Political Policy

In academic year 2017–18, there were 3,883 degree-granting institutions in the United States¹ with first-year undergraduates: 2,407 were 4-year institutions offering programs at the bachelor’s or higher degree level and 1,476 were 2-year institutions offering associate’s degrees and other certificates. Some of the differences in the characteristics of 4-year and 2-year institutions may be related to their differing institutional missions.

The United States Supreme Court's recent inaugural decision involving the scope of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, 1 Board of Education v. Rowley, 2 wherein the Court ruled that the Westchester County public school district is not required to provide a deaf student with a sign language interpreter in the classroom, represents an extraordinary example of judicial usurpation of the legislative function.

This report is a call to action for chiefs and an invitation to our colleagues, especially members of NASBE and NGA who contributed to this report. The recommendations contained in this report focus on the levers for change that are the responsibility of state education agencies (SEAs) and, where applicable, their partner professional standards boards: licensure; program approval; and data collection, analysis, and reporting.

This case study examines the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's promotion of the Homebuilders type of family preservation services as the sole model worthy of public support.

This policy brief focuses on the clinical aspects of teacher preparation in each of these key features. These aspects include the typical processes of clinical work, the location, and the duration of the training.

State-level policy support for teacher induction programs can help teachers realize their full potential, keep them in the profession, promote greater student learning, and save money. Higher education institutions and school districts must work together to provide high-quality and well-designed induction programs. 

This article describes the characteristics of school mental health and social services in the United States, including state‐ and district‐level policies and school practices.

Economic and demographic changes in the United States signal a new mission for education. This paper argues that this changed mission requires a new paradigm for school reform policy, one that shifts from designing controls intended to direct the system to developing capacity that enables schools to meet students' needs. 

In this article the authors examine some design principles to guide policy-makers and school reformers who seek to promote learner-centred professional development which involves teachers as active and reflective participants in the change process.

This article presents the legal requirements of the IDEA amendments regarding ISPs, FBAs, and BIPs for special education students with problem behavior, (b) describe the initial policy letters, and (c) discuss the implications of the law for school psychologists and other members of IEP teams. 

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) returns decision making for our nation’s education back where it belongs – in the hands of local educators, families, and communities – while keeping the focus on students most in need.

A recently released report from the GAO finds that overall staffing in the Department of Education has fallen from a high of 6,391 in 1981 to 4,077 in 2015, while contracting levels have remained relatively stable. It is important to note that the workload for Department of Education has grown as the budget for the department has increased significantly during this same period. More eliminations of personnel are expected as the Trump administration has called for a further 13.5% reduction. It is interesting to note that the entire federal workforce has experienced a 4% reduction in staffing from 1991 through 2015, while the Department of Education lost 12% of it’s personnel.

The publication of this report marks the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. This report shows that the growth of racial and economic segregation that began then has now continued unchecked for nearly three decades, placing the promise of Brown at grave risk. Research shows that segregation has strong, negative relationships with the achievement, college success, long-term employment and income of students of color. 

Whole system reform is just that – 100 per cent of the system – a whole state, province, region or entire country. This paper examines those drivers typically chosen by leaders to accomplish reform, critiques their inadequacy, and offers an alternative set of drivers that have been proven to be more effective at accomplishing the desired goal. 

Combining insights from multicultural education theory with real-life classroom stories, this book demonstrates that all students will perform better on multiple measures of achievement when teaching is filtered through students’ own cultural experiences. This perennial bestseller continues to be the go-to resource for teacher professional learning and preservice courses.

The author explains in this paper that policies from on high often work against campuses being more productive. This paper ends with definite recommendations about how new governance arrangements can promote productivity. 

Despite a significant drop in the use of corporal punishment in schools, a recent study finds corporal punishment is currently legal in 19 states and over 160,000 children are subject to corporal punishment in schools each year. This policy report examines the prevalence and geographic dispersion of corporal punishment in U.S. public schools. The research finds corporal punishment is disproportionately applied to children who are Black, to boys and children with disabilities. Black students experienced corporal punishment at twice the rate of white students, 10 percent versus 5 percent. This report summarizes sources of concern about school corporal punishment, reviewing state policies related to school corporal punishment, and discusses the future of school corporal punishment in state and federal policy.

The authors describe the policy and administrative-practice implications of implementing evidence-based services, particularly in public-sector settings. They review the observations of the contributors to the evidence-based practices series published throughout 2001 in Psychiatric Services.

Discusses educational changes from a system perspective. Sets forth a series of assertions based on eight years of experience with special-education reform initiatives in Iowa. Presents generalizations from an experiential base regarding critical components and characteristics of change process. Gives specific recommendations for persons contemplating educational innovative initiatives. 

This article examine the concept of behavioral contingency and describes NCLB as a set of contingencies to promote the use of effective educational practices. Then they describe their design of an alternate assessment, including the components designed to capitalize on the contingencies of NCLB to promote positive educational outcomes. 

Here six authorities in public education discuss how local philanthropies can overcome them even if school districts cannot. Making School Reform Work identifies new institutions that can be created by foundations and civic groups to remedy deficiencies in local school governance, formulate bold reforms, and guarantee implementation. 

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has been languishing for years, and Congress may now end up rewriting the law to fix its many flaws. However, it's now been discredited to the point that almost all states now receive waivers that allow them to miss key elements of the law without any punishments.

This book addresses the question of what it takes to develop social indicators that genuinely influence important public decisions

Dear Colleagues Letter: Resource Comparability is a letter written by United States Department of Education. This letter was meant to call people attention to disparities that persist in access to educational resources, and to help address those disparities and comply with the legal obligation to provide students with equal access to these resources without regard to race, color, or national origin (This letter addresses legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI). This letter builds on the prior work shared by the U.S. Department of Education on this critical topic.

