Many states report school performance grades as a way to inform the public about school quality. However, past research has shown that when these grades drew largely on proficiency-based measures, they served to capture variation in school and community demographics rather than school quality. We extend this literature by examining whether a…

Background and Context: Statewide test-based accountability in the United States began with minimum competency assessments in public schools during the 1970s, starting in Florida and other Southern states. Controversies over IQ (intelligence quotient) testing contributed to the development of "criterion-referenced" exams that became the…

Approximately 1.3 million K-12 public school students across the United States were identified as experiencing homelessness in 2019-20. In all cases, the stress, instability, trauma, and school mobility created by homelessness increase risks to physical, social, and emotional health and to educational engagement and achievement. Districts play an…

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law by the president just over six months ago, represents a rare opportunity for governors to leverage federal education funds largely unencumbered by prescriptive federal rules. The bill appropriated $16.2 billion for K-12 education, and Congress astutely set aside $3…

For the past several decades, the construct of parent involvement (PI) has framed much of the literature on school-family-community partnerships. In this study, the authors used a qualitative form of meta-analysis called "thematic synthesis" to explore a programmatic alternative to conventional PI known as "collective parent…

This Wallace "Perspective" delves into what makes for a high-quality, voluntary summer learning program, one that provides children from disadvantaged communities with engaging academics as well as stimulating enrichment activities during the interval between the end of the school year and back-to-school time. Interest in these programs…

One of the modifications of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (known as the No Child Left Behind Act) gave parents of low-income students in low-performing schools a choice of Supplemental Educational Services (SEdS). SEdS include tutoring or other academic support services offered outside the regular school day, at no charge to students…

The Every Student Succeeds Act prohibits the federal government from requiring the use of student achievement data for teacher accountability purposes. As states grapple with what to do about teacher accountability, it is critical to examine policy influences on a) the equitable distribution of effective teachers; and b) how teacher accountability…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) submits this report to the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions pursuant to section 649(l)(3) of the Head Start Act (the Act). This report contains findings based on data collected on the U.S. Department of…

This report provides information on enrollment in the Texas public school system from the 2012-13 through 2022-23 school years, based on data collected through the Texas Student Data System. Enrollment data are provided by grade, race/ethnicity, gender, and economically disadvantaged status, and for instructional programs, nontraditional school…

This report provides information on enrollment in the Texas public school system from the 2011-12 through 2021-22 school years, based on data collected through the Texas Student Data System. Enrollment data are provided by grade, race/ethnicity, gender, and economically disadvantaged status, and for instructional programs, nontraditional school…

This report provides information on enrollment in the Texas public school system from the 2010-11 through 2020-21 school years, based on data collected through the Texas Student Data System. Enrollment data are provided by grade, race/ethnicity, gender, and economically disadvantaged status, and for instructional programs, nontraditional school…

This report provides information on enrollment in the Texas public school system from the 2009-10 through 2019-20 school years, based on data collected through the Texas Student Data System. Enrollment data are provided by grade, race/ethnicity, gender, and economically disadvantaged status, and for instructional programs, nontraditional school…

This paper considers why the International Baccalaureate--a prestigious international education program--is currently being incorporated into magnet schools in the United States. Since the mid-1980s, when school choice policy took root the number of magnet schools climbed and a growing number of them incorporated the International Baccalaureate…

The author reports on a new study which reveals that the lowest-performing public K-8 schools often linger in that state for years, neither improving enough to get off accountability life support nor being shuttered completely. The study adds that persistently failing charter schools fare no better than regular public schools. Of 2,025 chronically…