With its direct impact on admissions procedures and (in)direct impact on campus climate, affirmative action bans can potentially influence student retention. This study uses a national dataset to examine the relationship between affirmative action bans in Oklahoma and New Hampshire and retention rates at public colleges and universities. Our…

Large-scale performance assessment programs are a longstanding reform tool. However, standard setting can be a challenge for assessment programs that use primarily non-standardized assessments. The purpose of this paper is to extend this field of research by explaining the standard setting methodology applied to one more recent instantiation of a…

"Part I: Are DACA Students Still Safe to Stay?" was originally published in the "New England Journal of Higher Education" on April 25, 2017. Following unsuccessful attempts in Congress to provide a legal pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including the DREAM Act of 2010, President Obama introduced an executive…

Addressing the widespread problem of sexual assault in college environments requires both prevention programming and policies addressing sexual misconduct in institutions of higher education. Through the Campus Sexual Assault Policy and Prevention Initiative, nine programs funded by the Office on Women's Health approached this problem within a…

In late 2020, New Hampshire community colleges participated in a national study of community college workforce education. New Hampshire was one of 14 states where education authorities volunteered to encourage colleges to respond early enough in 2020 to receive preliminary statewide results in January 2021. This brief compares New Hampshire to the…

On February 24, 2017, all of the authors of the state-of-the-state manuscripts published in the "Journal of Education Finance" met in Cincinnati, Ohio, to participate in a roundtable discussion focused on recent legislative actions in 38 states. A majority of those papers were revised to reflect a final report on legislative actions…

This article takes a first look at the major issues and trends that are currently being seen in 2019 emerging in the region's legislatures related to higher education and workforce development. Topics include: affordability, student loan debt, and college closures/mergers/acquisitions/collaborations. Other bills touch on emerging issues:…

Recently, much research has been dedicated to understanding how to prevent and address the aftermath of sexual assault (SA) on traditional 4-year college and university campuses in the United States. However, less scholarly attention has been paid to 2-year institutions, commonly known as community colleges. This review illuminates the different…

A recent survey of 41 different state boards of education revealed that officials from 28 states indicate that they are experiencing teacher shortages. The shortages in some states are significant. While the teacher shortage in many states is tied to different factors, one frequently cited reason for leaving the teaching profession is low pay.…

During the 2015-16 school year, 25 states used assessments aligned to college- and career-ready standards developed by consortia of states (i.e., Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers--PARCC, Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium--Smarter Balanced) as their accountability assessments. The participation of students with…

After passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, states assumed greater responsibility for designing their own accountability and assessment systems. ESSA requires states to measure "higher order thinking skills and understanding" and encourages the use of open-ended performance assessments, which are essential for…

This exploratory study examines the experiences of undocumented students at Hawthorne College, an elite, liberal arts institution with sanctuary status. Drawing primarily on a questionnaire and qualitative interviews, it considers 1) whether undocumented and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students on a sanctuary campus experience…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) opened up new possibilities for how student and school success are defined and supported in American public education. States have greater responsibility for designing and building their assessment and accountability systems. These new opportunities to develop performance assessments are critically important…

This brief is the 10th entry in the "School Survey Series." This brief synthesizes information about New Hampshire's private schools from a survey conducted by EdChoice. These survey data--which include New Hampshire's private schools' open seats, tuition and fees, regulatory concerns, and interest in educational choice programs--paint a…

Even before the state fire marshal ordered the Somersworth (N.H.) School District in 2007 to abandon the top two floors of Hilltop Elementary School because of safety concerns, folks in the city of 12,000 had been debating whether the aging facility should be replaced--and how to pay for it. Finally, in February 2009, the city council approved…