Robust longitudinal education and workforce data are integral in addressing disparities in educational opportunities and economic outcomes. However, not all states link their P-12, postsecondary, and workforce data sets. Kentucky and Tennessee are two state examples that proved success in linking data from different agencies. TICAS' brief analyzes…

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…

This Policy Brief captures some of the challenges for students' math education trajectories, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, and it highlights three ways states can strengthen math pathways to improve student access and success. Specific policy options that states can consider include: (1) aligning high school math courses with postsecondary…

The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association's (SHEEO) "Communities of Practice" project builds upon SHEEO's ongoing efforts to measure the capacity and effective use of state postsecondary data systems and provides states with opportunities to develop solutions to common issues with those systems. The sixth Community of…

Emerging practices in both K-12 and higher education hold great promise in the establishment of equity frameworks. The use of finely disaggregated data, the effort to track additional student groups, and related work, all help to establish policies and tools to monitor the impact of reform efforts to address inequities. State programs and…

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…

Tennessee was one of the 10 states selected to participate in New Skills for Youth (NSFY). NSFY, launched by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2016, is a $75 million, five-year initiative, aimed at strengthening and expanding high-quality career pathways for youth. As part of this initiative, the Council of Chief State School Officers, Advance CTE and…

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…

Education in the 21st century increasingly relies on strong, reliable access to the internet at school and at home. However, millions of students throughout the United States are unable to connect to the internet outside of school to complete coursework and actively participate in a modern education. This issue exists throughout educational…