Partnerships funded by the Washington Student Achievement Council's (WSAC) Regional Challenge Grant (RCG) are only in their second year of funded work. Still, early evidence makes clear the impact of these disciplined investments. Financial aid application rates, high school graduation rates, and even college retention rates--these critical…

Community-led solutions to educational challenges "can and will" sustainably increase the number of Washingtonians with education and training after high school. This framework demonstrates how the authors measure short- and long-term outcomes to capture partnership impact and population-level change. Washington Student Achievement…

Although multiple studies have examined the impact of school turnaround, less is known about reforms under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). To advance this literature, we examine North Carolina's Restart (NCR) model. NCR aligns with ESSA by giving school leaders increased flexibility. Also, NCR differs from previous turnaround models by…

This appendix provides summaries of work for Research Challenge Grant (RCG) partnerships. Each partner section includes a theory of change and a summary of impact. There are thirteen partners included in this appendix.

The Washington Student Achievement Council's (WSAC) Regional Partnerships (RP) strategy invests in cross-sector partnerships that are committed to increasing local postsecondary attainment through geographically and culturally responsive approaches. In this second installment of the RP Learning Brief Series, the Washington Student Achievement…

The identification of students with specific learning disabilities has evolved since the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) in 2004. This reauthorization gave state agencies parameters that disallowed using the severe discrepancy model for identification as a stand-alone method. In response to…

Approved by the Kansas State Board of Education in 2017, the school redesign project has seen more than 160 schools to reimagine their learning models in a state-led, multiyear process. Annual cohorts named for NASA lunar missions, the fourteen schools in seven districts that formed the initial Mercury cohort engaged in intensive planning and…

When people talk about "community college leadership," they typically refer to presidents or other executive leaders, mirroring a common societal perception that leaders are individuals at the top of an organization's hierarchy. However, leading from the middle is not a contradiction in terms. A growing number of community college…

This final brief in the series focuses on policy options that can foster more innovation and address challenges in career education (CE) program development. It is based on earlier research for a series of reports called "Career Opportunities," aimed at identifying ways that state and system policy can best support the CE mission of the…

This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from Ohio Strong Start to Finish, one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. Through Ohio Strong Start to Finish, the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE), along with the Ohio…

This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from Strong Start Arkansas, one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. Building on previous initiatives, Strong Start Arkansas (SSARK) was created as a partnership between the…

This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from the State University of New York (SUNY) Strong Start to Finish, one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. SUNY is using its Strong Start to Finish resources to support…

This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from the University System of Georgia (USG)--Strong Start to Finish, one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. In March 2019, USG officially launched the Momentum Approach, which…

This study describes the implementation and findings from a consultation process designed to enhance the professional development (PD) offered to teachers working in Virginia's state-funded preschool program. A PD Rubric was developed to translate research on effective PD (i.e., PD practices linked to positive changes in teacher practice and/or…

This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from California Community Colleges (CCC)--Strong Start to Finish, one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. Beginning in May 2019, CCC-Strong Start to Finish was created as a…