This brief summarizes a study of five school districts that have been recognized for their efforts to provide high-quality services to students experiencing homelessness. The districts worked hard to identify students experiencing homelessness and supplemented modest federal funds with private funding, district funding, community-based resources,…

Across the country, millions of students that were expected to enroll in school last Fall did not show up. Public schools are searching for these "missing students" and working to get them back to school, either virtually or brick and mortar. The enrollment drop stands to impact more than just the missing students. Education funding…

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 Career and Technical Education (CTE) playbook series has explored strategies and processes states can use to strengthen CTE program quality and provide students with pathways to postsecondary credentialing and middle- and higher wage career opportunities. In the first three CTE Playbooks, ExcelinEd provided a high-level view of how states can…

The state of Florida has taken an unprecedented approach to teacher professional development in its Race to the Top (RTTT) Program application by proposing to promote an international innovation that originates in Japan, "lesson study," as a statewide teacher professional development model. Since winning the US$700 million RTTT funding…

Summer learning loss creates a permanent drag on the US education system. With the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) developed "Moving Summer Learning Forward: A Strategic Roadmap for Funding in Tough Times" to provide out-of-school time programs, school districts,…

This report examines the structure of school transportation systems, the surrounding regulatory landscape, school transportation funding mechanisms, student safety, the impact of school choice, the growing need for school transportation data, and school transportation's effect on the environment. Drawing from these various perspectives, it asks…

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…

Parental demand for charter schools is at an all-time high. The goal of a high-performing charter school policy is to increase access to the best charter schools by identifying schools with a demonstrated record of improving student learning and giving those schools the opportunity to grow. This policy overview document introduces charter schools,…

Scaling of evidence-based practices in education has received extensive discussion but little empirical evaluation. We present here a descriptive summary of the experience from seven states with a history of implementing and scaling School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) over the past decade. Each state has been…

STEM--shorthand for "science, technology, engineering, and mathematics"--has been part of the school improvement discussion for more than a decade, as educational leaders and policy makers have underscored the importance of these areas in an internationally competitive, 21st-century economy. But building and implementing programs that…

As numerous studies from 1906 on have confirmed, children lose ground in learning if they lack opportunities for building skills over the summer. Nonetheless, summer learning loss comes up but rarely in the national discussion of education reform. By the end of summer, students perform on average one month behind where they left off in the spring.…

STEM--the catchy shorthand for "science, technology, engineering and mathematics"--has been part of the school improvement discussion for more than a decade, as educational leaders and policy makers have underscored the importance of these areas in preparing students for an internationally competitive, 21st-century economy. But while the…

School funding has become an increasingly volatile issue in Florida and nationwide over the past year. In 2011, the state of Florida cut $1.4 billion from public education as part of an effort to balance the budget during an economic downturn without increasing tax revenues. In Duval County, that translated to a $91 million shortfall and several…

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV)" continues a longstanding federal investment in career and technical education (CTE) through grants to states and subgrants to local entities such as local education agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs). As the fourth reauthorization of a…