Despite claims that we now live in a post-truth society, it remains commonplace for policy makers to consult research evidence to increase the robustness of decision making. Few scholars of evidence-policy interfaces, however, have used legislatures as sites of study, despite the fact that they play a critical role in modern democracies. There is…

This study explored preservice teachers' attitudes and perceived efficacy for teaching in inclusive classrooms. The participants were 163 students in their second year of a Bachelor of Education degree at an Australian university. Attitudes and perceived teaching efficacy were measured using the Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusion Scale Adjusted…

The growing recognition of "how much" principals matter for student learning and "how" they make a difference has fueled the need to ensure that effective principals are leading every school. One way to achieve this is through principal evaluation, which has experienced significant changes in the last decade. We conducted a…

Since the late 1970s, researchers and policy makers have debated the role of research in policy making. Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, education policy has experienced a renewed interest in this topic. ESSA presents a rigorous framework and set of requirements for research use in educational decision making.…

In its four years of life, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) has blazed new pathways for policy and funding in K-12 arts education. Many states acted early to take advantage of these federal opportunities to expand students' access to the arts. Through its definitional language, suggested actions, and funding mechanisms, ESSA provides states…

State boards of education rely on educators and researchers for evidence about the value of approaches in arts education--as in all other disciplines-- to help them weigh needs against the investment and the opportunities for good outcomes for all students and their communities. Yet there is only a modest body of rigorous research to inform…

We investigate the role of teachers' unions in state policymaking in the context of "No Child Left Behind." Our analyses of panel data show that political party control and region moderate the influence of teachers' unions in the adoption of accountability policies by states. Our analyses of marginal effects show that teachers' unions…

This conceptual paper examines the colonial conditions of possibility for a formative moment of US public higher education, the Morrill Act of 1862, and considers how these conditions continue to shape the present. The federal government's accumulation of Indigenous lands in the nineteenth century helped provide the material base for land-grant…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that States and entities receiving Part B funds offer processes to resolve disagreements arising under the IDEA. These processes include: (1) written state complaints; (2) mediation; and (3) due process complaints (which include resolution meetings). Statistics from these processes…

The term "throughput" refers to the percentage of a student cohort who complete a course sequence within a set period after having begun that sequence at the same point in time. Under AB 705 the set period for observing throughput rates is described in law as "one year". While that time frame seems intuitive enough, the…

This eleventh edition of "Measuring up to the Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws" presents the latest activity in charter public school legislation across the country. This report evaluates each state's public charter school law against the 21 essential components of a strong charter school law. These 21 components are drawn…

Standardized tests play a central role in the U.S. education system, shaping how states hold schools accountable for ensuring that all students have equitable access to a quality education. Schools and districts sometimes also use testing data for high-stakes decisions about teacher pay and whether students can move on to the next grade. It is…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that the registered professional nurse collaborates to lead the school health services team in the identification of and intervention for health-related barriers to improve student learning (American Nurses Association [ANA] & NASN, 2017, p. 84). This document provides the…

This report identifies the statutory requirements, including programs, reports, evaluations, and accountability measures, impacted by the assessment waiver and describes how each statutory requirement is impacted by the assessment waiver. It discusses the data which the State Board has not collected or will not collect because of the assessment…

Under waivers to the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal government required states to identify schools where targeted subgroups of students have the lowest achievement and to implement reforms in these "Focus Schools." In this study, we examine the Focus School reforms in the state of Kentucky. The reforms in this state are uniquely…