Grow Your Own (GYO) programs are an increasingly popular strategy for strengthening and diversifying the teacher workforce. By focusing on recruiting and preparing teachers from the community for the community, GYO programs are highly localized and designed to meet the needs of teacher candidates and the school systems where they will work. This…

In 2008, Maine implemented the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit (EOTC), a tax credit that repays up to $4,400 of student loan debt to filers who live in Maine, work in Maine, are paying towards their student debt, and who have an eligible degree. In 2019, Maine Revenue Services (MRS) provided 14,341 EOTC tax credits to 19,798 people, with annual…

To identify the state-level policies and policy domains that state policymakers and advocates perceive as most important for positively impacting the use of children's mental health services (CMHS). We used a modified Delphi technique (i.e., two rounds of questionnaires and an interview) during Spring 2021 to elicit perceptions among state mental…

In 2019, the Texas legislature passed a historic education finance bill that included an initiative to add up to 30 days to the school-year calendar. One way districts can do this is to offer a voluntary summer learning program. In 2020, the American Institutes for Research, with support from The Wallace Foundation, launched the six-year Texas…

The job of the school principal has become much more complex and demanding over the past several decades. Many university-based principal preparation programs -- which prepare the majority of school principals -- have struggled with how to make the fundamental changes needed to prepare principals for today's schools. This report shares lessons…

This report in brief shares findings from the RAND Corporation's five-year study of The Wallace Foundation's University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI). The job of the school principal has become much more complex and demanding over the past several decades. Many university-based principal preparation programs (PPPs)--which prepare the…

As American teacher educators and teachers are being roiled by restrictive legislation around critical race theory and divisive concepts in some states, our investigation explored the impact of critical communities of practice (CoP) on redesigning and teaching introduction to education courses with a transformative lens. This manuscript details…

Research for Action has studied statewide Promise programs since 2017, with in-depth analysis in four states--Delaware, Nevada, Oregon, and Tennessee. Our research in these states includes an extensive review of legislative and policy documents; 146 interviews with policymakers, institutional leaders, and high school staff; site visits to 8…

Research increasingly highlights the significant benefits of multilingual instructional programs for English Learners. Yet, these programs remain relatively rare across California. Regional and local practitioners play an essential role in driving meaningful change by implementing strategies that enhance these programs--ultimately improving the…

Although multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems have gained popularity in the United States, few studies have examined their implementation or how they are shaped by organizational context. New Orleans provides a strategic case to examine the enactment of a state teacher evaluation policy in a highly decentralized setting with variation in…

With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states gain considerably more authority and autonomy over the design of school accountability systems. This shift in responsibility creates the opportunity for states to reimagine new accountability models that align to goals of college and career readiness for all students and to move…

This brief is based on the report "Next Generation Accountability: A Vision for School Improvement Under ESSA," which offers alternatives to single accountability indicators that are inadequate for supporting the dual goals of deeper learning and college- and career-ready graduates. With the impending implementation of the Every Student…

This article reports an analysis of RTI information provided on the websites of all 50 State Departments of Education, based on the assumption that school districts rely on this information when developing their RTI programs. Our analysis revealed little consistency in (a) the methods used to identify students to be served in RTI interventions,…

Increasing criticism of practicing educational leaders has led to additional critiques of the university programs in which they are prepared. In response, many states have mandated statewide university preparation program redesign. The articles in this special issue describe five unique cases of principal preparation program redesign--including…

In 2004, the New Jersey Department of Education issued a mandate to the 17 leadership preparation program providers to revise their leadership preparation programs after completing a critical friends review. This case study explores the challenges, programmatic, and political experiences of one preparation program as state support dwindled.…