In 2023, charter school advocates continued to make legislative gains in statehouses across the country. These gains were made in red, blue, and purple states, oftentimes in ways that showed bipartisan support for charter schools remains firmly in place. In looking at the results of this year's legislative sessions across the country, four…

Background: To inform prevention strategies, this study provides incidence, factors, and actions taken when a suspected concussion occurred in K-12 schools in Utah. Methods: Data were collected using Utah's Student Injury Reporting System (SIRS) from the academic years 2011-2012 to 2018-2019. SIRS is a unique online system that tracks injuries…

For more than two decades, tax-credit scholarship (TCS) policies have helped American families provide their children with the learning environment that meets their individual needs. Now available in 19 states, nearly 300,000 students nationwide use tax-credit scholarships to attend the school of their family's choice. TCS policies create an…

This report identifies the statutory requirements, including programs, reports, evaluations, and accountability measures, impacted by the assessment waiver and describes how each statutory requirement is impacted by the assessment waiver. It discusses the data which the State Board has not collected or will not collect because of the assessment…

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 schools are under immense pressure to meet the diverse needs of students. But policies and practices have not evolved quickly enough to meet those needs -- and as a result, the system continues to fail far too many young people. In "Levers of Change: How State Policies Support District…

Researchers explored how 13 states in which policymakers have adopted an A-F school letter grade accountability system performed on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) post-policy implementation. Researchers found mixed results, with approximately half of these 13 states increasing achievement post-policy, and the other…

Data estimates 11.2% of college students experience sexual assault at some point during their postsecondary education. The prevalence of this issue and the resulting impact on students' lives and educational outcomes highlights the importance of examining the role of federal, state and institutional action in preventing and addressing issues of…

The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has been studying the four-day school week since 2015. Since then, the phenomenon of the four-day school week has spread into non-rural areas and interest appears to be growing. Given these apparent changes, the author wanted to know more about recent trends in the initiative. As districts continue…

The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) released a Request for Proposals (RFP) during the summer of 2021 for a firm to support the redesign of Utah's School Accountability System so that it's more aligned with Personalized, Competency-Based Learning and Utah's Portrait of a Graduate, but still simple and transparent. The current Utah School…

The author is disappointed to hear about the feedback that several states have received from the United States Department of Education (USED) regarding the proposed additional indicator of school quality and student success for grades 3-8. The "equity indicator" has been used in Wyoming and Utah for several years and there is substantial…

Despite the myriad of challenges that families, students, teachers and policymakers faced in 2021, the momentum to transform education did not waver. New opportunities for students unfolded in more than a dozen states through expanded private and public school choice. An additional 1.7 million students gained eligibility for private choice alone,…

State policymakers are in a unique position to enable the innovations in education necessary to prepare students for a rapidly changing world. Working with 8,000 educators nationwide, the Aurora Institute identified the top 10 issues to address in state policy for transforming the K-12 education system: (1) Profile of a Graduate; (2) Innovation…

A wide variety of legislation impacts the jobs of special education teachers in the United States. In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law, mandating that states develop standards and report outcomes for all students in the key areas of math and reading. In 2004, the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education…

The role of student affairs educators is to ensure that students not only obtain an educational experience, but also that out-of-classroom experiences contribute to holistic development. In particular, student affairs professionals often coordinate residential living, student activities, and advising programs. These programmatic offerings need to…

To innovate for the future and improve equity, while also protecting foundational and proven principles that support high-quality education, ExcelinEd is committing to 5 goals over 5 years to impact 5 million students. Those goals hold the key to impactful and far-reaching changes in education, with the power to transform schools, students' lives,…