"Varying Degrees" is New America's annual effort to gauge opinions about education after high school. In the four years since the publication of this survey, there has been an economic boom. This year, that boom came to an abrupt and tragic end. Unlike previous recessions, this one has been caused by a global pandemic, and it is unclear…

"Student Debt and the Class of 2019" is The Institute for College Access & Success' (TICAS') fifteenth annual report on the student loan debt of recent graduates from four-year colleges, documenting changes and variation in student debt across states and colleges. This report includes federal policy recommendations to reduce debt…

While teachers' initial education is key to ensuring that new teachers are prepared for their work, it is only one piece in the continuum of teachers' professional growth. Continuing professional learning is vital for teachers to broaden and deepen their knowledge, keep up with new research, tools and practices and respond to their students'…

The purpose of the "Implementation Support Practitioner Profile" is to identify the skills and competencies needed by implementation support practitioners to support effective implementation and scaling of evidence-informed practices, programs and policies to improve outcomes for people and communities. The integration of implementation…

As educators across the country make a valiant effort to meet the needs of their students in response to the coronavirus crisis, the educational impacts of disparities in family resources and school funding are apparent. The crisis also reminds us of the many roles that schools play beyond academics. When students eventually return to school, will…

This report summarizes the deliberations and recommendations of the California Advisory Task Force on Alternative Schools (Task Force). The Task Force is a public service project of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and their Communities at Stanford University and is convened in collaboration with the California Department of Education (CDE). A…

Self-exclusion of pupils is one of the prominent challenges of education. In this paper we propose the TERA model, which shapes the process of creating formative accountability of teachers to overcome the self-exclusion of pupils. Development of the model includes elaboration and integration of interconnected model components. The TERA model…

While advocates of the proposed "Gainful Employment" regulations promise a variety of improvements for students attending for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs), there is little research on how these institutions are responding to this heightened form of accountability. Through interviews with senior executives of FPCUs, we used…

The achievement gap separating economically disadvantaged students from their more advantaged peers disproportionately affects students of color and has been the focus of discussion, research and controversy for more than 40 years. While the gap between black and white students narrowed considerably from the 1950s to the 1980s, that gap has…

In this written commentary for the special issue of "Education Policy Analysis Archives" focused on "Redesigning Assessment and Accountability," we call for teacher preparation to embrace a multiple measures philosophy by providing teacher candidates with rich opportunities to engage with data from a variety of sources, beyond…

States are incorporating evaluation ratings into new, multioutcome teacher preparation program (TPP) evaluation systems, yet little is known about the relationships between TPPs and the evaluation ratings of program graduates. To address this gap, we use teachers' ratings on the North Carolina Educator Evaluation System to determine whether TPPs…

Group counseling interventions can be complex to assess and research. Over the years, The "Journal for Specialists in Group Work" ("JSGW") has highlighted many of these challenges and offered valued approaches to designing projects that promote the efficacy and meaningfulness of group work in various settings. Similarly, school…

Rates of student success--four-year transfer, degree, and certificate completion--are frequently discussed. Less frequent, however, are opportunities to reflect on how these outcomes are measured. In this paper, I reflect on how rates of success--specifically for men of color--are calculated based on two California institutional accountability…

In the more than 60 years since the "Brown v. Board of Education" ruling, the United States has been struggling to assure educational equality for all learners. This article will review how attempts at equality such as accountability and standardization movements have failed to close opportunity gaps for vulnerable and marginalized…

The iPad, which came out in 2010, was introduced in one-to-one initiatives in schools to replace the laptop, or simply as a new technology. Schools that incorporated tablets reported an increase in student-led learning, increased collaboration, and increased communication. Following a one-to-one iPad implementation at an urban high school for one…