Politically charged education issues roiled the 2022 races for seats on state boards of education, yet none of the boards flipped partisan control. However, majority parties expanded their representation on boards in Colorado, Kansas, and Utah so far. Of the 63 seats on the ballot for 12 state boards, 35 incumbent candidates were reelected. This…

Numerous states have attempted to enact sweeping curricular bans targeting Critical Race Theory (CRT) to prevent educators from teaching content that challenges the white-Eurocentric curriculum of American schooling. In this paper, we build on arguments that curricular bans are not new to education, nor is the resistance enacted by educators to…

In recent years, policymakers and scholars argued that state education agencies (SEAs) should move away from simply acting as compliance monitors and take on more prominent roles as providers of technical support to schools and school districts. Scholars find that SEAs have struggled to do so, yet there is little empirical work to explain what…

By the time a child graduates from high school, they will have spent an estimated 15,600 hours at school. Because a significant amount of children's daily water intake comes from school water fountains, ensuring their access to safe drinking water at school is essential for their overall health. And one key health challenge that schools across the…

In this paper we match originally collected survey data from school board members in the state of Michigan with hard measures of school district outcomes to test two hypotheses regarding the relationship between strategic planning prioritization and organizational performance. We find that school board members who place a higher priority on…

This article is an edited transcription of a groundbreaking multi-sector presentation on "Critical Race Theory in Schools?" by a prominent panel of PK-12 school educators, education organization leaders, legal advocate, teacher educators, and academic researchers. The presentation took place virtually as a public seminar in response to…

States, districts, and schools across the country are forming "networked improvement communities" to address problems of practice, make changes based on data, and make connections across schools. These networks build capacity to improve schools, ensure effective change processes are in place, and make it possible to bring innovations to…

Background: A mismatch between organizational priorities and system-level policies can negatively impact implementation and sustainment of classroom-based physical activity (PA) interventions. The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) present methods to systematically identify organization- and system-level implementation barriers, and (2) align…

Reclassification, the process by which English learner (EL) students exit EL classification, often determines ELs' access to mainstream academic coursework. While existing research finds that many students who demonstrate English proficiency do not reclassify, few studies evaluate policies that effectively reclassify eligible students. This study…

In this article, we use originally collected survey data to determine how nonprofit charter school board members in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota define accountability. We find that charter board members generally define accountability downward toward student achievement and staff performance, inward toward board performance, or…

Seven years ago, Highland Park Schools went through a highly publicized period of turmoil and organizational upheaval. The troubled time for that Detroit-area district was brought on by a steep drop in enrollment and the deep financial crisis that followed. By contrast, the district's newest upheaval is rooted less in obvious signs of distress…

Policy capacity in music education can be enhanced through understanding the policy-making process and state governmental policy. Three examples of engagement in state-level policy action are used to explore agency, negotiation, and visioning as important dispositions for advancing music education policy goals. First, influencing state-level…

This paper offers a critical review of a report published in March by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan titled "Improving Oversight of Michigan Charter Schools and Their Authorizers." The report argues that charter schools and charter school authorizers need more oversight. Making the case for this position might include…

The tables have turned on Michigan's public school boards and other school officials. As a result of changes to the state's labor law in 2023, school districts face the risk of losing some authority to determine who should be teaching in their classrooms. Teachers unions are empowered once again to demand districts treat teachers as if they are…

States have often adopted broad bands for teacher certificates that cover grades K-5, K-6, or even K-8, which may offer more flexibility to district and school administrators but at the cost of ensuring adequate preparation for those who will be teaching in early grades. In order to better equip its teachers with developmentally appropriate…