Intermediary organizations play an increasingly important role in public policy related to higher education, particularly related to the completion agenda. This study addresses strategies employed by intermediary organizations to communicate to policymakers regarding college completion. Using rhetorical analysis, we examine 72 documents to…

The report contains real-world, proven school climate strategies to guide policymakers in building a comprehensive and coherent state-wide approach for improving school climate. It features 12 recommendations linked to existing state policy examples policymakers can use to build a comprehensive, coherent state-wide approach for improving school…

Teachers often do not interact with legislators when educational policy is being developed. As a way to facilitate more interaction between the two groups, scholars are calling for teacher leaders to step forward and participate in legislative advocacy. The invitation is not limited to in-service teacher leaders. Preservice teacher leaders can…

This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

The challenge of producing the systemic changes that are needed to boost educational attainment and economic competitiveness across the country falls heavily on entities that coordinate public postsecondary institutions. Coordination of postsecondary education, whether of a single system of institutions or across an entire state, requires…

Transmountain Early College High School (TMECHS) opened in August 2008, created by a partnership between the El Paso Community College (EPCC) and the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), and supported in its conceptualization, start-up, and first few years operation by grant funding and guidance from the Texas High School Project (THSP)…

College and career readiness has become a unifying principle for education reform leaders across the country. A majority of states have made it a top policy priority, with an increasing number of national foundations and education reform advocates supporting this work. To help state leaders build strategies for sustaining their education agendas…

While much has been written about state-level textbook selection and adoption, little careful, systematic data gathering has taken place. One result of this absence of formal study is that few people understand the scope and complexity of interacting persons and processes taking place whenever states make textbook decisions. This paper presents…

This paper explores the education policy adoption process in the Texas legislature and role of professional educators in influencing critical decisions relating to the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classes. This case study traced the wielders of power, power interactions, the actors and sources of their power, and…

A study examined the ways in which practitioners in four states were defining the terms coordination/cooperation/collaboration when directing the monies set aside in Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) funding for use in coordination among educators and job training providers. Case studies of the use of 8 percent set-aside monies were conducted in…

This case study describes and interprets the process through which State-level policy decisions are made for the public schools of Texas. The report begins with brief treatments of the socioeconomic environment and political culture within which education takes place. State governmental arrangements for public school policy are described, and four…

State policies and activities for systematizing work force development were examined through a survey completed by individuals involved in work force development in 40 states and case studies of policies and programs in Texas, Utah, Florida, and Michigan. Throughout all levels of government and the private sector, consensus that work force…

This document examines emerging issues and opportunities for community-based organization (CBO) involvement in welfare reform. The document begins with a brief section of background information on past CBO involvement in helping families move from welfare to work. The next section answers policy questions pertaining to the following issues: (1)…

Early state and local progress toward implementation of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) was reviewed. Data were collected through visits to selected sites in Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Vermont and a 90-item Workforce System Information and Evaluation (WSIE) data collection form. The following aspects of WIA…