This study interrogates "Abbeville v. the State of South Carolina" using a policy-regimes framework to understand the relationship between the South Carolina Judicial System, General Assembly, and Educational stakeholders. We seek to understand how the political interests of the General Assembly and wealthy districts may have subverted a…

A web-based survey was disseminated to examine the relationship between high school special education teachers and direct-service transition professionals' understanding of stakeholders' roles in transition, frequency of communication with transition stakeholders, and level of collaboration among stakeholders. Path analyses were also conducted to…

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine elementary music teachers' mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research questions were: 1) What factors influenced music teachers' mental health and well-being during COVID-19; 2) How did music teachers support their own mental health and well-being during…

To promote prenatal health and improve birth outcomes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns initiative. The Strong Start initiative is assessing several enhanced prenatal care approaches, including home visiting. As part of the Strong Start initiative, CMS, in partnership with the…

Continued efforts are needed to reduce teenage pregnancy in the United States. Implementation of evidence-based curricula in schools is one strategy toward meeting this goal. In 2010, the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (SC Campaign) received funding to implement a teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) curriculum. Congruent with South…

Educational accountability policy rests heavily on the assessments used to influence teaching, learning, and school improvement. A long-debated aspect of assessment use, consequential validity, plays an important role in public interpretation of assessment use whether for individual students or for state policy. The purpose of this survey study…

One factor that may facilitate a successful reunification of children in foster care with their parents--or failing that, provide an alternate route to permanency through adoption or guardianship--is children's connections with extended family. However, because foster care frequently disrupts social connections, practitioners may need to take…

While medical research may often be regarded by academics and the general population in terms of the remarkable science being conducted or the study participants willing to volunteer their time for the advancement of medical innovation, many in the research administration field recognize the tremendous amount of effort that goes on behind the…

Background/Context: Performance funding finances public higher education institutions based on outcomes such as retention, course and degree completion, and job placement rather than inputs such as enrollments. One of the mysteries of state performance funding for higher education is that despite great interest in it for over 30 years, only half…

How at moments of dramatic change and a shifting social context do political actors alter their public identities? Put differently, how do political figures respond when positions with which they have been closely identified are no longer morally and electorally defensible and must be altered? Responses to identity challenge within institutional…

Scholars of education policy have consistently found that the capacity, beliefs, and values of local actors affect the relative success or failure of policy implementation. This article examines stakeholders' perceptions of education policy in South Carolina to consider the relationship between interpretations of education policy and attitudes of…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify significant external and internal challenges that state organization leaders face in promoting science-based teen pregnancy prevention programs within their states. The state organization administrators were chosen because their organizations were funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control…

The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality asked Public Impact to conduct a study exploring the change processes in the creation and implementation of teacher evaluation systems. This TQ Research & Policy Brief provides an overview of Public Impact's preliminary findings as they relate to the impetus for change and the political and…

In 2008, due to increasing stakeholder dissatisfaction with assessment results and school report cards, South Carolina revised its 1998 Educational Accountability Act and required public engagement with stakeholders including parents/guardians, educators, business and community leaders, and taxpayers. The legislation created partnerships between…