Innovation in education is vital for responding to emerging challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and for building progress on longstanding challenges in schools. The infusion of substantial, highly flexible pots of federal relief dollars created an opportunity to pilot new programs and initiatives. Many states and districts opted to invest…

While urban charter schools are achieving impressive gains, can charter schools improve outcomes for rural America? This topic is an important one with more than 11 million students attending rural schools and facing lower college enrollment than their urban peers. The National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC) presents "Harvesting…

Career and technical education (CTE) programs of study are subject to rigorous state and federal accountability systems that provide information on key student outcomes. However, while these outcome measures can form a basis for identifying high- and low-performing programs, they are insufficient for answering underlying questions about how or why…

An increasing number of states are mandating teacher performance be considered in educator employment decisions, including awarding tenure and layoffs, according to a 50-state policy review of teacher tenure laws. Tenure laws have historically granted job protections based on years of employment. The Education Commission of the States (ECS)…

Each year, governors take the stage to highlight accomplishments and outline policy priorities for their states. In an effort to provide up-to-date information on education policy trends, Education Commission of the States tracks all education policy proposals and accomplishments featured by governors in these State of the State addresses. At the…

In 2006, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) and its Teacher Leaders Network (TLN) successfully launched the TeacherSolutions initiative--a unique approach to elevating the voices of accomplished teachers on policy issues affecting their profession and the students they serve. In the inaugural TeacherSolutions project, 18 of the nation's best…

This article addresses the design and application of cost adjustments in state school finance policies intended to compensate local public school districts for differences in the costs of recruiting and retaining teachers. Broadly speaking, the state policy objective for including cost adjustments to state aid for such things as teacher cost…

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) leads a Mission Growth Working Group, which consists of states that are significantly impacted by the growth of military bases. The group includes state representatives appointed by the governors of Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,…

A problem in American education is that rural schools have difficulty recruiting licensed teachers. Teacher shortages in mathematics, science, foreign language, and special education are more acute in rural areas. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive survey study was to examine specific recruiting strategies and newly hired licensed…

For over 30 years, researchers and practitioners have identified challenges unique to small, rural community colleges. The purpose of this study was to examine the distinctive problems facing rural community colleges today and the challenges those institutions must address to fulfill their mission in rural America. There are 5 current challenges…

This Kansas edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on teacher…

This paper provides tips and resources for the recruitment, selection, and induction of teachers and other school personnel. These materials were developed with rural and small schools in mind; some resources focus on Kansas. Means of recruitment are discussed, including internal search, referrals, college and university placement services,…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Kansas edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…

THE KANSAS PLAN IS DESIGNED TO HELP ESTABLISH NEW LOCAL ADULT BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS, AND TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE EXISTING ONES. INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT WILL INCLUDE READING AND WRITING, SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS, CITIZENSHIP, CONSUMER EDUCATION, HUMAN RELATIONS, AND FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION. EARLY STAGES OF PLANNING (TO JUNE 30, 1966) WILL STRESS…

Rural Kansas schools facing financial problems and demands for more accountability must cooperate to survive. Smoky Hill Education Service Center, representing 45 school districts, provides on-site staff development and online classes for students and staff, maintains a multimedia library, has a cooperative purchasing program, provides…