/or markets. That universities succeed in this quest is vital, not only for their own future as organizations but also for the…

Each day, thousands of policymakers across the country--from district superintendents and statewide elected officials to local school board members and the U.S. secretary of education--with pressing challenges facing the American education system. In 2018 alone, more than 1,400 new state statutes were enacted related to education policy. As…

The purpose of this journal-format dissertation was to investigate the condition of community college policy at the state-level as well as the effects of state-level policies on community college institutions and students. Three separate studies were conducted in this dissertation. Study 1 entailed a systematic literature review centered on…