For many years Denmark has had a reputation for being laissez-faire in language matters. There is no explicit language legislation, and the Danish Language Council has mainly descriptive functions. However, there is a powerful standard language ideology, and in other societal domains such as education or immigration, language is heavily regulated.…

What if, instead of viewing legislators as distant or indirect audiences for public writing, we shifted to engage them as community partners, collaborating in a mutually beneficial relationship to develop fresh policy ideas from voices that are often missing in lawmaking? This article tells the story of a partnership between a college composition…

Each year, over 1.2 million children and youth identified as experiencing homelessness in the nation's schools face the educational disruption caused by not having a safe and stable place to live. Children and youth experiencing homelessness face educational challenges that include a lack of basic necessities, such as food, clothing, and medical…

Building stronger relationships between families and schools is increasingly identified as a way to address many vexing issues--teacher shortages, chronic absenteeism, lingering academic and social-emotional effects of COVID-19, and perceived divisions between parents and educators. Because policies and practices around family engagement vary…

Federal education policy has been a feature of the United States' education system beginning in 1965 when Lyndon Johnson introduced the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as part of his "War on Poverty." Since then, the ESEA has undergone numerous revisions with each successive presidential administration. Part of the policy…

America's regional comprehensive public institutions of higher education serve a unique role as the portal through which so many of the students and much of the nation's future workforce gain the skills needed to face the economic challenges of the 21st century. In support of the critical role that its members play in the development of their…

This document records testimony from a hearing held to examine on improving outcomes for jobseekers, employers, and taxpayers by strengthening the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Burgess Owens, Chairman, Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development; and Honorable…

This case study examined how research has been used in the federal higher education rulemaking process, through which the U.S. Department of Education implements programs under the Higher Education Act. Findings indicate that in this high-conflict policymaking process, politics infuses various forms of research use to create several overlapping…

Career-connected learning is an educational strategy that combines high-quality academic instruction, skill-based learning, and real-world experiences to prepare students with the knowledge and skills that they need to pursue their career goals. Career-connected learning is especially important for an often-overlooked group of students including…

The Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) contracted with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the youth workforce development system within the state. The study documents how the youth workforce system developed in New Jersey since the federal…

This paper studies the impact of state reproductive rights laws on women's human capital decisions after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" (2022). Using data from the Common App, the undergraduate college admission application, I implement a…

We used Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the racial discourse within recent attempts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. Specifically, we interrogated congressional markup hearings to understand how members frame student debt and the racialized dynamics embedded within. Our findings highlight three types of discourse: "All…

We outline a multidimensional ecological systems policy framework to better understand how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and patterns of racial disproportionality in special education relate. The framework engages with ideology, power, privilege, and context across the multiple layers of the policy-implementation process…

Several states have invested in 1915(c) Home and Community Based Service (HCBS) Medicaid policies to improve outcomes and reduce costs for children and youth with significant behavioral health needs, or Severe Emotional Disturbance (SED). However, little is known about these programs and the children they serve. Through a retrospective…

America's regional comprehensive public institutions of higher education (American Association of State Colleges and Universities institutions, AASCU) serve a unique role as the portal through which so many of the students and much of the nation's future workforce gain the skills needed to face the economic challenges of the 21st century. In…