The federal McKinney-Vento Act broadly defines homelessness in an effort to provide protections and supports for students living in a variety of unstable housing situations. This ensures school stability and continued enrollment at a time when a student's nighttime residence may be constantly changing. In Washington, the number of children and…

The federal McKinney-Vento Act defines homelessness broadly in an effort to provide protections and supports for students living in a variety of unstable housing situations. This ensures school stability and continued enrollment at a time when a student's nighttime residence may be constantly changing. In Washington, the number of children and…

Imagine a public K-12 school system where Native students and communities can thrive. The Washington Tribal Education Sovereignty then Justice Toolkit is designed to support Tribal leaders engaging in consultation and government-to-government communication with local and state education agencies. The toolkit includes: Part 1: Applying educational…

This overview describes themes from the "Tribal Advocacy for Educational Change: Systemic Approaches" webinar. Tribal leaders from New Mexico and Washington addressed the ongoing realities of colonization that impact public education systems. They detailed how tribes, governments, and Native-serving organizations are designing systemic…

This brief summarizes a study of five school districts that have been recognized for their efforts to provide high-quality services to students experiencing homelessness. The districts worked hard to identify students experiencing homelessness and supplemented modest federal funds with private funding, district funding, community-based resources,…

This report summarizes findings from a 2016 study that estimated the time it takes English learner students to be reclassified as former English learner students in seven Washington state school districts. The study found that it took students who entered kindergarten as English learner students a median of 3.8 years to develop the English…

States increasingly are incorporating Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs) into their comprehensive assessment systems with the goal of helping educators identify gaps in children's competencies, target instruction to children's individual needs, engage parents to better support their child's learning, and identify needs for expanding and…

States increasingly are incorporating Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs) into their comprehensive assessment systems with the goal of helping educators identify gaps in children's competencies, target instruction to children's individual needs, engage parents to better support their child's learning, and identify needs for expanding and…

This brief describes findings on the percentage of English learner students entering school in kindergarten in seven Washington school districts who developed the English proficiency necessary to be reclassified as former English learner students and the average time to reclassification. Eighty-five percent of English learner students who entered…

Approximately 1.3 million K-12 public school students across the United States were identified as experiencing homelessness in 2019-20. In all cases, the stress, instability, trauma, and school mobility created by homelessness increase risks to physical, social, and emotional health and to educational engagement and achievement. Districts play an…

The Early Learning Challenge (ELC) program awarded more than $1 billion in four-year grants to 20 States to implement comprehensive and cohesive high-quality early learning systems that support young children with high needs and their families. A key lever in making these improvements was the enhancement of States' Quality Rating and Improvement…

This report is in response to the requirement of RCW 28A.150.550 that the State Board of Education, with assistance from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTECB), the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC), and the Washington…

This report from the Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL) describes some of the Department's work since it's creation in July 2006. Among other achievements, the Department has laid a strong foundation for raising the quality of child care and the state's preschool program, strengthened both the safety in and the reach of early…

This paper discusses research on early entrance to public school and individual decisions regarding early entrance. The discussion of research findings briefly alludes to four areas of research relevant to the early admission of children to kindergarten and first grade. These areas of research concern: (1) attitudes of school personnel; (2)…

This paper explores the range of ways in which school districts are using Title I funds for early education through kindergarten and examines how the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has impacted those investments. It also makes recommendations for local education agencies (LEAs) interested in creating Title I-funded early education…