The Colorado Re-Engaged (CORE) initiative, created under House Bill 21-1330, allows a four-year institution of higher education (IHE) to award an associate degree to former students who meet eligibility requirements -- including having already earned at least 70 credit hours before stopping-out of a bachelor's program. Under HB21-1330, each…

As superintendents steer their districts through uncharted territories, their experiences and strategies are key to transforming schools. This study employed transcendental phenomenology to explore how seven Virginia superintendents from two different regions described their experiences implementing novel cultural competency training. Data…

The implementation of equity-oriented reforms is never simply a technical matter: it involves directly engaging with the norms and politics responsible for reproducing inequitable opportunities and outcomes, and with efforts to promote educational justice. To date, there has been little research on how leaders in science education navigate the…

State law requires the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to annually report to the Legislature the number of schools participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). The report must identify barriers to participation and make recommendations to increase participation. The CEP…

Anti-LGBTQ+ school legislation has proliferated across the United States in recent years, with potential consequences for both students and school counselors. Florida's controversial 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act offers one such example. In this descriptive, phenomenological, qualitative study, we examined the experiences of 10 Florida…

This qualitative instrumental case study was designed to examine secondary teachers' perspectives of North Carolina's school-based mental health policy, known as SHLT003, which mandates all educators be trained in identifying, referring, and supporting, students showing signs of mental health issues, drug use, suicidal ideation, and sex…

California's Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) funds the implementation of programs for justice system--involved or at-promise youth (i.e., youth who are at risk of becoming involved in the justice system). In this report, the authors evaluated the implementation of programs run by three Los Angeles (L.A.) County agencies that receive…

This dissertation examines the impact of the Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey (TEACHNJ) Act on teacher tenure revocation in New Jersey. Employing a qualitative content analysis approach, the study analyzes 270 arbitration decisions from 2012 to 2023 to identify the specific legislative provisions that most…

Dual enrollment, also known as dual credit, allows students to take college courses during high school. Studies have shown that dual enrollment has a positive impact on students' educational attainment. However, dual enrollment is complicated to implement given that it requires a partnership between a high school or district and a postsecondary…

In 2022, Tennessee overhauled its education funding formula to improve outcomes for the 1 million students in the state. The Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement Act (TISA) was designed to simplify the existing funding formula and more equitably allocate resources to schools. Bellwether's case study, "After the Policy Win: First-Year…

Washington State's ClimeTime Network is a groundbreaking effort that has been implementing systemic capacity-building around climate science learning, as well as broader scientific literacy, for the past 6 years. This article provides an overview of the ClimeTime Network formation, framing, and implementation strengths and challenges.…

Purpose: We examine the ways state education agency (SEA) and local education agency (LEA) leaders interpret and use educational policy to guide the provision of services for multilingual students classified as English learners (ELs) in their contexts. Our inquiry focuses on the external factors leaders describe that either enable or constrain…

Research for Action (RFA) in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin is engaged in a five-year mixed-methods study of the reforms associated with California AB 705. Over the course of the study, our team will assess the implementation, impact, and cost effectiveness of reforms associated with the law. This second interim report,…

Research for Action (RFA) in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin is engaged in a five-year mixed-methods study of the reforms associated with California AB 705. Over the course of the study, our team will assess the implementation, impact, and cost effectiveness of reforms associated with the law. This report first offers a…

Social emotional learning (SEL) is a term that encompasses a set of essential life skills including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making (Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning [CASEL], 2024, para. 1). Despite growing interest, many school districts struggle with…