As part of the national agenda of accountability, state governments established performance funding policy to hold public institutions accountable for their performance. Accountability allows state policymakers to incentivize institutions to address state demands of increasing graduation rates in return for performance allocations. Although the…

Although federal policies have promoted the inclusion of students with disabilities in educational opportunities, success remains elusive. Yet much has been learned about how best to include students with disabilities in assessments and accountability, graduation requirements, and educational programming. Based on this learning, we highlight red…

As families and communities grapple with the COVID-19 crisis, child care should be a front-and-center issue. Widespread school and child care closures have created an immediate crisis for workers whose jobs don't allow telework options--whether it's those in the health care industry or people employed in grocery stores or other low-wage…

The historical literature about postsecondary education in British Columbia, as in many jurisdictions, is fragmented. Scholarly works have tended to recount the development of a single institution or a single sector: colleges and universities, vocational colleges, apprenticeship, or continuing education. And not all sectors, whether comprised of…

When the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the economy back into recession in early 2020, it laid bare a fragile and profoundly inequitable labor market. The economic expansion that reigned from 2009 through 2019 brought historically low unemployment and inflation but failed to reduce income inequality or arrest the decline in the number of high-quality,…

State summative assessments play an important role in measuring student learning and guiding educational improvement efforts, despite their limitations. But there is growing momentum in individual states and nationally to rethink these assessments with an eye toward reducing time spent on testing and increasing the tests' instructional relevance.…

It is the nation's collective responsibility--including the federal government's--to ensure that all young people have equal access to a high-quality, world-class education. This goal has never been more important than in today's fast-growing knowledge economy that is coupled with increasing rates of poverty as more and more families are left…

Financing is the lifeblood of any public policy. First, because the availability of monetary resources conditions the affordability and sustainability of this policy. Second, because the financing systems in place, including the channels, mechanisms and tools for resource collection, allocation and management, are essential, structural factors to…

While issues of higher education access, opportunity, and impact are hotly debated on the floors of Congress and in state legislatures, it is the state's higher education executive officer (SHEEO) who is expected to be an innovative policymaker, an astute political actor, an all-seeing fortune-teller, and a rapid problem-solver. These…

Key competences are important for personal development, employment, integration into society and lifelong learning. They are transversal and form the basis for all other competences. Acquiring key competences is possible through various learning pathways, including vocational education and training (VET). However, little is known at the European…

This book offers a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of the UK's policy on recruiting international students. In a global context of international education policy, it examines changes from New Labour policies under Tony Blair's Prime Minister's Initiative, to the more recent Coalition and Conservative Government policies in the…

This book explores the interrelationship between ideology, the state, and education reforms, placing it in a global context. It examines some of the major education reforms and policy issues in a global culture, particularly in light of recent shifts in quality and standards-driven education, and policy research. The book critiques the neo-liberal…

The following brief provides an overview of the separate but intersecting federal policies that govern the identification of and services provided to English learners and students with disabilities. This overview will frame key opportunities to serve ELs with disabilities more equitably with the aim of helping policymakers, advocates, and…

Policy barriers at the national and state levels are preventing many student veterans from achieving their academic and professional potential. Layers of rigid rules determine when, where, and how post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients -- most student veterans -- can utilize their service-connected education benefits. Policymakers should work to knock down…

For over 150 years, the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) has been committed to developing and advocating for high-quality school systems for students of color and low-income students throughout the South. Policymakers, including those both elected or appointed to critical state and local positions, maintain tremendous influence over the quality…