The Working Group on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Learning Differences was launched in 2021 as an initiative of the Global Cities Education Network (GCEN). Fourteen school districts each worked to implement a unique action plan designed to strengthen SEL supports in their district, including for students with learning differences. Districts…

This report details how Reynoldsburg City Schools utilized the Inclusive Innovation model to introduce an innovative Open Educational Resource, Socratic Circles, designed to assist teachers in guiding discussions on racial and social justice in the classroom. These OER will be accessible to educators who are inspired by this work and interested in…

Segregation on the basis of race or ethnicity is one of the most enduring and pervasive inequities in US public education. School segregation is determined not only by residential sorting and families' preferences but by local policy choices such as the drawing of school attendance boundaries. This report examines the role of individual school…

All school districts have children attending who have special dietary needs due to a disability or a food allergy or intolerance. In order for these children to attend school, their dietary needs must be addressed since they are unable to eat meals prepared for the general student population. There is federal legislation which provides guidance…

Background: Research highlights the value of coaching to support elementary school teachers' use of effective classroom practices (Cappella et al., 2012; Owens et al., 2017). Coaching is particularly useful when teachers implement new or complex strategies, which can include culturally-responsive and equity-centered practices (i.e. strategies that…

This paper applies outcome-based school aid to Ohio's FY 2014 school district data to find systematic patterns between school aid parameters and outcome equity as well as fiscal equity. Empirical findings suggest that outcome-based power-equalizing aid improves both fiscal and outcome equity more than Ohio's aid formula does, with…

Background/Context: This article examines a 2011 court case in which an Ohio state court convicted and jailed a poor, single, Black mother of two school-aged children for "stealing an education." Using a false address, the mother, Kelley Williams-Bolar, enrolled her daughters in a public school district that was more privileged and amply…

Almost 7 million children aged 3 to 21 received special education services under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in school year 2016-17. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review parents' use of the Individuals with IDEA dispute resolution options. This report examines (1) how often IDEA…

The audit objective for this report was to determine whether the Ohio Department of Education (Ohio Education) and selected Ohio local educational agencies (LEAs) have sufficient internal controls to ensure that individualized education programs (IEPs) are developed in accordance with Federal and State requirements for children with disabilities…

Effective teachers can have a significant impact on student success; unfortunately, low-income students, students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities are more likely to be assigned to unqualified, less experienced, and less effective teachers. Inequitable access to effective educators is one contributing factor that…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present insights from the implementation of a dialogic social studies curriculum and its potential to support diverse learners. Policymakers and educators must attend to the learning needs of diverse/minoritized (Note: In this paper, the authors use minoritized and diverse interchangeably) students who have…

When schools closed their doors in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a scramble to adjust to remote learning. Over the summer and into the fall, the debate over reopening took center stage, as school leaders struggled to answer how and when it would be safe to return to the classroom. The Center for American Progress (CAP)…

Today's education landscape, including how students experience school, can reflect pervasive educational inequities. Past federal administrations and congresses, recognizing their critical role in addressing inequality, often acted to address disparities and violations of students' civil rights that had been left unresolved by states and…

The federal Every Student Succeeds Act prioritizes the needs and barriers of vulnerable youth, including students experiencing homelessness. Students experiencing homelessness are more likely to experience trauma and feel unsettled, move frequently and be highly mobile. Accordingly, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youth Program has guided…

An effective teacher workforce is a diverse teacher workforce. As of 2017, only 5% of Ohio's teachers identify as teachers of color. As more teachers from diverse backgrounds enter the teaching profession in Ohio, they will encounter mentors who do not look like them and may not understand some of their struggles. The purpose of this guide is to…