Though scholars agree that professional development (PD) is a key mechanism for implementing education policies that call for teacher change, and that PD generally needs to be content-focused, active, collaborative, coherent, and sustained, the application of this framework has yielded mixed results. In this qualitative study, we employed…

A survey study of 248 educators in four states was conducted to identify respondents' formal training, use, and perceived effectiveness of 37 evidence-based classroom management practices within four general categories: (a) antecedent-based, (b) instructionally based, (c) consequence-based, and (d) self-management. Results indicated that, on…

This guidebook provides school councils and district School-Based Decision Making (SBDM) Coordinators with a list of tools and checklists when reviewing and revising school council bylaws and policies. The samples noted in this guidebook are just that, samples; they are not to be considered exemplars or the only way to organize a policy. A school…

Providing consistent, excellent teaching for each student in every classroom depends on whether states and districts commit to transforming teaching into a profession that reliably builds and grows teacher expertise over the career continuum. To address the problem of inequitable access to effective teachers, the U.S. Department of Education asked…

In February 2015 a large group of scholars, researchers, and practitioners interested in P-20 finance issues gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for the National Education Finance Academy's annual conference, on February 25-27, 2015 to discuss, among multiple topics, the state of P-20 finance in all 50 states. There were 35 states represented in the…

High-quality data governance, a body or process designed to make decisions about how state education data is linked, used, accessed, and protected, is key to establishing a culture of effective data use in states. The three data governance bodies featured in this paper--the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics (KCEWS), the…

This report summarizes the research on the association between state interventions in chronically low-performing schools and student achievement. Most of the research focused on one type of state intervention: working with a turnaround partner. Few studies were identified that examined other types of interventions, such as school closure, charter…

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)…

State and local education agencies across the country face challenges related to understanding and managing their teaching staff to best help students learn. Statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) offer valuable information about teacher labor markets that can be used to analyze supply and demand, inform budget and staffing decisions, and…

The shortage of African American teachers can be traced back to the historic "Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court" decision in 1954. While recruitment initiatives have been somewhat productive, studies nonetheless reveal a "revolving door" whereby scores of teachers abandon their jobs before retirement. Attrition is the…

For more than 30 years, Education Commission of the States has tracked instructional time and frequently receives requests for information about policies and trends. In this Education Trends report, Education Commission of the States addresses some of the more frequent questions, including the impact of instructional time on achievement, variation…

Competency-based pathways (CBP) have the potential to open new opportunities for students to learn and demonstrate their learning in meaningful ways that are grounded in application and relevant to their career goals. This brief argues that states can and should leverage CTE when considering how to move K-12 education toward a system marked by…

Students, teachers, and school leaders are seeking flexibility and supports to enable powerful, personalized learning experiences both inside and outside of the traditional classroom. In personalized learning, instruction is tailored to each student's strengths, needs, and interests--including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when,…

Alignment between K-12 education and the workforce is critical because jobs are changing. Students must be prepared not only for the jobs of today but also for the jobs of the future. Securely linking data between state K-12 and workforce data systems can create a bridge between these agencies as they develop shared career readiness goals for…

Data governance provides state agencies a structure in which to define the roles and responsibilities needed to ensure clear processes for collecting and reporting education data and to ensure accountability for data quality and security. To make informed policy decisions across agencies, such as the state education agency and early childhood,…