Relationships between the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), arts education, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) have gone largely unexplored. The purpose of this article is to investigate how P-12 arts educators might use ESSA in support of new and existing SEL efforts and to examine how SEL might assist P-12 arts educators in meeting the…

During the 2022 legislative session, the Maryland state legislature passed the Early Childhood Development -- Child Care Scholarship Program -- Alterations and Study bill (Ch. 525 HB995/SB920). This bill required the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to complete a study on several key factors of the legislation on or before December 1,…

As advocates for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) believes fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is integral to ensuring a strong public education system that can deliver on the promise of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) as guaranteed by…

The purpose of this article is to describe the learnings of primary school teachers in rural Guatemala as a result of an action research experience. This experience took place in the context of the "Basic Education Quality and Transitions" activity, or BEQT, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and…

Because of the pandemic, many states will likely need to determine how they can best address shrinking revenues with the least harm to students, even as the needs of students have increased and the crisis has exposed gaping disparities. ExcelinEd, in partnership with a diverse group of organizations--the Aspen Institute, the District Management…

After decades of decline, Scranton can capitalize on the unprecedented federal emergency relief provided to schools and communities in the pandemic and its wake. To do so, Scranton must recognize and address the threat to the city's public school system. Great public schools are the lifeblood of any thriving community, attracting and retaining…

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's (Department's) fiscal year (FY) 2024 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, other external stakeholders, and the American people on how the Department used the federal resources entrusted to it to advance the mission of the Department to promote student…

Many welfare programs give greater benefits to unmarried individuals than to a married couple of otherwise identical income. The resulting marriage penalty discourages marriage and rewards single parenthood. Combined marriage penalties across federal and state welfare programs can reach tens of thousands of dollars per year for a given family. One…

Quality pre-primary education is widely recognized as crucial in providing children with the foundation to succeed, but many countries face obstacles in adequately funding scale-up of the pre-primary subsector. A major impediment to the expansion of early childhood education (ECE) is limited data on the cost-effectiveness of existing pre-primary…

Over the last decade, state efforts to build stronger data infrastructure and integrate data about early childhood services have continued to grow. A stronger data infrastructure supports states in more easily linking data across programs, which in turn makes it easier to analyze and use that data to answer important policy questions. An Early…

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated challenges in the early care and education (ECE) sector, including: preexisting structural flaws; insufficient funding mechanisms; sector fragmentation; inadequate support for the workforce; and inequalities, such as the lack of access to high-quality care among low-income, rural populations, and communities…

The development of the Regional Guidelines on Innovative Financing Mechanisms and Partnerships for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) was a joint initiative of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (UNESCO Bangkok) and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for Early Childhood Care Education…

The landscape of early childhood programs has evolved as a largely fractured landscape: most public early education programs such as Head Start and state pre-K have been limited to low-income children or children with identified risk factors, and most private programs charge tuition that is too low to support a well-compensated workforce but still…

In 2019, 46 states and territories are implementing Preschool Development Grants (PDGs), which will support states to do five broadly defined activities: 1. A Birth to Five Needs Assessment 2. A Birth to Five Strategic Plan 3. Maximizing Parent Knowledge and Choice 4. Sharing Best Practices 5. Improving Overall Quality. This brief starts by…

State-funded prekindergarten educational programming for all children is a rarity in the United States. Five states offer no financial support to fund prekindergarten educational programming, and the majority offer partial funding. Only three states provide universally funded prekindergarten educational programming. The purpose of this study is to…