Student participation in summer programming can be an effective way to address students' academic and developmental needs. When well implemented and well attended, summer enrichment programs, academic programs, and employment programs have demonstrated positive outcomes for youth in areas related to program content, including academic achievement…

As federal funding for summer learning as a pandemic recovery strategy phases out, state governments face decisions about their future role in supporting students' access to quality summer learning opportunities. This brief is based on the full report, "How States Are Expanding Quality Summer Learning Opportunities," and summarizes…

When the federal government banned incarcerated students from accessing Pell Grants in the mid-1990s, a new model for supporting Higher Education in Prison (HEP) programs emerged--utilizing Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) as third-party facilitators to fill the gaps left behind in the absence of federal financial aid. With the long-awaited…

While about three-fourths of all public school districts offer dual credit opportunities in Career Technical Education (CTE) courses, many programs face gaps in alignment between secondary and postsecondary CTE programs that lead to quality and equity inconsistencies in early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs) across career pathways, ultimately…

Deaf education in the United States began in 1817 with the bilingual co-leadership of Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. In 2018, Marianne Belsky and Nicole Sutliffe, a bilingual, deaf/hearing team, were officially appointed as co-leaders of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. In this article, Belsky and Sutliffe share the…

Fostering strong relationships that break silos between learning and work and align skill-building opportunities across secondary, postsecondary, adult and professional levels is critical to building high-quality career pathways and learner-centered career preparation ecosystems. In this work, trust, common purpose and resources for sustainability…

The sustaining environments thesis hypothesizes that PreK effects are more likely to persist into later grades if children experience high-quality learning environments in the years subsequent to PreK. This study tests this hypothesis using data from a statewide PreK randomized experiment in Tennessee that found positive effects at the end of PreK…

Utilizing narrative inquiry and thematic analysis, this study followed up with adult students who initially participated in a qualitative project, Understanding How Students Reconnect: A Longitudinal Study (Collom et al., 2021). Five participants shared their experiences as adult students during COVID-19, which included their experiences shifting…

We used two judgment-based scales to evaluate quality features of 623 individualized family service plans (IFSP) contributed by 73 service coordinators in one state. We also explored the alignment between the skills specified in child-focused IFSP outcomes, the three Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) early childhood outcome…

The Region 5 Comprehensive Center worked in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education to develop a professional learning framework and toolkit. Although they were developed to meet the needs of education staff in Tennessee, the guidance can benefit other state education stakeholders in their efforts to ensure all professional learning…

This study examined the perceptions of US school principals toward one US state's revamped teacher tenure law and how principals perceived that the law affected their ability to evaluate and retain effective teachers. Principal interviews indicated the law had a positive impact on their ability to evaluate and retain effective teachers despite…

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore factors that may contribute to student persistence in the completion of their program of study in an urban technical college setting. The study aims to identify the cognitive, social, and institutional factors that contribute to student persistence in the completion of their program of…

Teacher evaluation systems treat instructional quality as generic. Principals often observe elementary teachers in one subject and generalize assessments to all subjects. However, there is little empirical work to justify these decisions. This study provides needed evidence about whether elementary teachers engage in comparable instruction across…

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Success initiative at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) is dedicated to strengthening the capacity of Tennessee's seven historically Black colleges and universities to provide the highest quality education; increasing opportunities for these institutions to participate in and…

The quality of a school's leadership is a key determinant of its performance. Research links effective leadership to a variety of school outcomes, including more positive school learning climates (Sebastian & Allensworth, 2012), lower rates of teacher turnover (Boyd et al., 2011; Grissom & Bartanen, 2018; Ladd, 2011), and greater parental…