Though California's English Learner (EL) policies were developed in response to civil rights struggles for language access and equal educational opportunity, they are also conditioned by the history of U.S. settler and overseas conquest. This article presents a Critical Policy Analysis (CPA) of the California EL classification policies and…

The physics bachelor's class of 2016 represents yet another all-time high. There were 8,432 bachelor's degrees conferred, an increase of 4% from the previous year and a 131% increase from the recent low in 1999. First-year graduate physics student enrollments have remained at about 3,200 students for the last 5 years. The number of physics PhDs…

Drawing on a review of literature and telephone interviews of state agency staff in 25 states, the paper identifies traditional and emerging forms of state differential treatment of districts. The author discusses potential benefits and disadvantages of various approaches to differential treatment and suggests areas for further research. [This…

Seeking to understand the experiences of educators, families, and students in K-12 public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin-Minnesota Comprehensive Center (WMCC)--working with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)--has developed the Safe Learning Survey that is being conducted at three intervals: Winter (February), Spring…

Culturally Responsive, Embedded, Social and Emotional Learning (CRESEL) in Alaska integrated social and emotional learning (SEL), culturally responsive, and trauma-informed approaches in rural and frontier school districts. The evaluation of CRESEL included implementation and impact evaluations. The implementation evaluation found that most…

Workers serving Ohio's aging population will require increased levels of gerontological education. Using data from 55 Ohio counties, this project investigated the educational needs and reasons for seeking education from professionals in aging. Respondents reported interest in attaining aging related education. Preferred delivery methods included…

Alaska's School Climate and Connectedness Survey (SCCS) is a statewide survey developed by American Institutes for Research (AIR) in partnership with the Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB) in 2006. Through student and staff responses, it measures positive school climate, how connected students feel to adults and peers, social and emotional…

The utility of teacher evaluation depends on meaningful teacher engagement with evaluation processes. However, critics of traditional tenure policies suggest that tenure nullifies teacher engagement with practices to improve performance. This study investigates whether tenured teachers exhibit perceptions that reflect disengagement with evaluation…

An overview of the first five years of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study (LSES) is described. The longitudinal nature of the study has allowed the research team to develop an evolving methodology, one benefiting from prior external studies as well as prior phases of LSES. Practical implications and recommendations for future research are…

The primary aim of engagement in this phase was to gain input from a wide range of stakeholders that represented the diversity of the state. A multi-pronged approach was developed to structure engagement for the strategic planning process to ensure flexible, responsive and iterative communication with stakeholders. A combination of virtual and…

The "Nevada K-12 & School Choice Survey" project, commissioned by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and conducted by Braun Research, Inc. (BRI), measures Nevada registered voters' familiarity and views on a range of K-12 education topics and school choice reforms. The author and his colleagues report response levels and…

Recent decades have witnessed a proliferation of nationally organized school reform interest groups like StudentsFirst. While historically active at the state and federal levels, these organizations are increasingly involving themselves in local school board elections by recruiting candidates, making donations, and offering policy advice. However,…

Environmental education must be better integrated into K-12 curriculum to advance environmental literacy. Producing a citizenry that can understand and address the complex environmental issues facing the world today and in the future is essential to sustainable life on this planet. Using the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey, 6th grade…

The Teacher Compensation Survey (TCS) was a research and development effort by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to explore the possibility of developing an administrative records survey that would compile compensation and demographic data on all public school teachers in the nation. A pilot survey in 2007 collected data from…

Early childhood settings have the potential to support learners with diverse learning needs, including children with disabilities. However, if educators do not feel prepared to teach children with disabilities, this potential may not be fully realized. The current study examined early childhood educators' (n = 1,296) feelings of preparedness for…