The primary purpose of this guidebook is to support a learning community that promotes the growth, quality, and sustainability of Community Schools across Wisconsin. This document provides an overview of Community School models and supports, including: a list of the current districts implementing Community Schools in Wisconsin; information on how…

The purpose of this survey study was to investigate the perceptions of music teachers in the state of Wisconsin about their use of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in music classrooms. One hundred seventy-nine music educators completed the survey. Music teachers indicated that many of them do not have access to student IEPs and that…

Across American higher education, institutional consolidations are on the rise. In particular, multiple state systems have proposed or completed mergers of regional universities and/or community colleges with the stated goal of increasing efficiency. Despite the high-profile nature of some recent successful and failed consolidations, there is…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced school districts and state education agencies (SEAs) across the country to pivot abruptly to universal K12 remote learning. In Wisconsin, Emergency Order #1 required all public and private schools in the state to close as of March 18th, 2020 and remain closed through the end of the school year. The effort to…

As colleges focus more on centering equity in their structures, processes, and policies on campus, they are re-examining operations inside and outside the classroom. They are looking to better serve and support traditional community college students in creative and innovative ways. Deconstructing the semester structure changes how classes are…

School improvement plans (SIPs) have become a central feature of schooling. Educational leaders experience tension between balancing compliance with accountability demands and continuous improvement, and neither of these lenses is centered in the social justice necessary for closing opportunity gaps. We propose a new rubric for assessing the…

Since 2010, the Institute for Personalized Learning (I4PL), a division of Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 1, has been collaborating with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to inform the state's work with the Innovation Lab Network (ILN) managed by the Council of Chief State School Officers. ILN is a network of states that…

In 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that included provisions to support gifted and talented learners. The U.S. Department of Education's Consolidated State Plan template only required states to directly address the inclusion of gifted education under Title II, Part A: Supporting Effective Instruction (Section…

Although competency-based education (CBE) has existed since the early 1970s adult-focused degree programs, interest in CBE has spiked in recent years due to the increased attention on higher education affordability and accountability. This article reviews the extant literature on CBE to address the following questions: (a) What are the definitions…

Middle school is a natural time for students to learn about careers and develop skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork through career exploration activities. This report from the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) examines different approaches to supporting career exploration in middle school and…

Now, more than ever, more adults must earn college credentials in order to earn family sustaining wages and to help fuel and sustain a robust national economy. That means that institutions of higher education must do all they can to help adult students enroll in college and complete a postsecondary credential. Achieving the Dream emphasizes a…

Designed to improve PK-12 professional learning and increase student achievement, Wisconsin's policymakers developed and implemented new educator licensing guidelines (PI 34) and a Professional Development Plan (PDP) system based on empirical research and national policy trends in 2004. As PI 34 and the PDP system are relatively new, the…

Advanced Placement (AP), which enables high school students to take introductory college-level courses, is the nation's oldest example of a rigorous, common curriculum. Students who score well on AP exams are more likely to persist in college and earn a degree. The Advanced Placement Expansion project of the National Governors Association Center…

The long-term concern relative to education inequity indicates that the nation's youth will not be adequately prepared for the global and highly competitive marketplace of the 21st century (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006). Initiatives to address this concern persist, including the creation of the virtual charter school (Vanourek, 2006;…

The University of Wisconsin-Stout, recipient of the Baldrige National Quality Award in 2001, developed a planning system that has evolved into a comprehensive and collaborative process for visioning, developing and implementing goals, and tracking university performance. This chapter describes the tactics that have contributed greatly to the…