Even in good economic times, many adults in the United States have trouble finding jobs that pay enough to support their families. One policy response has been to help these workers build more skills, with promising findings from some sector-based programs that train individuals to work in specific high-demand industries. The Pay for Success Clean…

This report illustrates the statewide implementation and effectiveness of school breakfast in Ohio. In the 2024-2025 school year, approximately 94% of Ohio schools with USDA nutrition programs serve breakfast. In the 2023-2024 school year, 27.2% of enrolled children participated in the School Breakfast Program and 54.5% participated in the…

This brief is designed for various stakeholders that work with youth with multiple system experiences, specifically for Title I, Part D State coordinators, State Agency and local program staff, Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) State coordinators and liaisons, and Title I, Part A Foster Care State Education Agencies (SEAs) and Local…

California recently committed to making prekindergarten (PreK) universal through the expansion of transitional kindergarten (TK) and other state-funded programs. Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, TK enrollment doubled, from about 75,000 to over 151,000 children. Approximately 59% of eligible 4-year-olds enrolled in TK in 2023-24. Across publicly funded…

This article describes two decades of workplace basic skills efforts in the United States (mid 1980s to early 2000s). Private- and public-sector groups defined the problem of inadequate basic skills in the incumbent workforce. They raised awareness of this problem as it affected various segments of the workforce and diverse industries. They…

Every year a subset of postsecondary students goes hungry and lacks stable shelter. Recent research has helped raise national awareness of basic needs insecurity on college campuses across the US. States and institutions of higher education have, until recently, been approaching the problem of student food insecurity in separate, sometimes…

A school facility's quality and accessibility have important impacts on schools' functionality to serve as places of high-quality education. While these challenges are familiar to most schools in the United States, charter schools are responsible for acquiring and paying for their educational facilities, a responsibility that local school…

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the Nation's largest domestic food and nutrition assistance program for Americans with low income. SNAP-Education, commonly referred to as SNAP-Ed, is the nutrition education arm of SNAP benefits. SNAP-Ed aims to help individuals stretch their food budget while also supporting a healthier…

About 19 million people submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year, making it one of the most commonly experienced federal administrative processes. The widespread reliance on the complicated form and underlying calculation of financial need have spurred efforts to simplify and improve the application process and…

The Mountain Plains Region (Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming), in partnership with the Southwest Region (Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas), have combined efforts to produce the first cross-regional Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed)…

This toolkit is intended to help states create career pathways systems that integrate and expand partnerships between state human service agencies and postsecondary systems and institutions so that more people who want to train for a quality career can do so. Career pathways partnerships can help community colleges and human services work better…

This document discusses a range of policy and practice options that states can undertake to increase college student access to public benefits. The Center for Law and Social Policy, Inc. (CLASP) has leveraged its hands-on policy and cross-issue technical assistance expertise to identify these options. Many states have already implemented one or…

In order to explore how early childhood Ojibwe language and culture programs could be scaled up with financial and governance support from state government agencies, Wilder Research explored the process of reclaiming Indigenous culture and language, how it is embedded into early childhood programs in Minnesota, how the state can deepen their…

This resource was prepared in response to a request from a Race to the Top -- Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) State for a high-level summary of the March 2016 research brief, "Coordinated Monitoring Systems for Early Care and Education" (see ED583970), prepared by Child Trends for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation…

This report urges states to participate in the State Wage Interchange System (SWIS), as it can aide states in satisfying Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) reporting requirements, and help states better understand whether former participants in workforce training and education programs are finding good jobs. SWIS is a data sharing…