High-quality K-12 instructional materials can meaningfully improve teaching practice and student achievement, especially when paired with professional learning support. Yet state policymakers have usually left ultimate authority for textbook selection to school district leaders. Consequently, the quality of materials across U.S. classrooms and…

Education reform in the United States has unwisely focused attention on standards and accountability to the state as determined by standardized testing (Berliner & Biddle, 1995; Mehta, 2013). Stemming from the emphasis on standards-based accountability are the ideas of rapid school "turnaround" and the state's role in this process…

Research suggests that takeovers are not a silver bullet for improving struggling school systems. State takeovers of school districts have happened in all major regions of the country but disproportionately affect some types of communities more than others. There are two main reasons states typically give for enacting takeover: low academic…

State funding formulas shape how much money school districts have to spend, but districts usually have considerable discretion with how they distribute funds to schools. Because of this discretion, even if districts receive funds through a highly equitable state system, there is no guarantee that districts will distribute funding equitably to…

The Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center (OhSFEC) is implementing a comprehensive, scalable approach to enact state policy for family and school engagement at local levels. Joyce Epstein and Barbara Boone report how OhSFEC's research-based design, implementation, and evaluation of a leadership ladder has enabled state leaders to support…

This is the third whitepaper in the National Comprehensive Center's series on designing curricula for diversity. It provides state and local education leaders recommendations on the use of the Equity and Inclusion Framework for Curriculum Development in the design and adaptation of STEM+CS [science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and…

This report summarizes the findings of MA DESE's 2020 review of the Boston Public Schools, highlighting key findings around the teaching and learning, operational, financial, and enrollment challenges the state identified. It also describes why, according to the report, BPS persistently struggles in these areas and how its struggles negatively…

As districts across the country prepare for the upcoming school year, NSBA's legal team has produced a Q&A to assist state school boards associations and their members in responding to 11 common concerns regarding vaccination and schools.

Local school boards have primary authority for running educational systems in the U.S. but little is known empirically about the merits of this arrangement. State takeovers of struggling districts represent a rare alternative form of educational governance and have become an increasingly common response to low performance. However, limited…

This document provides an annotated list of Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center resources and federal partner resources. The resources are directed toward public health officials and K-12 planning teams on emergency operations plan development and preparing schools for before, during, and after an…

School-age youth receive educational services while in juvenile detention facilities, but how these services reach students varies by state. Recent studies and surveys provide insight on juvenile justice systems and the complexities for delivering educational services in detention facilities. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified persistent…

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Louisiana's Recovery School District took over responsibility for most of New Orleans' public schools. In 2018 the state takeover came to an end. For the first time since Katrina, nearly all of the city's public schools are in the hands of the Orleans Parish School Board. We set out to understand how the…

This brief is part of a four-part series examining the past, present, and future of modern school accountability systems. With the dual forces of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national call to action on racial inequity, the question of how we should measure and hold schools accountable for the impact they have on students is more urgent than ever.…

Learning how to read is not something that comes naturally. Many children need instruction from their teachers that follows the research on the most effective and efficient methods of teaching reading (often referred to as the "science of reading"). The path to literacy is supported by many actors, but states have a role in these four…

In fall 2020, parents found new ways to help their children learn amid uncertain school-district plans for school re-openings. The defining feature of the new education landscape emerging from the pandemic is that many families are no longer waiting for school-district solutions, and are giving themselves permission to choose how and where their…