This data book profiles noteworthy academic events, trends and outcomes at the state and complex-area level. It includes tables, figures and narrative sections related to demographic, financial and educational performance. Also, comparisons to other states with characteristics similar to Hawaii are provided to illustrate relative progress or…

School systems are under increasing pressure to improve student performance. Several states have recently explored adopting student count methods for school funding purposes that incentivize school attendance and continuous enrollment by adjusting funding for changes in enrollment or attendance over the course of the school year. However, no…

Over the past several years, public higher education, both in the U.S. and internationally, has increasingly been required to explain, defend, and validate its performance and value to a wide variety of constituents, including governors, legislators, students, parents, employers, and taxpayers. In addition, in 2006, then U.S. Secretary of…

For the first time in many years, the Administration's proposed state budget does not project a deficit. Painful budget cutting in recent years combined with voters passing Proposition 30 in November to generate revenues finally have put California on more stable fiscal ground. However, it is critical to recognize that kids have borne a…

This report presents the results of a thorough study conducted by American Institutes for Research (AIR) to investigate the cost of providing an "adequate" education to California students attending public elementary, middle, and high schools. The study addresses the following question: "What is the cost of providing all California…

Research shows that students who dually enroll are more likely to finish high school and succeed in postsecondary education than their peers with a similar grade point average (GPA), test scores, demographics, etc. Yet in many states, students and parents are largely--if not entirely--responsible for covering dual enrollment course costs, placing…

This publication provides a summary of data relating to students, programs, training providers, and funding in Australia's government-funded vocational education and training (VET) system (broadly defined as all activity delivered by government providers and government-funded activity delivered by community education and other registered…

This year is the 40th anniversary of the passage of Public Law 94-142--most commonly known as the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The law not only changed the way that students with disabilities are educated in this country, it also fundamentally changed the way that states fund their K-12 education programs. This ECS…

Michigan has a problem. By several measures, the achievement of students attending its K-12 educational system has not kept pace with other states. Although Michigan's student achievement has improved over the past decade, the improvement has been modest, and achievement in many other states has easily surpassed that in Michigan. Furthermore,…

States are increasingly funding higher education institutions based on their performance or outcomes instead of relying solely on student enrollment to determine funding formulas. Performance Funding (also called Performance-Based and Outcomes-Based Funding) policies provide state support to public colleges and universities based on outcome…

Child care subsidies help make quality child care affordable for low-income parents, allowing them to attend work or school to support their families while ensuring their children's healthy development. Access to quality child care is also proven to strengthen families' economic security. The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) is the…

The Common Core State Standards Initiative seeks to prepare all students to graduate high school without remedial needs, to improve transparency across states' accountability systems, and to foster efficiencies in the development and distribution of educational resources. The reform was adopted in more than 40 states and has been described as…

This report documents the first-year of implementing Cycle-based Budgeting at Jefferson County Public Schools (Louisville, KY). To address the limitations of incremental budgeting and zero-based budgeting, a Cycle-based Budgeting model was developed and implemented in JCPS. Specifically, each new program needs to submit an on-line budget request…

The State University System of Florida has developed three tools that aid in guiding the System's future: (1) The Board of Governors' 2025 System Strategic Plan is driven by goals and associated metrics that stake out where the System is headed; (2) The Board's Annual Accountability Report provides yearly tracking for how the System is progressing…

In 2012 Spain inaugurated a reform of its higher education financial aid system inspired by three principles: cost-sharing, increasing academic performance and school efficiency. This reform has shifted the aim of the system from equality of access to a type of meritocracy that can be defined as class-biased, as it is only applied to low-income…