In the U.S., state guidance to schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was politicized. We used state-level political affiliation to explore whether access to curricular resources differed pre-pandemic or during pandemic remote teaching and teachers' reported control over curricular resources during pandemic teaching. We found that…

To best train and support school leaders in their evolving roles, they require high-quality preparation and in-service pipelines that both address the changing demands on their positions and acknowledge the cascading effects that well-prepared leaders have on both student outcomes and in school culture and retention. Including school leaders in…

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…

In partnership with the National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC), the National Association for Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) has been conducting authorizer assessments over the past six years. However, the correlation between high-quality authorization practices and charter school impact has largely been unexplored. This report uses a…

Children's academic and social development before third grade is highly predictive of later success in school and beyond. Research shows that during those early years, the gains children make in language and literacy, mathematics and social skills, and their growth as learners and thinkers are associated with a range of benefits, from academic…

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system…

An effective school requires an effective leader, but great principals rarely just happen. They are cultivated. This Wallace Perspective draws on a decade of foundation research and work in school leadership to show how urban school districts can play a major role in ensuring they have principals who can boost teaching and learning in troubled…

TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH SCHOOL SYSTEM ENVIRONMENTS MAY BE DISTINCT IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND CONFLICT PROPENSITY, THE VOTING RECORDS, SOCIOECONOMIC DATA, AND ASPECTS OF BOARD OF EDUCATION INTERACTION WITH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS OF FOUR SUBURBAN ILLINOIS COMMUNITIES WERE ANALYZED. A COMPARISON OF CONSTRAINTS AND SUPPORTS FOR THE…

In the present complex and changing context students and families are looking for information tools to help them identify financial planning constants to allow them to reduce the number of unknown factors that can be barriers to the completion of a personal financial package to cover the cost of higher education. This handbook is designed to…

A study conducted by 19 student researchers under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, concluded that very little information is designed to aid students to make a choice for their future. Three separate publications resulted, called the "Options Handbooks." Material from these handbooks is synthesized…