A better understanding of factors influencing who receives disability support services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a Section 504 Accommodation Plan from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504 plan) and when is needed. This study used administrative data from11,405 students enrolled in 121 Baltimore City Schools (51% male; 85%…

In Maryland, one way children's well-being is measured is by looking at the data from the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA). While the data can illustrate how children perform on various indicators across language and literacy, mathematics, social foundations, and physical well-being and motor development, it is really a reflection of the…

Learning to read is an essential skill for later academic success, positive self-esteem, and gainful employment. Students who display reading difficulties/disabilities at the end of third grade are less likely to succeed in content areas and graduate from high school. Recent data suggests that many students in today's schools do not become skilled…

Student-teacher relationship quality (STRQ) influences a variety of student outcomes, including academic, social, and behavioral functioning (McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015). Less is known about the importance of STRQ for preschool students with disabilities. Many studies are conducted with school-aged, typically developing students (Ansari et…

In Maryland, one way children's well-being is measured is by looking at the data from the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA). While the data can illustrate how children perform on various indicators across language and literacy, mathematics, social foundations, and physical well-being and motor development, it is really a reflection of the…

Beginning in the fall of 2017, Maryland severely restricted the use of out-of-school suspensions in grades PK-2. The policy presented a valuable opportunity to examine the effects of state-level discipline policies. This study researched the effects of the suspension ban on student discipline outcomes (e.g., number and frequency of different…

Access to high-quality early care and education (ECE) supports healthy child development, accelerates academic achievement, reduces educational inequality, and catalyzes economic growth. The benefits of ECE are even greater among economically disadvantaged children, children with disabilities, and multilingual learners. However, despite these…

The READ Act is the signature literacy legislation in Colorado that prioritizes early literacy by ensuring all students achieve early-grade reading proficiency for later academic success. In 2019, the Colorado General Assembly passed significant revisions to the READ Act in Senate Bill 19-199 (S.B. 19-199), which were signed into law by the…

The Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act is the signature literacy statute in Colorado. The READ Act prioritizes early literacy by ensuring all students achieve early-grade reading proficiency for later academic success. In 2019, the Colorado General Assembly passed revisions to the READ Act in S.B. 19-199, which were signed into law…

The federal McKinney-Vento Act broadly defines homelessness in an effort to provide protections and supports for students living in a variety of unstable housing situations. This ensures school stability and continued enrollment at a time when a student's nighttime residence may be constantly changing. In Washington, the number of children and…

The Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act (the READ Act) passed 10 years ago and provided Colorado educators with a roadmap for grade level reading by third grade. Over the past decade, there have been many opportunities to learn and evolve the state's implementation of this key legislation. With an emphasis on early identification…

While school choice has been well studied, there is little existing research exploring the role of transportation, in general, and school buses, in particular, to school choice decisions. We examine the effect of school buses on school choice decisions using data on kindergarten students and their eligibility for transportation assistance in New…

The federal McKinney-Vento Act defines homelessness broadly in an effort to provide protections and supports for students living in a variety of unstable housing situations. This ensures school stability and continued enrollment at a time when a student's nighttime residence may be constantly changing. In Washington, the number of children and…

The persistence of underperformance in schools within large urban districts remains a significant challenge in the U.S. K-12 education system. Education policymakers have enacted legislation aiming at improving these schools through "turnaround" initiatives. However, students attending underperforming schools face multifaceted challenges…

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are school-based preventive interventions that aim to improve children's social-emotional skills and behavioral development. Although meta-analytic research has shown that SEL programs can improve academic and behavioral outcomes in the short term, few studies have examined program effects on receipt of…