In this first installment of the series on state-level policy and microschooling, the authors explain Idaho's recent legislative debate over two competing approaches to supporting the creation of small learning communities, known as microschools. Idaho's strong homeschooling community and its low-enrollment rural districts create political…

The Cowen Institute has conducted annual polls on perceptions of public education in New Orleans since 2007. These polls are designed to provide a snapshot about how parents, guardians, and the general public view New Orleans' highly decentralized K-12 public education system. Each year, the Cowen Institute asks some new questions about the most…

Since the start of the new millennium, many states have launched or expanded private school choice options, permitted and expanded independently operated public charter schools, eased restrictions on homeschooling, and enacted policies that allow and encourage various forms of public school choice. One thing that is not on the rise, unfortunately,…

Recent headlines describing the national drop in public school enrollment suggest that this is a shocking crisis brought on or worsened by the pandemic. However, Abbie Cohen argues that the current enrollment decline should not be a surprise. The underlying causes have festered for decades. Among these causes is the tension between the different…

Since the Every Student Succeeds Act became law, states have taken advantage of opportunities to engage the arts more broadly in education policy -- from including the arts in STEM education to using the arts as a strategy to meet the needs of underserved youth. At the same time, many states' policy agendas address school choice, with ongoing…

This report arrives during a time of heightened scrutiny and civic engagement. While public attention is currently trained primarily on Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), this research encompasses the whole of the city's education system, marking both commonalities and differences between different types of publicly funded schools. It highlights…

In the absence of federal homeschooling guidelines, states regulate homeschooling through a patchwork of provisions. Homeschooling policies vary widely from one state to the next and families' homeschooling experiences will likely be very different depending on where they live. For example, some states have little or no homeschooling…

Giving parents and students the ability to choose their school is promoted by supporters as the key to improving American education overall. On the surface, the idea has great appeal. Who, after all, opposes having choices? Indeed, both Democratic and Republican policymakers, including President Trump, have embraced school choice as a reform…

This report provides a longitudinal analysis of enrollment patterns and development of English proficiency among AISD International High School students.

The Rhode Island Education Policy Primer provides an overview of how public education operates in Rhode Island. The Introduction offers context on the inequitable origins of Rhode Island's public school system, as well as the role that activism has played in expanding educational opportunities. The At a Glance section provides a quick look at…

This report examines current educational options for U.S. students and the challenges of ensuring that choices are equally available and offer high-quality education. The report suggests what state policymakers can do to create high-quality opportunities that offer each family a system of schools worth choosing. The analysis starts from the…

The "Report on the Condition of Education" is a congressionally mandated annual report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Using the most recent data available (at the time this report was written) from NCES and other sources, the report contains key indicators on the condition of education in the United States at…

The newly created Conservative Education Reform Network (CERN) at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) invited a group of conservative education thinkers to sketch policy proposals that they would like to see in a new education agenda. The only requirement was that they offer suggestions that would complement the traditional conservative…

This book is the definitive study on homeschooling in the United States, delving into a movement that impacts more students nationwide than the entire charter school movement. In 2010, more than 2 million students were homeschooled. This book explores: (1) The history of homeschooling in America; (2) How this movement has grown in credibility and…

"Ohio Education by the Numbers" offers busy policy makers, journalists, and civic and business leaders simple and easy-to-use vital statistics about Ohio's schools and the students they serve. The facts and figures contained within offer an overview of Ohio's students; where they go to school; their achievement on national and state…