The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "School District Health." Contents include: (1) Habits of a Healthy School…

For educators to more fully comprehend the issues surrounding the current state of affairs regarding tribal consultation and sovereignty in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) education, it is necessary to provide a socio-historical context. This brief provides information on the evolution of Native education, from its precolonial roots to…

Consistent, reliable data are hard to come by given vastly differing opinions on the role states should play in creating structures, tracking data, and monitoring outcomes on homeschooling. The goal of this brief is to cut through some of this complexity and provide policymakers with an objective resource on homeschooling, including what is known…

In this cross-sectional study, we examined a matched sample of 924 educators' perceptions of severity of bullying and harassment and school climate prior to (Wave 1 n = 435) and following (Wave 2 n = 489) the implementation of New York's anti-bullying and harassment legislation, the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA). Alignment with DASA mandates…

Tasmania led in several areas of tobacco control legislation reform in the period 1997 to 2010. Despite this, Tasmania lagged in other crucial areas, particularly the allocation of resources for community education, mass media campaigns and cessation programmes. Key impediments were crony capitalism; the conservative ideology of "white…

House Bill (HB) 2237 (80th Legislature), Section 6: Adolescent Reading Assessment requires districts and public charter schools to administer the Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMSFA) or some other state approved alternative assessment to students in grade seven who do not demonstrate reading proficiency on the grade six state reading…

This paper studies the effects of guaranteed college admission on student effort and achievement. In 1997, Texas enacted the "Top Ten Percent" law, which guarantees admission to any public college for students in the top ten percent of their high school class. In practice, eligible students become aware of their admission status at the…

This study will examine principals' attitudes concerning the impact of the new performance pay plans on principals' relationships with their teachers and how these plans impact their schools. This study will explore principals' perceptions of performance pay, thus providing information to school policy stakeholders, policymakers, teachers, and…

Opponents of affirmative action in the Fisher Supreme Court case claim that race-conscious admissions policies discriminate against Asian American applicants and impose a "higher bar" in college admissions than for other students. In their amicus brief supporting the plaintiff in the Fisher case, 80-20 states that, "Asian American…

Through case studies of five states with varying facilities policies, the study presented in "What about the Schools? Factors Contributing to Expanded State Investment in School Facilities" examines the factors contributing to expanded state investment in equitable public school facilities and how those factors can be leveraged to…

In New York State, private and religious schools are required to offer a curriculum "substantially equivalent" to what is available in local public schools. Substantial equivalency--which has been law for nearly 130 years--allows parents to direct the education of their children by enrolling them in the school of their choice, while also…

The 2015-2016 year has been an especially busy one in Texas education. Teachers and other professionals had opportunities to participate in the revision of the English language and Spanish language arts and reading Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (ELAR/SLAR TEKS), a process that is now nearing completion. As a result of several bills signed…

The integration of students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds in public schools has been an issue of educational policy concern for several decades. Most school desegregation programs implemented in the United States post-"Brown" that relied on student busing and race-based school assignment were discontinued by the 1990s. In…

Beginning with the passage of The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act in 1994 and Megan's Law in 1996, the federal government and states have passed numerous pieces of legislation to control and restrict those convicted of sex offenses. This study surveyed the attitudes of undergraduate students…

In June 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a successful voucher program in Douglas County, invoking a provision of the state constitution that harks back to an era of widespread prejudice against Catholics. But because of the court's reliance on this discriminatory provision, its decision could well be overturned by the U.S. Supreme…