U.S. state agencies are charged with addressing the service and support needs of residents with and without disabilities. Undertaking this task effectively requires having familiarity with the array of available disability-related resources and programs--both within and beyond one's own agency. We asked 212 staff from 13 state agencies about their…

This report explores how state-level policies shape the effectiveness and quality of Registered Apprenticeship Programs in the US. Through interviews with the Office of Apprenticeship and four state apprenticeship agencies, the research examines policies on supervision, hiring, recordkeeping, wages, and Equal Employment Opportunity. While states…

Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) have recently grown in popularity as they provide a formal framework for collaborative research between researchers and practitioners. Moreover, there is a plethora of guidance for executing effective RPPs. However, there is a continuing question of whether partnerships are practical and useful; thus, our…

States serve as the central authority in higher education oversight, playing a critical role in consumer protection and quality assurance within the regulatory triad and as an independent regulatory entity. However, there is a notable gap in understanding the components of renewal processes, how agencies implement them in practice, and the…

"Court-involved" students -- those who are incarcerated, on probation, in foster care, in residential treatment facilities, or have concurrent adjudications -- retain their full educational rights under federal and state laws. They also face many educational challenges, as they are often highly mobile, have concentrated needs, and may…

State regulators are the central authority in higher-education oversight, charged with ensuring consumer protection and quality assurance within the regulatory triad. Yet gaps remain in the understanding of regulatory renewal processes, their real-world implementation, and the capacity challenges these agencies face. To address this, State Higher…

Implementation of ESA programs will not be easy. The ESA model is novel and foreign to most state education agencies, which have little to no experience with helping families purchase a wide variety of educational goods and services using government funds. Even if agencies had the relevant experience, ESA programs are complex, involving millions…

The Center for Data Insights at MDRC has partnered with organizations to develop and execute a variety of data projects, some with long-standing partners that have participated in MDRC's long-term evaluations; others with newer partners that are just beginning to use data for program improvement. Important lessons about the essential ingredients…

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) requires annual inspections of child care and early education (CCEE) providers who operate legally without a license (i.e., license-exempt providers) and receive CCDF subsidies. The purpose of these inspections is to ensure that these providers follow health and safety standards set by CCDF for…

Despite school psychologists working in non-school settings since 1896, no studies have investigated the practices that these professionals engage in outside the schools. The purpose of this study was to explore the practices of school psychologists in school and non-school settings, such as state agencies and hospitals. Additionally, the…

Through Critical Race Theory and Black Feminist Thought, the authors critique discriminatory legislation by Wisconsin's Department of Children and Families. The findings of this meta-ethnography present the counternarratives of 21 Black women childcare providers to interrogate the way Wisconsin early care and education (ECE) governing agencies (1)…

In late 2020, Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act, restoring access to federal Pell Grants for confined and incarcerated students for the first time since 1994. Following the reversal of this nearly 30-year ban, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) established a new application process for institutions of higher education seeking to…

State school safety centers (SSSCs) aim to provide a wide range of services to enhance school security. Still, more information is needed to understand how the centers should operate and what factors determine their success. In 2021, the WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center received funding from the U.S. National Institute of Justice to…

This qualitative case study examined the perspectives of Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers in a Virginia Region III Head Start agency, focusing on factors influencing their intentions to stay and ways to improve retention rates. The study addressed workforce challenges by identifying specific retention factors and exploring solutions. The…

This "Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) Plan Guidance" provides instructions for designing, operating, and reporting on all State nutrition education and obesity prevention grant program operations. It describes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)…