We describe the extent and predictors of staffing challenges faced by school districts in Washington state throughout the 2021-22 school year using data collected from job posting websites for districts representing more than 98% of students in the state. These data suggest that school districts in the state faced considerable challenges filling…

The 2022 Legislature increased funding for specific types of school staff in the prototypical school funding model, which determines the state funding allocations for schools. The legislation also required that funding provided to schools for physical, social, and emotional support staff (PSES staff) be spent on those staff. This report includes…

Camp remains a powerful experience for youth of any age, but special care must be taken to ensure camps are supportive of diverse audiences. This article describes the process by which 4-H camp organizers created a welcoming and affirming camp for teen dependents of active duty, retired, or veteran military personnel, especially those campers who…

Employers increasingly reach job seekers through online job postings, particularly for jobs requiring a higher education qualification. Job postings available online provide a rich source of real-time and detailed data on the qualifications and skills sought by employers across industries, occupations and locations. Using a sample of over 9…

The Families Forward Demonstration (FFD) examined new strategies to increase the earnings of parents who owe child support but are unable to fully meet their obligations due to low earnings. It also focused on "responsive" child support services that helped parents understand their support obligations, and even suspended certain…

Since the enactment of Public Law 94-142, school districts have struggled to hire and retain required special education personnel (i.e., special education teachers, school psychologists, and related service providers). Data show that shortages of these qualified personnel are even more magnified in rural school districts. Distance education can…

This paper reports results from a resume-based field experiment designed to examine employer preferences for job applicants who attended for-profit colleges. For-profit colleges have seen sharp increases in enrollment in recent years despite alternatives such as public community colleges being much cheaper. We sent almost 9,000 fictitious resumes…

The selection of a superintendent is among the most significant decisions any school district board of directors will make. The superintendent should be the person and office through which the direction set by the board is carried out. The working relationship that develops between the board and superintendent is thus absolutely critical and the…

This report presents early implementation and operational lessons from the Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) evaluation. Funded by the Administration for Children and Families, SHM uses a rigorous research design to test the effectiveness of a new approach to improving outcomes for low-income children: strengthening the marriages and relationships…

A series of activities have been undertaken to increase the participation of veterans with disabilities in computing and information technology (IT) postsecondary education and career fields. These activities were coordinated by the Alliance for Access to Computing Careers ("AccessComputing"), led by the Department of Computer Science…

For Daniel J. Kaniewski, the magic formula needed to redirect his career path from anonymous academic researcher to presidential policy adviser was only 719 words long. A single newspaper column that he wrote in April 2005 succinctly criticized the Department of Homeland Security's disaster-preparation plans. A few months later, a White House…

"ARL" is the bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). "ARL" reports on current issues of interest to academic and research library administrators, staff and…

Routes to economic development attract considerable attention in community and rural sociology. Social scientists draw increasingly on studies of social capital and environmental surroundings as they examine the factors that facilitate and inhibit economic development. However, few empirical analyses exist that analyze the impact of the…

Finding willing, qualified candidates for the principalship is increasingly difficult in Washington State and elsewhere. Candidate pools are smaller. There are more openings prompted by increased numbers of students and administrative retirements and fewer students in educational administration. Greater demands have reduced the role's…

This paper presents findings of a study that identified school-district attributes that attract and hinder women who apply for a superintendent position. Data were derived from a survey that was sent to approximately 200 female subscribers to the Washington Association of School Administrators professional job listing service. The response rate is…