In summer 2024, EdChoice published "The School Starter Checklist," a compendium of regulations on private schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Even a cursory glance at it will show that states take different approaches to regulating private schooling. To determine the regulatory burden that each state (and Washington,…

This Data Point examines the prevalence of public school teachers who did not hold a teaching certificate or held only provisional or emergency teaching certificates in the state where they were teaching, as opposed to regular, standard, advanced, or probationary certificates. It looks at the prevalence over time, by selected teacher and school…

We use frame analysis to analyze the first iteration of the Texas District of Innovation policy, which allows districts to take exemption from state education requirements mandating the hiring of a state certified teacher. We analyzed 451 district policies and find the plans use very similar, and sometimes identical, language to frame both the…

A significant teacher shortage persists in K-12 education, with estimates of vacancies ranging from 36,000 to 52,000 across the United States (Nguyen et al., 2022). To tackle this issue many states have developed ways to boost the teacher supply, such as non-traditional licensure pathways. In Tennessee, one type of non-traditional educator…

Much recent debate among policymakers and policy advocates focuses on whether states should reduce teacher licensure requirements to ease the burdens of recruiting high quality teachers to the workforce. We examine the effectiveness of individuals who entered the teacher workforce in Massachusetts during the pandemic by obtaining an emergency…

In 2022, authors conducted a research study of SC teachers who had completed the first-in-the-nation teaching endorsement in Project-Based Learning (PBL) between the years of 2014 and 2020. Researchers' key question was to what extent have teachers trained in the SC PBL endorsement implemented PBL in their classrooms? This study sought to assess…

This District of Columbia Public Schools School Year 2024-2025 "Parental Right to Know Guide" informs parents on their rights with regard to the following: (1) Notice of Non-Discrimination and Non-Retaliation; (2) Teachers and Paraprofessionals; (3) Student Achievement (DC CAPE Data); (4) Student Records; (5) Unsafe School Choice Option;…

Board-Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) are master's level practitioners who typically provide assessments, write programs, monitor, and oversee implementation of behavior plans, and monitor a learner's progress over time to address skill acquisition and reduce challenging behaviors. BCBAs typically work in ABA clinics, in a learner's home, in…

The United States faces a critical teacher shortage across general education and fields such as special education, mathematics, and natural sciences, particularly in underserved areas. This shortage is intensified by high teacher attrition rates, which negatively impact student performance and educational outcomes. In Louisiana, teacher attrition…

Decades of research has documented the negative effects of physical punishment, including spanking (Heilmann et al., 2021). Since 1998, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has endorsed the use of time out from positive reinforcement (TO) as an alternative to corporal punishment (Sege et al., 2018). Despite urging at the federal level…

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is defined by the Mayo Clinic as a lifesaving technique that is useful in many emergencies, such as a heart attack, stroke, choking, or drowning, in which someone's breathing and heartbeat have stopped. Under the guidelines put forth by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and the Emergency…

The Commonwealth of Virginia has seen an increase in the number of educators completing Alternative Teacher Certification Programs, contributing to the diversity in the teaching work force. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of alternatively certified public K-12 teachers regarding their preparedness to teach. The researcher…

Accountability-era reforms have promulgated a discourse of crisis and a looming threat for public schools. While these threats negatively affect all, this paper focuses on how schools' responses to these threats shape novice Teach for America Corp Members' (CM) socialization. By analyzing nearly 6,000 daily reflections from 38 CMs about their…

The national teacher shortage makes it challenging for principals and superintendents to hire certified teachers. To address this problem, a university in a rural state in the Midwest partnered with their state's agencies to develop a teacher apprenticeship pathway (TAP) for 78 paraprofessionals working in the state's public, non-public, and…

Student mental health has been in steady decline for the past decade, and many school personnel believe they cannot adequately support student mental health needs. While professional school social workers (SSWs) are recognized as critical school-based mental health professionals in many states, 14 states do not yet offer a path for SSWs to become…