This article elaborate on a topic "What to expect in Common Core immediate political future". Here, they discuss four key challenges that CCSS will face between now and the end of the year. Common Core is now several years into implementation.  Supporters have had a difficult time persuading skeptics that any positive results have occurred. The best evidence has been mixed on that question. The political challenges that Common Core faces the remainder of this year may determine whether it survives.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) sponsoring rigorous independent evaluations of its funded projects to build scientifically-valid evidence about "what works." On October 29, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, in collaboration with MCC, hosted a forum with leaders of the development policy and research community on MCC's evidence-based approach.

This study examined the policies and practices of a representative sample of high schools to identify how they structure their credit recovery programs. 

this report identifies three crucial areas leaders across all states can usefully consider as they seek answers to some key questions. The report emphasizes that every state faces a unique blend of educational, political and financial circumstances and that, therefore, each state's approach should fit its needs and particularities.

The authors examined the literature on functional behavioral assessment according to external validity and assessment with regard to its cost-benefits (i.e., its effectiveness relative to other approaches, time, and effort). 

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 ESEA Reauthorization

The National School Climate Council has developed a school climate framework that is built around five core standards that address the school’s “vision,” policies, practices, environment, and commitment.

President Trump’s proposed America First Budget reduces the Department of Education budget by $9.2 Billion.  It is important to note in America education is primarily a State and local responsibility. The federal portion of education budget is only 1% of the total national education expenditures. Some of the programs that are at risk are Title II grants which provide funds to hire and train teachers, teacher improvement programs, summer programs, after-school and extended-learning initiatives, teacher-preparation program improvement, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) which offer aid to low-income undergraduates, TRIO Programs (TRIO) serving low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities, GEARUP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, and The Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant Program which provides non-profits resources for recruiting, selecting, and preparing or providing professional enhancement activities for teachers and principals.

This report seeks to highlight some disparities to draw the public’s and policymakers’ attention to the urgent need to address this educational and civil rights crisis. Using a more accurate method for calculating graduation rates, they provide estimates of high school graduation rates, distinguished at the state and district level, and disaggregated by race.

US President Obama has launched one of the world’s most ambitious education reform agendas. Under the heading “Race to the Top”, this agenda encourages US states to adopt internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace: recruit, develop, reward, and retain effective teachers and principals. 

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of historical trends in the funding of special education programs, to discuss current issues, and to consider alternative directions for the future

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was a cornerstone of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty” (McLaughlin, 1975). This law brought education into the forefront of the national assault on poverty and represented a landmark commitment to equal access to quality education (Jeffrey, 1978). 

The Standardized Testing Primer provides non-specialists with a thorough overview of this
controversial and complicated topic. It eschews the statistical details of scaling, scoring, and
measurement that are widely available in textbooks and at testing organization Web sites,
and instead describes standardized testing's social and political roles and its practical uses-
who tests, when, where, and why.

The Howard County school board agreed to pay nearly $1.65 million in salary and benefits to persuade Renee Foose to retire as schools superintendent.

First published in 1971, the book challenged many major assumptions about institutional change and examined efforts to implement Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children) into public schools. The book argued that federal efforts to restructure education were generally a failure.

Part of the president Bush strategy for the transformation of "American Schools" lies in an accountability system that would track progress toward the nation's education goals as well as provide the impetus for reform. Here we focus primarily on issues of accountability and student achievement. 

In today's political climate, standardized tests are inadequate and misleading as achievement measures. Educators should employ a variety of measures, improve standardized test content and format, and remove incentives for teaching to the test. Focusing on raising test scores distorts instruction and renders scores less credible. Includes 13 references.

The title of the address is " Ensuring Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: What We Know and What We Need to Know From Research." The focus is on the plight of children. The author believes a partial solution is integrated comprehensive school-linked services. 

Despite New York’s wrong turn, the $6 billion for Reading First has more generally been one of the best investments ever in federal education spending. It has already brought some remarkable reading breakthroughs in many parts of the country and among at-risk students.

This article focuses on the systemic implementation features of SWPBS as a means of increasing the accurate adoption and sustained implementation of effective behavioral practices at the individual student, classroom, and school-wide levels. This article describes SWPBS, suggest how SWPBS might be implemented at broader systems levels, and discuss research and practice implications.

This report provides state and district policymakers in Texas with updated information on trends in teacher mobility and on correlates of mobility in the teaching workforce, offering a systematic baseline for monitoring and planning.

Presented are 12 author contributed chapters which developed out of an invisible college of leaders concerned with providing services to the severely, profoundly, and multiply handicappe

This text offers a pragmatic assessment of the role of police and school crime through the perspective of esteemed academicians and practitioners. School Crime and Policing hopes to spark awareness and encourage preparedness for the safety of our schools and our communities.

The Commission identified the six goals as the foundation for transforming mental health care in America. This report discusses each goal in-depth, showcasing model programs to illustrate the goal in practice and providing specific recommendations needed to transform the mental health system in America.

In order to ensure the Department's “Equity in IDEA” or “significant disproportionality” regulations effectively address significant disproportionality, the Department proposes to postpone the compliance date by two years, from July 1, 2018, to July 1, 2020

The authors recommend a shift in focus for TFA from a program of mixed impact to one that makes measureable changes in the quality of education in America. Recommendations for policymakers and districts are provided.

This article discuss how policymakers continued to search way through several approach to improve academic outcomes and life chances for low-income students.

Developed by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), this report presents current weaknesses in the education of students with learning problems (those having difficulties learning for any of a variety of reasons) and suggested strategies for correcting those weaknesses.