Accreditation policies vary widely among the states. Since Education Commission of the States last reviewed public school accreditation policies in 1998, a number of states have seen their legislatures take a stronger role in accountability--resulting in a move from state-administered accreditation systems to outcomes-focused state accountability…

One of the greatest challenges to the health of the public charter school movement is access to adequate facilities in which the schools operate. Public charter school facilities are rarely funded on par with school district facilities. Over the years, more states have come to realize that they have an obligation to ensure that all public school…

This brief focuses solely on currently operating statewide, general education voucher programs which have income eligibility requirements. In this brief, students in a general education program refer to students whose education is not guided by an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The term general education (classroom, curriculum, setting)…

Each year, funds from federal, state, and local sources are directed to provide special education and related services to nearly 725,000 students with disabilities in California. To increase equitable outcomes for these students, who comprise nearly 12 percent of California's K-12 population, state-decision-makers agree that more research and…

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has required the implementation of remote learning options in K-12 public schools across North Carolina, ranging from fully online classroom experiences to hybrid scenarios in which students attend school both in person and remotely. In some locales, students continue to attend school in person most of the time, but with…

Children across the country face unprecedented levels of missed instruction as a result of the pandemic. As millions of students and teachers continue remote learning, experiment with hybrid models, and ultimately return to their classrooms, the nation has a greater need than ever for teachers who have the skills to address the challenges ahead.…

With an increase in multilingual learners in U.S. public schools, there is an imperative to understand the language practices, ideologies, and pedagogies within culturally and linguistically sustaining heritage language programs inside schools. Building on principles of translanguaging as a theory of practical language (Garcia, 2009; Li, 2018),…

This paper explores how to balance test security and accessibility on licensure, credentialing, and certification exams. It examines K-12 test security policies related to educational assessments across states to discover lessons learned about how to meet accessibility needs of individuals with disabilities while minimizing test security risks. It…

There has been debate among states as to how to properly fund schools. The debate has been focused on how much funding is supplied through property tax and is motivated by tax payer anger over fluctuating tax bills. Many of the policies have been implemented without looking at the effects that they will have on schools, especially in Indiana,…

In 2016, a group of school finance scholars and public school practitioners gathered in Jacksonville, Florida, for the National Education Finance Academy's annual conference to discuss, among an array of topics, the state of P-20 finance in all 50 states. At the roundtable discussion, 36 states were represented, and scholars representing 30 states…

Tennessee Statute 54-5-134, Cutting Hay Along Controlled Access Highway Right-of-Way, provided agriculturalists the right to harvest hay along interstate highways' and other controlled access roads' medians and shoulders. Maintenance of these medians and shoulders are routinely contracted to private mowing companies and funded by Tennessee…

In this article, Bryan C. Hassel reviews the growing charter school sector and how State Boards of Education (SBEs) and Stated Education Agencies (SEAs) have some degree of responsibility for this growing set of schools. He examines the mixed bag of theories about how to improve public education in the United States and asks why charters? Hassel…

Given the critical role that literacy plays in children's academic and personal development, policymakers have increasingly focused on policies related to early childhood literacy, particularly among poor and minority students. In this study, authors use a census of data from Arizona, a state with a large and growing population of traditionally…

Since its first announcement on 22 September 1992, the HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) scholarship program's influence on state policy and American higher education has been remarkable. Nevertheless, the Georgia HOPE scholarship is also worthy of critical interrogation. This paper examines the conception and implementation of the…

The report expands knowledge about Texas Latino students while providing higher education institutions and policymakers across the country with actionable information to help more Latino students graduate. Stakeholders in Texas have diverse strategies to improve the pathways to college completion. However, too often discussion on transfer pathways…