States and districts use career pathways in a variety of ways, in a variety of settings, and under vastly different circumstances to give young people access to meaningful careers and stable lives. In this report, the authors conducted case studies of career pathways initiatives in Texas, Ohio, and Colorado to better understand the triumphs and…

This study examines implementation of college-and-career-ready (CCR) education standards across five school districts in Ohio, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. Drawing on the policy attributes theory, we found that the specificity of districts' approaches to two long-recognized policy levers, curriculum and professional…

Using state-representative surveys of teachers and 94 interviews with state leaders and educators from 2016 to 2019, the authors examine perceptions of the policy environments for instructional content standards in Texas and Ohio and their association with teachers' practice. They find that Texas teacher perceive their policy environments for…

This playbook provides ways in which Governors and teams can blur the lines between high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce. Governors play a significant role to Raise the Bar for student success by developing an "education-to-workforce system" that focuses on Unlocking Career Success.

This study identifies seven major trends in how states and districts are implementing college- and career-ready standards for general education students and for two special populations often the target of education policy--English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities (SWDs). We draw on state-representative teacher, principal,…

This study identifies seven major trends in how states and districts are implementing college- and career-ready standards for general education students and for two special populations often the target of education policy--English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities (SWDs). We draw on state-representative teacher, principal,…

This brief tells the story of Lumina Foundation's and states' efforts to promote an equity agenda for higher education, featuring the 2015 Equity Policy Academy-- which focused on improving educational equity for students from historically underserved groups--as a turning point. Based primarily on interviews with Lumina staff and key state leaders…

This study explores the outcomes of policy implementation from the perspective of the policy makers and the educators who are charged with implementation, specifically examining the decision-making process for district leaders during implementation. The study identifies the outcomes from the perspective of the policy-maker utilizing accountability…

In the United States most teacher compensation issues are decided at the school district level. However, a group of states have chosen to play a role in teacher pay decisions by instituting statewide teacher salary schedules. Education Commission of the States has found that 17 states currently make use of teacher salary schedules. This education…

Is the Common Core really "dead"? Though no longer called the Common Core in our three study states, the "new" college-and-career readiness standards still guide much of education policy in Texas, Ohio, and Kentucky. In our new feature article in "Educational Researcher," lead author Dr. Laura Desimone, along with…

From 2016 through 2019, 10 states strengthened their career readiness systems through the New Skills for Youth initiative (NSFY), a $75 million national investment by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to enhance state efforts to increase the number of learners across the country who are prepared for success in both college and career. As part of this…

Effective teachers can have a significant impact on student success; unfortunately, low-income students, students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities are more likely to be assigned to unqualified, less experienced, and less effective teachers. Inequitable access to effective educators is one contributing factor that…

In 2012, five foundations launched the Credit When Its Due (CWID) initiative that was "designed to encourage partnerships of community colleges and universities to significantly expand programs that award associate degrees to transfer students when the student completes the requirements for the associate degree while pursuing a bachelor's…

This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

Five-plus years into the experiment with new "college- and career-ready standards" (of which Common Core is the most notable and most controversial example), we know little about teachers' implementation and the ways policy can support that implementation. This paper uses new state-representative teacher survey data to characterize the…