Restraint and seclusion (R/S) are practices employed by schools to address severe student behavior. Although the use of R/S has been shown to have harmful impact for students, staff, and schools, there is no federal law that addresses its use in schools. A lack of a universal approach leaves each state to determine its own legislation and policy.…

In 2021, Illinois became the first state in the United States to require that K-12 students learn about Asian American history. Illinois achieved this when lawmakers passed House Bill 376 (H.B. 376), colloquially known as the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act. H.B. 376 received praise for being the first legislation…

Despite considerable legislative and advocacy-based efforts to end subminimum wage practices, many Americans with disabilities are still paid below the federal minimum. Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers holding certificates to pay less than minimum wage to individuals with disabilities whose work capacity or…

Antiblackness is a persistent feature of American society with continued implications for the experiences, outcomes, and well-being of Black communities. In the wake of widespread protests against antiblack police brutality and heightened awareness of racial injustices in 2020, federal, state, and local political actors swiftly began a concerted…

Charter schools were originally intended to improve the American public education system by introducing innovative practices that could be replicated elsewhere. Charter critics and proponents alike, however, question the degree to which charter schools are truly innovative. While alarm has been raised about apparent conformity among charter…

This study aims to illustrate how states include an improvement science approach to educational improvement in their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan. Through a qualitative content analysis of 52 state ESSA plans, we propose an introductory organizational typology to categorize states based on their explicit inclusion of improvement…

States are increasingly adopting changes to K-12 funding systems in order to promote and encourage student engagement in secondary-level career and technical education (CTE). Two of the most prevalent reforms include: a) establishing tiered weights for CTE in school funding formulas based on the connection between a program of study and workforce…

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 led to unprecedented shifts in American education. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, children across the United States were primarily educated in brick-and-mortar school buildings, with only 0.6% of the over 50 million students in the country attending fully virtual schools (National Center…

Understanding the development of major educational policies is essential, especially federal policies integral to Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)--one of the fastest-growing types of postsecondary institutions in the United States, which collectively serve over two-thirds of Latina/o/x-identified college students. Accordingly, in this…

Between the decades of 1970 through 1999, there were major shifts in higher education in New Jersey. Utilizing a grounded theory approach this dissertation created a database of legislation, hearings transcripts, and education reports. Searching this database for commonly used terminology, this dissertation was seeking a pattern in language use…

Introduction: Special education eligibility criteria vary across U.S. states; this study reports a systematic analysis of interstate eligibility criteria in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) category of visual impairments including blindness. Method: Eligibility criteria for all 56 U.S. states, territories, and Washington, DC,…

The Every Student Succeeds Act's evidence requirements mandate the use of research in the selection of school improvement interventions, with the aim of ensuring that schools and districts invest their efforts and funding more wisely. This study of eight states presents three different approaches to the evidence requirements: using lists of…

The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement is now more than twenty years beyond its inception when it was built on the concept that digital materials make learning content easy to reuse and share. This report discusses current legislative trends in OER and offers recommended OER practices for states.

When parents of students with disabilities reach impasse with school districts, after exhausting informal interactions and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, such as facilitated IEP meetings and mediation, what is the next step if they seek a binding third-party decision under the IDEA? The typical answer, especially if the underlying…

As current trends across the country indicate widespread declining student enrollment and attendance, EdChoice is interested in conducting an evaluation of state-level school funding and enrollment policies that protect public schools against reduced funding due to declining enrollment. To support this effort, EdChoice enlisted Hanover to conduct…