Evidence shows that children's early years are a crucial time for their development. Well-designed early childhood education (ECE) experiences can foster meaningful gains in school readiness, as well as long-term benefits such as lower rates of special education placement and higher graduation rates. The quality of early education is highly…

We use publicly available, longitudinal data from Washington state to study the extent to which three interrelated processes--teacher attrition from the state teaching workforce, teacher mobility between teaching positions, and teacher hiring for open positions--contribute to "teacher quality gaps" (TQGs) between students of color and…

This Policy Brief begins by reviewing the educational and societal impacts of quality pre-K programs before revealing legislative changes to state pre-K funding in 2017-18. The brief highlights four states and breaks down total pre-K funding for all states, including year-over-year changes.

Over the past decade, the Washington State Legislature has made significant progress in juvenile justice reforms. However, these investments have not been balanced by equal changes in education. This report provides 10 recommendations for the Legislature to reform institutional education in Washington focused on the following: (1) An…

In 2020, the Governor of Washington issued a directive to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and a letter to Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for the agencies to identify near-term administrative efficiencies and longer-term strategies to improve the alignment and integration of…

This report explains how State Entity (SE) Program grantees are using or proposed to use the technical assistance (TA) set-aside portion of their Charter School Programs (CSP) funds for these activities. This report also describes SE activities to ensure subgrantees are equipped to meet the needs of all students, and specifically students with…

High-quality career and technical education (CTE) and work-based learning opportunities can support students along a pathway to credential attainment, employment and upward economic mobility through intentional skill development and experiential learning. CTE concentration in high school can increase graduation rates while helping students build…

This brief summarizes a study of five school districts that have been recognized for their efforts to provide high-quality services to students experiencing homelessness. The districts worked hard to identify students experiencing homelessness and supplemented modest federal funds with private funding, district funding, community-based resources,…

The Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative (MBLC) is a demonstration project taking place in 47 schools across Washington to help decision makers understand what quality mastery-based (or competency-based) learning looks like, how long it takes to implement, and what resources are necessary. The schools receive funding, coaching, and professional…

This timely book will help policymakers and practitioners convert their visions of high-quality early education into on-the-ground reality by providing a much-needed, richly detailed look at how states can design, fund, and manage exemplary programs. The authors describe and analyze how four states--Michigan, West Virginia, Washington, and North…

With the majority of "good jobs" that pay a family-sustaining wage requiring at least some college education -- such as a technical certificate, associate degree, bachelor's degree or another credential of value -- ensuring the existence of high-quality postsecondary CTE [Career Technical Education] programs and programs of study is more…

In 2012 Washington became the 42nd state in the nation to adopt a charter school law. Charter schools in Washington are autonomous public schools operated by a nonprofit organization rather than a school district. As a local education agency, each school must follow many of the same compliance and reporting requirements that traditional districts…

Gross motor and physical activity opportunities in early childhood are important for promoting health and development. We conducted two studies with the following aims: (1) to describe the quality of gross motor/physical activity early learning environments in Washington (WA) state, USA and (2) to study the relationship between the quality of…

Teacher shortages disproportionally impact high need schools that can be hard to staff. However, effective teachers have an influential role in improving low-performing schools. Focusing on recruiting and retaining teachers to low-income and low-performing schools is crucial not only to closing achievement gaps, but also to ensuring that students…

In January 2017 Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL) surveyed child care centers and family homes on the impact of Initiative 1433 ("I-1433") raising Washington's minimum wage. The data collected indicates that providers were broadly impacted by the initiative. For family home providers, 46% reported that they had paid…