The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with an increasingly authoritarian presidential administration, is challenging the nation, institutions, even individual citizens with a fundamental stress test, raising the question whether basic principles, institutions and values will survive this crisis intact. The rule of law, and the respect citizens have for…

This study contributes one of the first explorations into how provincial governments shaped the WCU building discourse in tandem with universities. Using a resource dependence approach and insights from institutional isomorphism, it develops a conceptual framework with three perspectives (national government, provincial governments and…

This study used the historical research method to explore the Chinese government's role in building world-class universities. We traced the government's role in pushing policies for: (1) accelerating academic improvement; and (2) enhancing the involvement of provincial governments in achieving universities' world-class status. The findings…

This dissertation was prepared to determine if a correlation existed between a student's poverty level and an educational diagnosis of serious emotional disturbance. I hypothesize that students at or under the United States' definition of poverty are more likely to exhibit signs and symptoms of a serious emotional disturbance and therefore be…

Our systematic, unapologetic, and Black education-focused literature review sought to examine how educational researchers, Black teachers, and Black students describe and co-imagine educational policies that advance Black liberatory pedagogies and practices. Our work addresses a need in educational policy studies to shift paradigms and invites…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) invited states to use multiple measures of "higher-order thinking skills and understanding," including "extended-performance tasks," to create state assessment systems that support teaching for deeper learning. However, few states have been able to navigate federal assessment requirements…

In the United States, higher education institutions must be authorized as postsecondary education providers -- through a process known as state authorization -- to be eligible to receive federal student financial aid funds. Through state authorization policies, state governments play a key role in maintaining accountability for higher education.…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act allows states some autonomy in altering the disability category terminology and definitions, given that the changes do not exclude students eligible under the federal language. Several states have used this flexibility for the emotional disturbance category historically. This study provides a…

Over the past 80 years' university administrators have exhibited flexibility in their responses to evolving government funding patterns. One possible factor in these changes is the consequences of policy decisions at the federal and state government levels that have resulted in institution wide policy decisions in colleges and universities. These…

Mental health supports for students refers to a broad range of wraparound services and interventions provided by schools to support students' social, emotional, and mental well-being. Access to high-quality, culturally responsive mental health supports in schools is critical to students' long-term growth and development. This brief lays out the…

The Bring Bobcats Back program was established at Texas State University in 2018 for students who had "stopped out" to return and finish their degrees. Bring Bobcats Back has expanded thanks to federal and state grant funding born out of the pandemic. Through the U.S. Department of Education's Stabilization Fund Program via the…

This document records testimony from a hearing before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary Education of the Committee on Education and the Workforce that was held to examine school choice. Opening statements were provided by: (1) Honorable Aaron Bean, Chairman, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary…

There is a growing call to reconsider current approaches to national and state assessment system policies and practices. State and local education agency leaders, educators, community leaders, and advocates have voiced concerns that current state assessment systems--defined primarily by end-of-year multiple-choice tests--are unable to meet…

The role of the school leader is changing, as increasing regulatory obligations in the form of federal, state, and local mandates impact a principal's ability to make autonomous decisions. Autonomy, or the ability to self-direct and make independent decisions, is a leadership aspect that fosters communal relationships; autonomy for school leaders…

Student, family, and community engagement is an important ingredient to foster students' social, emotional, and academic development (SEAD). In this brief, the importance and impact of meaningful engagement--building personal relationships, trust, and mutual respect between students and their educators, families, and communities--is described, and…