Educator preparation programs (EPPs) have an opportunity to leverage and strengthen existing district partnerships to lead the way in co-designing teacher Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs), including the launch, operation, and continuous improvement of programs. At the very minimum, EPPs should be at the table as states, districts, and…

The University of Tennessee has a Master of Mathematics (M.M.) program for secondary educators interested in college-level teaching. The program includes a capstone course on topics related to college-level teaching and can be thought of as a kind of professional development which allows secondary educators to explore options for their careers.…

In the United States, people often feel like they need to choose between pursuing a conventional four-year college degree or working, leaving millions of people with no opportunity to achieve the professional and economic advancement that comes with a bachelor's degree. What if this is a false choice? Apprenticeship Degrees offer a hybrid option…

The Mentors Matter Recruitment initiative leveraged state administrative data to recommend and successfully recruit more instructionally effective and experienced teachers to serve as clinical mentors, which, in turn, increased pre-service teachers' readiness to teach. Prior results, however, focus on self-reported outcomes and stem from a single…

The primary purpose of this study was to compare K-12 West Tennessee teachers' perceptions of their teacher preparation programs regarding the factors of planning, engaging, and assessing student learning based on whether they attended HBCUs or PWUs. This quantitative study examined 103 certified West Tennessee elementary, middle, and high school…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between dual enrollment engagement and the completion of a certificate or diploma at a Tennessee College of Applied Technology. Other factors such as demographics of race and age was considered as well. This study is useful in providing further information on the transition from…

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.…

As state governments seek to improve the performance of institutions of K-12 and higher education, they often adopt educational policies that have similar names but different characteristics across states and with variations over time within states. Yet quantitative analyses generally examine the absence or presence of an educational policy…

State policymakers are in a unique position to enable the innovations in education necessary to prepare students for a rapidly changing world. Working with 8,000 educators nationwide, the Aurora Institute identified the top 10 issues to address in state policy for transforming the K-12 education system: (1) Profile of a Graduate; (2) Innovation…

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…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on many facets of students' successful transitions from secondary into postsecondary education, particularly for students who depend on in-person delivery of content and experience. For many young people, paid work-based learning has historically provided a needed source of income, and its…

Presenters at the State of the States Roundtable session at the 2014 National Education Finance Conference in Louisville were invited to submit their papers for publication. These papers address the following topics: (1) State issues affecting P-12 and/or higher education funding; (2) Funding priorities/trends for P-12 and/or higher education; (3)…

When the nation shut down in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, states had to figure out what education would look like for the remainder of the academic year. These abrupt changes affected not only students' ability to learn but also their access to the support system that would help prepare them for steps beyond high school. This Policy…

Career Technical Education (CTE) teacher recruitment is a challenge that has dogged state CTE leaders for decades. According to a recent survey of State CTE Directors, 98 percent said that increasing access to industry experts is a high priority in their state. And 20.4 percent of rural districts with CTE teacher vacancies report that CTE…

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is the fifth-fastest-growing occupational cluster in the South and the seventh-largest employer with projected employment of 2.6 million workers by 2020. In order to prepare students to take advantage of the vast opportunities in this field, educators must equip students with the knowledge and…