This study explores spillover effects between national security and education issues. I examine whether the rise of new foreign threats is correlated with education issues rising onto the congressional agenda and with the passage of education laws. To answer this question several data sources on military conflicts and congressional activity from…

The purpose of this study was to determine what school and principal characteristics influence the alignment of contemporary leaders' beliefs with African American principals' beliefs working during the pre-"Brown v. Board" era. Using OLS multiple regression on a sample of Georgia school principals, the study found a statistically…

In this first installment of the series on state-level policy and microschooling, the authors explain Idaho's recent legislative debate over two competing approaches to supporting the creation of small learning communities, known as microschools. Idaho's strong homeschooling community and its low-enrollment rural districts create political…

Despite the billions of dollars that the federal government spends each year on education and workforce training, education and labor market outcomes remain inequitable. Research shows that students do not receive sufficient information about what careers are available and which courses best lead to those options, so they waste time in courses…

Fostering strong relationships that break silos between learning and work and align skill-building opportunities across secondary, postsecondary, adult and professional levels is critical to building high-quality career pathways and learner-centered career preparation ecosystems. In this work, trust, common purpose and resources for sustainability…

The TEACH Act of 2002 was passed into American Federal law to give educators guidance for the use of copyrighted material in online courses. It gives broad leeway to a variety of uses and protects educators from copyright holders who do not want their work used without compensation even if the work is clearly allowed under previous provision of…

One of the most hotly debated K-12 education issues in recent decades has been the appropriate federal role in defining how states should measure, identify, and intervene in low-performing schools. In December 2015, after more than a decade of complex debate, Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to reauthorize the Elementary and…

COVID-19 has been a challenging issue for America's public schools and students. The pandemic highlights many issues that already impacted education but have now become far more transparent as the forced school building shutdowns and transition to online learning have spread across the nation. For the 2020-21 school year, the concern is not only…

The community college baccalaureate has been around for decades but there continues a need for quantitative research regarding this policy. Contentious debate exists with regard to this policy and its proposed impacts. As this debate continues, research lacks baseline or longitudinal data with respect to the community college baccalaureate and its…

Excess hours laws are among credit-based accountability measures implemented by several state legislatures in the United States since 1993 to incentivize students to complete their baccalaureate degree programs with fewer excess credit hours. An analysis of the nature and scope of similar educational policies in the national context is provided in…

Decades after the historic ruling in "Brown v. Board of Education," AAM students are not only performing poorly academically but are also dropping out of traditional high schools at an alarming rate and enrolling into Alternative Education (AE) or Alternative Learning Programs (ALP). Public education officials and policymakers were…

This study examines federal law IDEIA and its four purposes. This research aims to understand better this federal law's purpose and what it is supposed to do. The researcher examined her own experiences with special education and other families' experiences across the United States. Within these personal stories are both negative and positive…

With this study I investigate the consequential validity of a state English language proficiency (ELP) assessment, following Messick's (1989) expanded theory on validity. I examined intended and unintended consequences of the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) through stakeholder perceptions. TELPAS is a federally…

Although current and former English Learner (EL) or "ever-EL" students comprise one of the fastest-growing K-12 populations, we still know relatively little about the factors that influence their college-going. Using Perna's seminal college-going model as a launching point, we propose a policy-driven empirical approach to explore how…

The federal McKinney-Vento Act defines homelessness broadly in an effort to provide protections and supports for students living in a variety of unstable housing situations. This ensures school stability and continued enrollment at a time when a student's nighttime residence may be constantly changing. In Washington, the number of children and…