While the statewide trends and disparities suggest that the rate of lost instruction in California due to out-of-school suspension (OSS) is about where it was before the COVID-19 school closures, this is the first report to highlight how post-COVID suspensions in 2021-2022 have added to the pandemic's harmful impact of instructional loss,…

This manuscript explores how the changing policy context of common standards may have influenced the provision of curriculum materials in the United States. Many educational reforms do little to change the nature of classroom instruction, and prior research has argued that this constancy is, at least in part, due to the common use of instructional…

In July 2018, the Congress passed and President Trump signed into law the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (PL 115-224), a measure to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (the Perkins Act). The reauthorized statute, known as "Perkins V," gives states added…

Early literacy has been elevated by governors across the nation as an indicator of success in school and in life. The 2019 Governor's Pocket Guide to Early Literacy underscores the importance of early literacy with compelling state examples of outcomes, initiatives and investments in early reading. This version is a brief, digestible guide that…

Rapid adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Race to the Top (RTTT) competition, and backlash around these policies created widespread uncertainty among state educational agencies (SEAs). SEAs may have not had a clear direction about how to support standards implementation in a new context, and therefore, may have looked to their…

Addressing teacher shortages has been a persistent concern among leaders in schools, districts, state education agencies, and the federal government. This report describes an approach to identifying patterns of teacher shortages that was collaboratively developed by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Regional…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has solicited public comment on pandemic-related revisions to its important "Learning Time" regulation, 603 CMR 27.00. The revisions establish baseline procedural and substantive requirements for in-person, hybrid, and remote learning. Appreciating that the…

Strategic Performance Management (SPM) is a multistep process that guides an organization's leadership in designing and revising a system of strategic performance management. Communication is key to the success of any change initiative. SPM provides a logically coherent process for linking strategic planning with performance management, ultimately…

Purpose: This paper is one of seven in this volume elaborating different approaches to quality improvement in education. This paper aims to delineate a methodology called Deliverology. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the origins, theoretical foundations, core principles and a case study showing an application of Deliverology in the…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires state education agencies (SEAs) to collaborate with school districts, civil rights organizations, principals, teachers, "other school leaders," parents, and "stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities, English language learners, and other vulnerable…

Many state funding programs are intended to reach directly to students, but in reality funds must go through school districts, which have considerable freedom in how they allocate resources. As such, states have a strong interest in ensuring that districts invest in strategies that are backed by evidence and create opportunity for all students.…

Through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), states received an amount of federal funds to address the educational needs of students during and after the pandemic. The stimulus funds created both opportunities and challenges for state educational agencies (SEAs). This brief highlights how the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) has used several…

The purpose of this study was to explore the decision-making processes of Individual Education Program team members, who are responsible for making accommodation decisions for students with disabilities in the classroom and for state standardized tests. Students with disabilities consistently underperform in achievement compared to their peers…

The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) aims to increase the number of students with disabilities who achieve positive post-school outcomes and engage in higher education or competitive employment opportunities. Through their State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) and State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG), Alabama is focusing on…

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was adopted by the California Legislature in 2013. The LCFF made fundamental changes in the way the state funds school districts and charter schools (Local Education Authorities or LEAs), shifting decisions about how to spend resources from the state to the local level. The LCFF also introduced a new…