Background/Context: Underprepared students at community colleges are often assigned to a sequence of developmental education courses that can substantially delay, or even halt, their progress to degree completion. In 2014, Florida implemented a comprehensive reform under Senate Bill (SB) 1720 that allowed the majority of incoming students to…

"Children's Budget 2020" is the 14th annual release of this signature Children's Budget publication. While the COVID-19 health and economic crises have highlighted how important it is to put children and families at the forefront of budget decisions, far too often lawmakers fail to prioritize children when allocating federal resources.…

COVID-19 has provided the impetus for Congress to implement reforms, many of which are long overdue. Policymakers should take the necessary steps to restore educational autonomy to states and reduce federal regulations and compliance. This "Backgrounder" outlines six reforms that federal policymakers can undertake to free school leaders…

This report is produced by the North Dakota Healthy Return to Learning team, a diverse team of subject matter experts collaborating with state agencies and communities to provide resources, processes, and strategies that schools, local public health and the state need to keep schools operating in their dual mission of high quality education for…

Most children in the U.S. spend time in some form of early childhood education (ECE) program prior to entering kindergarten. In fact, children spend an average of 25 hours per week in nonparental care, including center-based care and informal family, friend and neighbor care. Children develop a foundation for learning during these early years, so…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended) authorizes programs and activities to provide support to individuals who are pursuing a postsecondary education and to institutions of higher education (IHEs). During the 116th Congress, the House Committee on Education and Labor marked up and ordered to be reported the College…

Funding the important work of teachers can be supported through a variety of federal programs, private foundations, and state legislative appropriations. This guide identifies potential funding that can be leveraged by state education agencies (SEAs), local education agencies (LEAs), and educator preparation providers to address teacher…

State policy leaders have an opportunity to take leadership in protecting students--and especially student veterans--from being targeted by predatory colleges. Given failings by the federal government to police for-profit colleges and to ensure basic rights for students to attend college without being defrauded, it now falls to the states to step…

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. It addresses one central question: How can schools intervene to reduce learning gaps between students with disabilities and…

At $14 billion, the investment in operating support for higher education institutions from the coronavirus relief bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, is the largest one-year federal infusion of funds going straight to colleges since the Great Recession. Yet it's nowhere close to enough. Many states have already…

The Inspector General Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-452), as amended, requires that the Inspector General report semiannually to the Congress on the activities of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) during the 6-month periods ending March 31 and September 30. This Semiannual Report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department…

In this paper, critical race theory and critical race praxis for educational research are used to frame an analysis of the 1998 Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA98) that limits access to financial aid for students who have been convicted of a drug felony. The authors explain how the HEA98 disenfranchises Black and Latinx college…

The interview with Jonathan Plucker and Scott Peters presents the Excellence Gap as a concern to be noted in the United States as well as internationally. The Excellence Gap came to light as an important topic to inform policy when the Achievement Gap reached a high priority in U.S. schools. The emphasis on the Achievement Gap focused attention on…

The increasing prevalence of diagnoses for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), now one in 68 children according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), presents a number of policy implications. In particular, many of these children become eligible for special education services under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Given…

School administrators face many decisions that require a degree of legal knowledge. The "McKinney-Vento Act" requires schools to enroll students that are experiencing homelessness immediately, even if the student is unable to provide any documentation that is typically required by states and school districts before students can be…