All states identify schools most in need of improvement by using school accountability systems and other metrics. State improvement strategies range in intensity from general technical assistance to alternative governance for identified schools or districts. This 50-State Comparison provides research into the K-12 school improvement policies in…

Defined as the tendency for structures and groups to "grow more alike, to develop similarities" policy convergence is a recognized factor in policy analysis across fields. In the arts education sphere, this can mean adopting similar curriculum standards, imitating an after-school arts program, or even borrowing a large-scale metropolitan…

Introduction: Special education eligibility criteria vary across U.S. states; this study reports a systematic analysis of interstate eligibility criteria in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) category of visual impairments including blindness. Method: Eligibility criteria for all 56 U.S. states, territories, and Washington, DC,…

This paper provides a brief overview of the history of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), its prominence in the literature, and its use within the educational community. It then provides a critical analysis of the literature base linked to UDL checkpoint 1.2 by examining the relevance to the current trends in education and technology and…

In 1954, the Supreme Court delivered the landmark decision of "Brown v. Board of Education"--establishing the right to attend a desegregated school as a national constitutional right--but the decision contained fundamental ambiguities. The Supreme Court has never offered a clear definition of what desegregation means or laid out a…

This study aimed to explore how University Liaisons respond to homelessness on their campus. With new federal and state laws being enacted, little research focuses on the policies, programs, and services at universities. Community Colleges tend to be a more attractive option for homeless youth due to the low cost; however, universities are also…

The Every Student Succeeds Act's evidence requirements mandate the use of research in the selection of school improvement interventions, with the aim of ensuring that schools and districts invest their efforts and funding more wisely. This study of eight states presents three different approaches to the evidence requirements: using lists of…

Finland has repeatedly been presented as a "success story" of equality and education, promoter of human rights and included equality and human rights as part of national curricula. However, research has shown the slow progress of integrating topics of equality and human rights in teacher education despite hundreds of project-based…

Efforts to strengthen the pipeline to college degree completion have focused on improving college access and providing academic, social, and financial supports to students post-enrollment. This paper explores one facet of postsecondary education that has served as a barrier to both college access and success--developmental education--which has…

The separation between young children with disabilities and their peers is not merely physical but represents a deeper gap in opportunity, engagement, and understanding. True equity in inclusive education hinges on viewing disability not as an inherent limitation, but as a gap between personal capacity and the demands of the educational context --…

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been frequently discussed as a framework that guides the design of inclusive learning environments for all students with and without disabilities. This policy brief reports on findings of a content analysis of how UDL was referenced in three major U.S. federal education laws. Results indicate that UDL was…

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 led to unprecedented shifts in American education. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, children across the United States were primarily educated in brick-and-mortar school buildings, with only 0.6% of the over 50 million students in the country attending fully virtual schools (National Center…

This paper presents a critical policy analysis of how anti-political education reforms impact arts education. I consider examples of educational policies--both within arts education and outside the arts--to analyze how arts education may be impacted by anti-politics. I argue that many arts education policy outcomes can be understood as indirectly…

As obesity and physical inactivity rates continue to rise in the United States, Kentucky ranks third in childhood obesity rates (10-17 year olds) and 50th in physical inactivity. The public school environment is a logical place to examine practices and closely discern how time is spent. Federal legislation over the past 50 years has largely…

In 2019, German folk high schools -- "Volkshochschulen" (vhs) -- celebrated the centenary of their inclusion in the Constitution of the Weimar Republic in 1919, an era when they founded local centres in many parts of the country. Ever since, they have played an important part in the adult learning and education (ALE) sub-sector of the…