The Texas Education Agency launched the Grow Your Own (GYO) grant program in 2018 to encourage districts to develop or expand existing high-quality education and training courses for high school students and to support district-employed paraprofessionals (including instructional aides and long-term substitute teachers) to pursue certifications…

States provide substantial support for higher education through appropriations to public colleges and universities that can be used to maintain relatively low tuition levels and funds for financial aid. Higher education often receives disproportionate cuts during recessionary periods, and it faces potentially unprecedented reductions in coming…

A recent analysis by the Wisconsin Policy Forum highlighted the State Legislature's failure to adequately fund the cost of programs and services for students with disabilities. Wisconsin currently reimburses school districts for less than a third of special education costs. Because special education programs and services are mandated by the…

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, emerging evidence provides a deeper understanding of the pandemic's impact on the more than 8 million young people with disabilities. This includes youth who receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or who qualify under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973…

Today, free public kindergarten for five-year-old children is available in every state and community throughout the United States, and public education is routinely referred to as K-12. But kindergarten did not start out this way. Kindergartens in the United States once served children as young as three and four years old. In fact, today's…

For years, California's county offices of education (COEs) have played a role in supporting districts by providing financial oversight, serving as a liaison to the California Department of Education (CDE), and addressing region-specific needs. In early 2022, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation commissioned SRI Education to conduct a study to…

This dissertation is a qualitative study includes documents analysis and interviews. The study focus is applying entrepreneurial theory to funding public higher education in the U.S. The critical portion of the dissertation focuses on the best practices they have implemented to practice academic entrepreneurialism. The literature review takes a…

Early care and education (ECE) programs can provide a lifetime of benefits to children and families, but a lack of public support leaves these valuable services vulnerable to collapse during economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic was a particularly intense emergency for ECE providers: closures due to illness or shelter-in-place ordinances…

Thirty years ago, charter schools embodied possibility. They were envisioned as nimble, innovative, community-driven alternatives to traditional public schools -- laboratories of experimentation led by teachers and grounded in equity. The grand bargain was clear: more freedom from regulations and bureaucracy in exchange for heightened…

The 2025 State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) State EdTech Trends Survey explores how the systems, infrastructure, and staffing that digital learning depends on will be sustained, how new flexibilities in federal formula and discretionary funding can be leveraged, what edtech tools are essential, and how to balance innovation…

This study employs difference-in-differences estimation to explore the relationship between the implementation of state merit-aid programs and students' participation in study abroad. The relationship between implementation of these financial aid programs and study abroad participation has not been tested explicitly in prior policy or education…

Because of the funding decisions being made in New Mexico related to public education, working as an educator has become physically, psychically, and spiritually demanding for the lead author, Trujillo Ellis. The lead author seeks clarity in understanding New Mexico youth space, or the conditions of New Mexico youths' lives, that better equips…

The Day 1 Academies Fund aims to support a network of high-quality, full-scholarship, Montessori-inspired preschools in underserved communities. To provide insight into the fund's pedagogical inspiration, in this report I provide a high-level overview of the Montessori preschool landscape in the United States. This overview includes 5 key…

Public school teachers around the country are engaged in strikes. They walked out of their classrooms and schools to gain attention from state legislators, and not just for better salaries and benefits for themselves (although most Americans agree that teachers need better pay). Teachers are calling attention to a sticky problem in American public…

Many critics consider public institution presidents' compensation to be excessive, while others argue the money yields a return on investment in private fundraising and state appropriations. Our study asks whether presidential compensation at public, four-year institutions is associated with increased institutional revenue from state…