One of the first challenges state boards of education faced this spring was what to do for the roughly 3.5 million high school seniors whose graduations were derailed by the coronavirus. Most state policymakers across the country readily suspended end-of-year assessments and granted diplomas to those who were on track to graduate. A few states…

Through rising chronic absenteeism, increases in behavioral challenges, and declines in college enrollment after high school, many students are signaling that school is no longer a place they can or want to be. To address this problem, high schools across the country are consolidating disparate student support efforts into a unified approach led…

Most states claim academic rigor and career readiness as goals for all their students. But as school systems continue tracking students into higher or lower levels of academic coursework and into career and technical courses that lack rigorous, real-world assignments, they reflect an apparent underlying belief that their students' abilities are…

Following the passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education Act for the 21st Century (Perkins V) in the summer of 2018, state education leaders are crafting four-year plans to implement the law, which are due to the U.S. Department of Education next spring. They ought to take full advantage of the flexibilities Perkins V has to…

The usage of vaping products among middle school students has increased at alarming rates. Federal and state policymakers are addressing this crisis, including in Kansas, where the state board of education acted quickly to engage stakeholders on curbing youth vaping.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented education equity crisis in California. Since mid-March, almost all California schools and colleges have closed in response to the pandemic, requiring education leaders and administrators to stretch their resources to create or improve distance learning plans, support students' basic needs, and…

The lack of support for transfer students, specifically students with individualized education plans (IEP) into school environments, is problematic. At times, IEP students face additional obstacles and challenges due to their disabilities compared to the regular education population. The authors formulated a case that follows an IEP transfer…

Health education offers a natural curricular home for important life skills and ways students can optimize physical, social, and emotional health. Although many schools have implemented social and emotional learning (SEL), health education provides a broader framework by encompassing the connections between physical and emotional health and the…

Researchers and policymakers alike recognize the lasting benefits of participation in high-quality arts coursework and in integrating arts into other content areas. Federal policymakers signaled their support for arts education by passing the Every Student Succeeds Act, with its inclusion of the arts as part of a "wellrounded education."…

This fictional case presents the challenges school districts face when developing a new curriculum. After the school board voted to create a global studies program at Northern High School, the social studies supervisor had the responsibility of designing and implementing the curriculum. With only a few months to implement the curriculum, the…

While their authority for program approval may vary from state to state, state boards of education should ensure that the secondary school career and technical education (CTE) programs are part of a continuum that prepares students for further education, training, and the workplace. By expanding apprenticeship programs, state boards can give…

Although anyone can become a victim, commercial exploitation and human trafficking disproportionately affect women, girls, and communities of color within the United States. Despite its prevalence, misinformation and a widespread lack of understanding on this issue create barriers to identifying and supporting trafficking victims. School staff are…

Sunnyside High School in Washington State, a school of more than 1,600 students, had a graduation rate below 50 percent in 2010. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) had repeatedly identified Sunnyside as a low-performing school--that is, in the bottom 5 percent of the state's high schools and therefore qualifying for…

In the face of stagnant achievement and persistent achievement gaps in mathematics, school districts have enacted a variety of changes to varying levels of success. On the heels of an Algebra for All model that failed to generate desired outcomes of students, San Francisco Unified School District adopted a policy in 2014 that dramatically changed…

Many educators and education leaders have found implementing districtwide programming at the secondary level challenging. High schools are more organizationally complex than elementary schools (Grubb, 2010). High school teachers are deeply entrenched in subject specialties and tend to be resistant to change. This article describes how the Greater…