In 1983 the National Commission for Excellence in Education investigated claimed that U.S. schools were failing to adequately educate children. The Commission identified many inconsistencies nationwide in areas of access, teacher standards, learning standards, and accountability. This investigation led to an evolution of legislation such as the No…

This document is designed to provide State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) with essential information about the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP). This informational document will supersede non-regulatory guidance on REAP published in 2003, providing information consistent with changes to the program…

This qualitative case study examines how board members make sense of federal accountability policies and how their sensemaking shapes their use of assessment data as a policy instrument. Deviating from previous work on practitioner sensemaking, the participants' interpretations of assessments did not align with their ensuing use of the data.…

The Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) is authorized by Part B of Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, P.L. 114-95) in 2015. Congress created this program to address the unique needs of rural schools that disadvantage them relative to non-rural schools. To…

Children of migrant farmworkers change schools frequently and must navigate through a maze of confusing and often inconsistent academic policies. Migrant students are often identified as English learners and some have disabilities, which results in additional academic and federal policies that families must contend with as they seek to support…

This policy brief summarizes and critiques the findings of the US Department of Education's Section 5005 Report on Rural Education. In September of 2018, the Department of Education released the "Section 5005 Report on Rural Education: Final Report." The report was written in response to a provision of the Every Student Succeeds Act of…

On Dec. 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (P.L. 114-95) became law. ESSA primarily reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), but includes other provisions as well. Among these, Section 5005 requires the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) to "review the organization, structure, and process…

The Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) is authorized by Part B of Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, P.L. 114-95) in 2015. Congress created this program to address the unique needs of rural schools that disadvantage them relative to non-rural schools. To…

The primary source of federal aid for elementary and secondary education is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)--particularly its Title I-A program, which authorizes federal aid for the education of disadvantaged students. This report provides an overview of major provisions of the ESEA. It also includes a table showing annual…

On December 10, 2015 President Obama signed the "Every Student Succeeds Act," Public Law 114-95, which will take effect in the fall of 2016 and which replaces No Child Left Behind (NCLB)--the name for the nation's suite of K-12 education laws in effect from 2001 to 2016. There are many similarities between NCLB and ESSA. For example,…

The primary source of federal aid to elementary and secondary education is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)--particularly its Title I-A program, which authorizes federal aid for the education of disadvantaged students. This report provides a brief overview of major provisions of the ESEA. It is organized by title and part of the…