Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a…

In Alaska, where Alaska Native students constitute the largest racial/ethnic group of English learner (EL) students, it is an open question whether and how EL policies and services meet the unique needs of Indigenous EL students. A stronger understanding of how Alaska Native students experience EL identification, classification, service provision,…

There is a growing body of research that suggests the first year of high school is a critical transition point for students. It also finds course-taking and successful completion of those courses in 9th grade to be valuable predictors of students' success in high school. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides states an opportunity to…

States' efforts to incorporate technology and engineering into K-12 science instruction appear to be bearing fruit: More than five years after states began adopting K-12 science standards that feature technology and engineering, eighth graders have notched higher scores on a national assessment of those subjects. This Policy Brief presents…

Response to intervention (RTI) is a framework for providing interventions and services at increasing levels of intensity until students succeed. The framework helps teachers and schools provide instruction and interventions matched to student needs, monitor progress frequently to guide decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and apply…

Alaska showed improvement in reading and math in grade 8 at the proficient level for almost all racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls (subgroup trends were not available at the basic or advanced levels). Most student subgroups had upward trends in percentages proficient, with a few exceptions. Gains in math tended to be…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The "2011 State…