Building stronger relationships between families and schools is increasingly identified as a way to address many vexing issues--teacher shortages, chronic absenteeism, lingering academic and social-emotional effects of COVID-19, and perceived divisions between parents and educators. Because policies and practices around family engagement vary…

Purpose: Our purpose was to gather and evaluate accurate, up-to-date information on physical education (PE) policy implementation across multiple U.S. states and regions. Methods: A U.S. Physical Education and Physical Activity Policy questionnaire was developed and completed by 4,845 public-school PE teachers from 25 U.S. states. The U.S.…

This paper provides an analysis of government-supported workforce development programs in the United States and selected states as of the end of 2024. We provide an overview of the topic of workforce development, defining this to include activities and funding mechanisms that aim to increase the skills of workers and help them succeed in the labor…

Cynthia Coburn, in her 2016 article in the "American Journal of Education"--"What's Policy Got to Do With It?"--states that the field of policy implementation suffers from the propensity to learn the same lessons over and over again. This repetition of mistakes, I argue, stems from a failure to account for predictable patterns…

Cynthia Coburn, in her 2016 article in the "American Journal of Education"--''What's Policy Got to Do With It?''--states that the field of policy implementation suffers from the propensity to learn the same lessons over and over again. This repetition of mistakes, I argue, stems from a failure to account for predictable patterns in how…

Many social policy and education programs start from the assumption that people act in their best interest. But behavioral science shows that people often weigh intuition over reason, make inconsistent choices, and put off big decisions. The individuals and families who need services and the staff who provide them are no exception. From city…

The report contains real-world, proven school climate strategies to guide policymakers in building a comprehensive and coherent state-wide approach for improving school climate. It features 12 recommendations linked to existing state policy examples policymakers can use to build a comprehensive, coherent state-wide approach for improving school…

Since 2013, states have witnessed significant legislative activity related to secondary- and postsecondary-level career/technical education (CTE). One key goal of much recent policymaking activity has been to improve alignment between high school and postsecondary CTE programs, including by developing state or regional structures to design career…

The challenge of producing the systemic changes that are needed to boost educational attainment and economic competitiveness across the country falls heavily on entities that coordinate public postsecondary institutions. Coordination of postsecondary education, whether of a single system of institutions or across an entire state, requires…

In their 2004 State of the State speeches, the nation's governors cited many issues competing for their attention and their states' resources, including health care, education, crime, and security (Nodine 2004). Among the most compelling challenges were those related to economic development and the ability of a state's workforce to meet the needs…

This document examines strategies for preventing working families and disadvantaged youth from needing cash assistance and becoming dependent on welfare. The document begins with a brief discussion of the tenuous nature of the boundary between families who need public assistance and families who don't and factors contributing to welfare…

This document examines emerging issues and opportunities for community-based organization (CBO) involvement in welfare reform. The document begins with a brief section of background information on past CBO involvement in helping families move from welfare to work. The next section answers policy questions pertaining to the following issues: (1)…

Research examining the impact of arts education on workforce preparation has confirmed that programs incorporating the arts can be educational, developmentally rich, and cost-effective ways of providing students with the skills needed for productive participation in today's economy. Arts education has been shown to help students develop basic,…

The effectiveness of state enterprise zone programs was examined by using a hypothetical-firm model called the Tax and Incentives Model-Enterprise Zones (TAIM-ez) model to analyze the value of enterprise zone incentives to businesses across the United States and especially in the 13 states that had substantial enterprise zone programs by 1990. The…