When the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) began requiring states to identify schools for support and improvement plans, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) recognized a statewide challenge. As a variety of improvement efforts got underway at individual schools and districts, the department lacked an overarching plan and…

Higher education governance of community colleges is understudied. Driving an increased focus on community college coordination and oversight at the state level are the role of access from dual enrollment to adult learners, the need to smooth the transfer function of community colleges, jobs requiring educational attainment beyond high school, and…

The purpose of this report is to provide readers with a comparative analysis of the Massachusetts workforce "system" structures and performance reporting processes compared to other states. Though the federal workforce development system is often examined in its entirety and individual state systems are at times examined independently,…

Head Start is an essential part of the programs and funding streams that provide early care and education (ECE) services to young children in the U.S. Head Start focuses on supporting children and families with low incomes, but also contributes to the broader effort to expand access to high quality ECE for all young children. Programs and…

The New Mexico (NM) higher education state attainment goal -- the Route to 66 -- has been a driving force for many of the initiatives undertaken in New Mexico. The New Mexico Higher Education Department (HED) works energetically and collaboratively with 31 public higher education institutions (HEIs) across the State. The HED also registers and…

A companion piece to "High Stakes for High Achievers: State Accountability in the Age of ESSA," this report appraises states' current (or planned) accountability systems as they affect high-achieving students in high school. They were examined and rated based on whether they incorporate under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) the…

This resource was prepared in response to a request for examples of developmental screening activities in Early Learning Challenge (ELC) States. This information will be helpful to States as they consider how to identify and address health, behavioral, and developmental needs of children with high needs. To address this request, ELC TA reviewed…

Test security has increased in importance in the last few years given high-profile cases of educator misconduct. This paper provides a review of state test security statutes and regulations related to statewide achievement testing using as a framework recent best practices reports by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education…

Over the past decade states have surpassed the federal Head Start program as the primary public funder of preschool slots. This paper investigates trends in Head Start enrollment in the context of increased state investment in early childhood. Using national, longitudinal data I find no evidence Head Start programs in states with expanding state…

The characteristics of a state's accommodations policy may affect a state's decision about whether to develop an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). A very restrictive accommodations policy may make it more difficult for some students to participate in the state's regular assessment used for accountability…

Effective state policy for new teacher mentoring stipulates program elements that increase the likelihood that district programming will be implemented and, thus, defines for districts what is important about mentoring support. Although most state policies do not differentiate programs for novice special education teachers, there are particular…

Governor Jerry Brown's January 2011 budget proposal suggests shifting responsibility and funding for many state programs from the state to the local level. Under this "realignment" of government authority, local governments--usually counties--would be given responsibility for providing the services in realigned programs, and the state…

The focus article "Road Maps for Learning: A Guide to the Navigation of Learning Progressions" by Black, Wilson, and Yao (this issue) is a veritable tour-de-force, covering a great deal of education ground while spanning the heights from models of the interplay among curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to interpretations of student…

This Quick Reference Document has been prepared by the Regional Resource Center Program Fiscal Priority Team to aid RRCP State liaisons and other Technical Assistance (TA) providers in understanding the general context of State questions surrounding Maintenance of State Financial Support (MFS) and Local Educational Agency (LEA) Maintenance of…

States have been working to increase the rigor and effectiveness of career and technical education to both meet the needs of their students and to address the workforce needs of the state and the nation. This StateNote, while not exhaustive, highlights efforts in the states that appear to be "ahead of the curve" in state policy…