The "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA) refers to two types of Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS): voluntary CEIS and comprehensive CEIS. Each scenario describes a local education agency's (LEA's) implementation of voluntary or comprehensive CEIS and how the LEA or state could track the amount LEAs reserved…

Inspired by Camus' portrayal of Sisyphus, this essay examines the act of teaching as an absurd profession, one that faces numerous obstacles and challenges and continually falls short of its intended goals. I begin my analysis by demonstrating that Camus' understanding of the absurd was heavily influenced by Nietzsche's conception of nihilism. I…

Our current high-stakes accountability system for too long has allowed officials in positions of power and oversight to discard students viewed as too much of a liability as a practice of policy and pedagogy. This practice especially has altered how English learners are taught and the lens through which they are viewed. The authors present how a…

Every child deserves the chance at a great education and the American dream. Unfortunately, decades of student achievement data reveal that the increasingly costly U.S. district school system does not provide an excellent education for all students. State lawmakers around the country are now seeking ways to enhance the ability of families to…

The purpose of this embedded, mixed methods, research study was to acquire knowledge regarding the Pennsylvania Educator Effectiveness system while connecting teacher effectiveness with student achievement. The sample size consisted of five administrators and 18 public school teachers. The teachers taught mathematics in grades 4 through 8 at a…

On August 30, 2016, the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) and Recovery School District (RSD) released their Unification Plan to the public. The plan provides detail about Act 91 and the impending changes for local schools, teachers, parents, and students. The plan is necessarily detailed, providing an abundance of information on scheduling,…

As state and district leaders evaluate characteristics of their student populations, many will find one number particularly startling: The number of homeless students has doubled in less than a decade. States can take several actions to serve these students better, some of which are incorporated in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Some of…

Since Congress has passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) states are revamping their federally required systems to measure school quality and hold schools accountable for performance. However, most are doing so using outdated assumptions, holdovers from the Industrial Era, when cookie-cutter public schools followed orders from central…

As the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 moves forward, the overuse of exclusionary discipline practices in schools, and the role such practices play in perpetuating the school-to-prison pipeline, deservedly continue to garner national attention. Under these harsh practices, children are suspended and expelled from…

On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, legislation to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). ESSA replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the previous version of ESEA, and also supersedes the ESEA waivers created by the U.S. Department of Education to provide states…

For decades, the United States has struggled to make good on its commitment to prepare all its young people, not just some, for the opportunities and responsibilities that await them after high school. The education system has worked to define what kids need to know and be able to do to maximize their options. In this article, the authors discuss…

Pre-K and other early learning programs have generated growing interest over the past several years. More and more states are developing pre-K programs, and some states and local communities are thinking about how to better connect and coordinate children's pre-K experiences and learning with what happens in kindergarten and the early grades. At…

For much of the last two decades, beginning with the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002, the top political leaders have shown concern about children stuck in failing public schools. NCLB required districts to do something -- not enough, but something -- about those schools. Millions of children still languish in low-performing schools,…

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. It addresses one central question: Recognizing longstanding educational inequities, what research-backed practices can…

The charter school model differs fundamentally from the district-based model of public education delivery that is still dominant in every state. Instead of creating government bodies that directly operate all of an area's public schools, the state approves entities that authorize and oversee schools run by nonprofit organizations. In this article,…