In this paper, we report the findings of a case study that explored how one State Education Agency (SEA) and two Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in a southern state enacted federal and state policies to provide Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) to students with disabilities, work that is ongoing in the southern state as of this writing.…

This paper responds to a growing literature arguing that change in higher education institutions might be better understood and managed if such institutions are understood as complex systems with emergent properties. Based on complexity theory, the paper articulates a set of characteristics that might be expected if institutions are in fact acting…

National curriculum standards for different countries mean some International Baccalaureate (IB) schools must often balance IB and national standards. Literature on how schools find this balance is limited. Using a qualitative case study design, we examined the perspectives of teachers of English in a Chinese IB school that recently employed a…

This guide is designed for use by school, district, and state education agency staff to improve the effectiveness of efforts to collect and use discipline data, including reporting accurate and timely data to the federal government. It explains the importance of collecting discipline data, identifies key considerations for agencies implementing…

Nebraska is committed to pursuing a new vision for science education based on "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC, 2012), that advocates for rigorous, high-quality science education for all students. Following an ambitious four year timeline, Nebraska is working to develop new assessments aligned to and designed for these…

As younger generations become immersed in technology, museums and cultural institutions must create a familiar digital experience to cultivate connections with the 21st century visitor. Authors present an example of working with institutional content experts to create a digital outreach package that activates the museum's content to engage K-12…

In this paper, I present a design case of the problem-identification process prior to the initiation of a Networked Improvement Community (NIC). A NIC is a type of research-practice partnership (RPP) that brings together researchers and practitioners to tackle complex problems of practice, and in doing so, proposes a social reorganization of the…

This qualitative case study was conducted to develop an understanding of professional learning communities and other types of professional development and their impact on building educator capacity on student outcomes in Allendale County School District. This is a small rural underperforming district in which student performance has not improved…

Sixty-six school districts and more than 150 schools in the state of Kansas are participating in the Kansans Can Redesign Project. In this article, we present a case study of using Design Thinking as a systemic process to structure continuous school improvement. The collage of real-life scenarios presented in our case shows the integration of…

Value-added (VA) measures are currently the predominant approach used to compare the effectiveness of schools. Recent educational effectiveness research, however, has developed alternative approaches including the regression discontinuity (RD) design, which also allows estimation of absolute school effects. Initial research suggests RD is a viable…

The report contains real-world, proven school climate strategies to guide policymakers in building a comprehensive and coherent state-wide approach for improving school climate. It features 12 recommendations linked to existing state policy examples policymakers can use to build a comprehensive, coherent state-wide approach for improving school…

Special education-related lawsuits are a concern to school systems. They are time-consuming, expensive, and contentious. School and parental relationships become strained when litigation is involved. This study analyzed data from the Virginia Department of Education's due process database over a 12-year period of time to note common disabilities…

Collaboration between K-12 and higher education sectors has not been as productive as participants and policy leaders would like--especially in an era of emphasis on college readiness and completion, which requires such collaboration. Various mechanisms have been used to foster collaboration including state P-20 (early learning through higher…

This paper takes stock of the state of language learning in the UK, as the country teeters on the edge of Brexit and becomes used to being led by the first Prime Minister in over 50 years to have studied Languages at university. The author, Megan Bowler, a Classics student at the University of Oxford, looks at the broad benefits to individuals,…

Concerns about the equitable distribution of school funding within and across school districts have led to new federal data collections on school-level expenditures. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) required states to collect and report, for the first time, school-level data on both personnel and non-personnel expenditures…