On June 25 and 26, 2018, 211 STEM education leaders, 176 of whom were representatives from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and several tribal territories, gathered in Washington, D.C. for the first State-Federal STEM Summit. On Day 2 of the Summit, these…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines COVID-19 and going back to school safely. Opening statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Lamar Alexander, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and (2) Honorable Patty Murray, Ranking Member, a U.S. Senator from the State of Washington.…

The Committee on Education and Labor met to hear testimony on "Examining the Policies and Priorities of the United States Department of Education." The U.S. Department of Education was making a budget request for Fiscal Year 2022 and the Committee wanted to examine the Department's priorities to support students, educators, and…

The realm of environmental education has generally lacked scholarly research tied to policy and collective-action strategies. This study examines the state- and federal-level roles in states' Environmental Literacy Plan (ELP) development and implementation by examining policy entrepreneur's actions using Paul Manna's Borrowing Strength Model…

The State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) is the national association of the chief executives of statewide governing, policy, and coordinating boards of postsecondary education. Founded in 1954, SHEEO serves its members as an advocate for state policy leadership, as a liaison between states and the federal government, as a vehicle for…

As of 2015, millennials (born in the 1990's) became the largest population in the workplace -- and are still growing. Studies indicate millennials are tech savvy but are lagging in the exercise of digital responsibility. In addition, they are passive towards environmental sustainability and fail to grasp the importance of social responsibility.…

This paper examines the debate in the U.S. Senate over the reasons why state governments have decreased funding for higher education. One side believes that federal mandates on states to pay for Medicaid have forced them to reduce spending on higher education. The other side believes that states unwisely reduced taxes, which decreased their…

The forested land in the United States is an asset that is owned and managed not only by federal, state, and local governments, but also by families and other private groups, including timber investment management organizations and real estate investment trusts. The more than 10 million family forestland owners manage the largest percentage of…

Building on the premise that closing achievement gaps is an economic imperative both to regain international educational supremacy and to maintain global economic competitiveness, I ask whether it is possible to rewrite the social contract so that education is a fundamental right--a statutory guarantee--that is both uniform across states and…

This testimony discusses highlights of GAO's report about the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to institutionalize the protection of children's health. EPA's mission is to protect human health and the environment. As a result of mounting evidence about the special vulnerabilities of the developing fetus and child, the federal…

On February 18, 2010, the Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL) convened a Roundtable meeting of 19 leaders of local institutions identified by their peers as providing exemplary "adult education for work" service within a particular community or local labor market. The institutions are located in 16 states representing all…

On February 2, 2010, the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings and a task force composed of leading education policy experts released proposals on how to expand school choice to increase equity and create a market within the public sector for school quality. The first of a series of Brown Center reports on rethinking the federal role in…

In this paper, the Arne Duncan, the United States Secretary of Education, discusses the need for a sea change in America's schools of education, and focuses on the need to improve teacher preparation programs. Many schools of education have provided high-quality preparation programs for aspiring teachers for years. In the last decade, many…

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness for content instruction of the student pages in a group of websites sponsored by the United States government. The sites evaluated in this study can be accessed through the kids.gov portal on the internet. Teachers and students classroom use of computers and the internet has increased…

Even the most cursory look at the current administration's approach to performance pay reveals a noteworthy story. Unlike all of his Democratic predecessors--and some of his Republican ones--President Obama not only appreciates the value of differentiating the compensation of teachers based on a effectiveness, he has put energy and money behind…