Written especially for state policy makers, administrators and advocates, this brief is our fifth annual examination of state attendance data, policy, and practices. It is based on a review of websites for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., as well as a survey completed by 49 states and Washington, D.C. State leaders, especially in state…

Many of the Bureau of Indian Education's (BIE) 183 schools are located in remote tribal lands that faced extraordinary challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to experience ongoing effects. Congress appropriated about $1.5 billion to help BIE and its schools respond to the pandemic. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO)…

Outstanding Higher Education Act (HEA) Title IV federal student loan debt exceeds $1.6 trillion and is owed by about 45 million borrowers. In August 2022, the Biden Administration announced it would invoke the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act) to cancel, on a one-time basis, up to $20,000 in qualifying…

Education today is evolving to foster essential psychosocial skills like creativity, critical thinking, and responsibility, equipping students for 21st-century challenges. However, it is crucial to examine the motivations driving these changes and their alignment with broader societal goals beyond merely economic interests. This article explores…

The primary source of federal aid to elementary and secondary education is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The ESEA was initially adopted in 1965 (P.L. 89-10), and was most recently reauthorized and amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; P.L. 114-95), which authorized appropriations for ESEA programs through FY2020.…

Recent higher education accountability policies and proposals have often linked programs' or institutions' federal aid access to students' postcompletion earnings. But proposals differ regarding when to measure earnings. Policymakers may want to know how fast earnings typically grow and when in an individual's career earnings growth rates change.…

A well-designed accountability policy has four essential elements: (1) it's grounded in the belief that all students can learn and succeed; (2) it measures the academic progress of all students by campus and district over time; (3) it highlights gaps between different groups of students; and (4) it provides support and assigns consequences to…

Every state's juvenile justice system is meant to rehabilitate young people -- and high-quality education is a key part of that goal. Young people who are incarcerated do not lose their rights to educational opportunity and have the same protections as their peers in traditional school settings, including access to interventions like special…

This playbook provides ways in which Governors and teams can blur the lines between high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce. Governors play a significant role to Raise the Bar for student success by developing an "education-to-workforce system" that focuses on Unlocking Career Success.

Students need far more than traditional academic skills to succeed in school, work and civic life. Decades of discussion about the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that facilitate success in the information age have produced consensus that students should learn 21st century competencies. However, many schools struggle to meaningfully…

During the 118th Congress, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce marked up and ordered reported the College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA; H.R. 6951). Most of the bill's provisions would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended), though it is not a comprehensive reauthorization of the HEA. Nevertheless, the bill…

This statutory report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) from April 1, 2024, through September 30, 2024. The audits, investigations, and related work highlighted in the report are products of OIG's mission to identify and stop fraud, waste, and abuse; and promote…

This statutory report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) from October 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. The audits, investigations, and related work highlighted in this report are products of OIG's mission to identify and stop fraud, waste, and abuse; and promote…

Behaviour Hubs is a one-year programme of support (two years for multi-academy trusts [MATs]), available across England to mainstream primary and secondary schools, special schools and alternative provisions (such as pupil referral units). It aims to help senior leaders create the conditions for an effective and sustainable behaviour culture…

This statutory report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) from October 1, 2023, through March, 2024. The audits, investigations, and related work highlighted in the report are products of OIG's mission to identify and stop fraud, waste, and abuse; and promote…