In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 schools are under immense pressure to meet the diverse needs of students. But policies and practices have not evolved quickly enough to meet those needs -- and as a result, the system continues to fail far too many young people. In "Levers of Change: How State Policies Support District…

This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

Background: School environment and policy changes have increased healthy eating and physical activity; however, there has been modest success in translating research ?ndings to practice. The School Environment Project tested whether an adapted version of Intervention Mapping (AIM) resulted in school change. Methods: Using a pair randomized design,…

Pedagogical and scholarly representations of collaborative writing and knowledge construction in technical communication have traditionally recognized consensus as the logical outcome of collaborative work, even as scholars and teachers have acknowledged the value of conflict and "dissensus" in the process of collaborative knowledge…

Colorado's Public School Finance Act of 1988 directed all public school districts to implement state goals for improving achievement, graduation, and attendance rates. Districts and individual schools were required to develop accountability committees involving parents, staff, students, and community members in planning and evaluating school and…

As the sun, moon, and stars helped sea captains to navigate, policy (defined as a formalized idea to encourage change) indicates general direction and speed but does not establish a specific approach to achieve implementation. Formal and informal policies have advantages and disadvantages. These are steps in navigating policy formation: identify…

This paper is one in a series of research papers related to the state role in youth employment and training. It describes seven state-sponsored youth employment and training programs, representing a varied range of approaches that states have undertaken to address their youth employment problems. The first section of this paper provides capsule…

This document is one of three publications designed to establish guidelines for the elimination of sex bias and sex stereotyping and the establishment of sex fairness in vocational education programs in Colorado. Intended as a general reference, it provides background information about the problem and supplies a rationale for the institution of…