The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the highest unemployment that the U.S. has seen since the Great Depression, with particularly heavy job losses for Black, Hispanic, and Native American workers. In this set of studies commissioned by Lumina Foundation, the authors examine actions that states and community colleges can take to address the needs of…

Established in 2006 by New Leaders for New Schools[TM], the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) initiative rewards high-need urban schools showing significant gains in student achievement. In exchange, schools agree to share the practices helping to drive those gains, which they do through an in-depth study of practice, aided by the EPIC…

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a "College Completion Tool Kit" intended to support the higher education attainment goals set by the Obama administration. These goals are consistent with the state's Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education. The tool kit lays out strategies for achieving higher levels of attainment…

This study examines principal mentoring practices in Wisconsin. Particular attention is paid to practices deemed promising in the literature on mentoring for improving principals' capacity for instructional leadership. The implementation of Wisconsin's policy for teacher and administrator mentoring (PI 34) is also examined. Wisconsin's…

Advanced Placement (AP), which enables high school students to take introductory college-level courses, is the nation's oldest example of a rigorous, common curriculum. Students who score well on AP exams are more likely to persist in college and earn a degree. The Advanced Placement Expansion project of the National Governors Association Center…