The Career and Technical Education (CTE) playbook series has explored strategies and processes states can use to strengthen CTE program quality and provide students with pathways to postsecondary credentialing and middle- and higher wage career opportunities. In the first three CTE Playbooks, ExcelinEd provided a high-level view of how states can…

Of the many inequities in the education system, gaps in access to strong teaching have proven to be among the most stubborn. That is not to say that there are not excellent teachers in high-poverty schools. Research shows an indisputable and wide-spread pattern in schools and districts across the country: Low-income children and children of color…

This report calls upon Michigan's state leaders to quickly develop and implement solution-based approaches to both support the long-term recovery of student learning, as well as address the longstanding inequities and underperformance that have plagued Michigan's education system for decades. Building upon last year's recommendations, which called…

Awarding credits based on student mastery of content and skills can remove barriers to increasing student readiness for college and careers, according to a new issue brief released by the National Governors Association. This brief shows how governors can lead efforts to foster alternative methods of awarding credit by working to: (1) Build…

The United States faces a period of opportunity for reinvention unlike any other, and the need for dramatic reform extends to higher education. Today, the United States is at a crossroads, facing unprecedented challenges in meeting expectations and upholding values that have long distinguished the nation. For the benefit of every American,…

The economic meltdown has hit U.S. college campuses, and higher education is on the chopping block in state budgets, with cuts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars already approved and hundreds of millions in more cuts on the way. As veteran legislators, the authors have seen this story play out before in previous recessions. The mindset on…

This memorandum describes the calculations used to figure the instructional subsidy for postsecondary education in Ohio, focusing on why the model operates as it does and the implications of the current funding model. The two principle factors in the instructional subsidy model are institutional enrollments and actual costs. The model begins with…

This report recommends a new poverty indicator to use when distributing Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA) to Ohio school districts. It also describes the implications of substituting the new indicator in the current formulas used to calculate DPIA funding. Ohio school districts receive DPIA, based on earlier aid programs, to provide all-day…

In view of increasing financial pressures, this paper argues that a new approach to fiscal policy and to the structure of the financial relationship between state government and institutions of higher education is needed. A proposed three-part budget would include the following: (1) a base or core lump-sum budget managed by higher education…

School district budgets typically hide as much as they reveal. Superintendents are finding this as they discover huge deficits that nobody saw coming. District budgets are opaque by design, and they often mask important facts about resource allocation within a district, as well as about total spending. This paper reports the results of an original…

In their 2004 State of the State speeches, the nation's governors cited many issues competing for their attention and their states' resources, including health care, education, crime, and security (Nodine 2004). Among the most compelling challenges were those related to economic development and the ability of a state's workforce to meet the needs…

This sixth annual "Performance Report for Ohio's Colleges and Universities" uses a rich variety of data and data sources to describe higher education in Ohio from students' academic preparation to learning environments, student progress, degree achievement, and licensure and employment outcomes. In addition, the report provides a wealth…

This report provides background information and questions for discussion of special education policies by Ohio state legislators. Background information notes that approximately 10 percent of children, both nationally and in Ohio, receive special education services at an estimated cost in Ohio of $1.2 billion. Issues of compliance with federal law…

This fifth annual Performance Report for Ohio's Colleges and Universities uses a variety of data and data sources to describe higher education in Ohio from students' academic preparation to learning environments, student progress, degree achievement, and licensure and employment outcomes. The report also provides a wealth of information about…