A significant body of research has shown that teacher effectiveness influences student outcomes and that teacher efficacy is one of the most salient factors influencing student achievement. However, teacher preparation and professional learning often minimally addresses the cultural considerations and research-based strategies for working with…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as reauthorized in 2015, includes a provision to help protect students from sexual abuse and misconduct. ESEA Section 8546 requires states to adopt laws or policies that prohibit K-12 employers from assisting or aiding and abetting school employees, contractors, or agents in obtaining a…

This research examines the gap between federal and state legal standards and policies related to educational provision for school-age youth detained in the United States, and secondary evidence documenting the educational services that are provided to unaccompanied im/migrant children in federal custody. The educational provision for unaccompanied…

Purpose: Schools across the predominately rural state of West Virginia are experiencing widespread teacher shortages, though recruitment and retention difficulties are unevenly distributed across place. Using spatial in/justice as our framework, we explore how principals define place, how place influences principal perceptions of teacher…

"Prioritizing an Integrated Approach to Educator Shortages and Workforce Diversity, Part 1: An Effective Workforce Is a Diverse Workforce" makes the case for integrating policies, programs, and practices that address teacher shortages and those that aim to diversify the teacher workforce. Three critical realities illustrate the ways in…

In the years since the 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) placed a 1.0% cap for states on participation in the alternate assessment based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS), states have worked hard to navigate the new restrictions on participation in…

This chapter discusses an innovative state public policy which has incentivized Iowa's community colleges to become the economic drivers of their region. Created in the 1983 legislation, it continues to this day to affect Iowa's rural communities and their colleges.

This exploratory study uses data from 413 principals to examine whether and how competency-based education has been implemented in the Northeast states and the extent to which there is variation in implementation between states with different policies. Results suggest that competency-based practices that are most similar to current practices are…

The purpose of this study was too explore the growing dilemma of school shootings and if the placement of armed staff members was the best approach in providing a safe environment for students and faculty alike, while still being beneficial to education. This study looks into school districts across the country of many different sizes. Different…

In this report, Vicki Turetsky, who served as the commissioner for the U.S. office of child support enforcement for nearly eight years, examines the data and finds that it is time for Maryland to reform its child support system. Not only are orders for many low-income parents set unrealistically high, but policies around enforcement and collection…

How can school counselors support large-scale postsecondary and career-readiness initiatives? While schools and districts want to use personalized learning or individualized learning plans as a way to align students' school experiences to their postsecondary and career goals, schools may lack the human capital to support and guide this endeavor.…

Across all 50 states, there are different ways in which states allocate K-12 funding to districts. This document provides information on what type of funding mechanism is used by state. To classify funding mechanisms that appear in state statute or in regulations, Education Commission of the States created definitions for the terms used on this…

This resource provides a national comparison of state policies and programs related to statewide apprenticeships. It focuses on state-level policies regarding apprenticeships, apprenticeship registration agencies, statewide programs, coordinating entities, and intentional connections between apprenticeships and postsecondary education. This…

In 2012, President Obama signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) into effect, a policy that provided limited protections to approximately 800,000 immigrants brought to live in the United States by their parents at a tender age, but that did not address equitable access to higher education. States have since decided whether…

This study summarizes state-level policies surrounding school readiness assessment. A search was conducted to collect and code school readiness policies to document key components of assessment practices in each state, such as if the assessments were mandated or recommended, timing of assessment, measures used, domains of functioning assessed, and…