Career and technical education (CTE) programs play a vital role in preparing high school students for life after graduation. The Carl D. Perkins Act of 2006 (Perkins) requires states that receive federal CTE funding to align secondary and postsecondary programs, so that students can transition seamlessly from a high school CTE program to a…

Today's classrooms are increasingly diverse and inclusive of all types of students ranging from English language learners, gifted and talented, at-risk students, to students with an identified disability. This study examined how 2 universities prepared teachers using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in their courses. K-12 teachers are…

This "2018-2019 Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Strategic Plan Update" is the work of the IACC membership that was appointed under the Autism CARES Act of 2014. The Committee agreed that the "2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan" reflected a comprehensive review of the state of the field and provided a set of 23 new…

This report, the sixth in this series, brings together again in partnership the Pell Institute with the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy of the University of Pennsylvania (PennAHEAD). These reports draw from multiple sources of existing data to provide, in one place, indicators that describe trends in equity in postsecondary enrollment,…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

As numerous studies from 1906 on have confirmed, children lose ground in learning if they lack opportunities for building skills over the summer. Nonetheless, summer learning loss comes up but rarely in the national discussion of education reform. By the end of summer, students perform on average one month behind where they left off in the spring.…

This study focused on the federal and Illinois State the reform legislation titled the Performance Evaluation Reform Act and Senate Bill 7. The Performance Evaluation Reform Act or "PERA" was created from collaboration between stakeholders as Illinois competed in a federal competition titled "Race to the Top." The legislation…

Comprehension and application of law in campus housing settings can be a daunting task. Though challenging, a basic understanding of law and how it applies to residence life and housing environments within institutions of higher education is crucial. This article provides an historical evolution of three laws that have direct bearing on campus…

The authors tell a story of the effects of state and national immigration policies on one teenage girl, and use that situation to call for change that will benefit her and similarly situated students in U.S. schools. The girl was brought to the U.S. when she was a toddler, attended American schools, never returned to or visited her native Mexico,…

Context: No Child Left Behind is only the most recent manifestation of a longstanding American impulse to reform schools through accountability systems created from afar. While research has explored the causes and consequences of No Child Left Behind, this study puts the modern accountability movement in longer historical perspective, seeking to…

We use North Carolina data to explore whether the quality of teachers in the lower elementary grades (K-2) falls short of teacher quality in the upper grades (3-5) and to examine the hypothesis that school accountability pressures contribute to such quality shortfalls. Our concern with the early grades arises from recent studies highlighting how…

Teacher professional development is a chief concern of states, districts, and schools in the wake of high-stakes accountability measures such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The goals and practices of professional development are often disconnected, and this misalignment affects art teachers in unique ways. Art teachers are often "left…

A better understanding of the basic mechanisms of the Problem-solving/Response to Intervention (PS/RtI) framework will help educators address students' diverse learning and behavioral needs. It will also help educators who may view PS/RtI as a compliance matter rather than an informative educational process that helps children reach their goals.…

In the public school setting, increased pressure related to academic performance standards and achievement is placed on teachers and administrators each year. As a result, physical education, particularly in elementary schools, is often significantly reduced or cut entirely from the curriculum. Teachers frequently have cited that the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how courts deal with issues related to the broad definition of free appropriate public education (FAPE) as it pertains to the least restrictive environment (LRE) for the provision of special education services as legislated though the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The Supreme Court…