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This report summarizes the fiscal effects of education choice programs across the United States from an analysis of 48 private education choice programs in 25 states plus D.C. The programs in the analysis include five education savings account programs, 22 school voucher programs, and 21 tax credit scholarship programs. This study estimates the combined net fiscal effects of each education choice program on state and local taxpayers through fiscal year (FY) 2022--in both the short run and the long run. It uses short-run and long-run variable cost estimates to generate lower bounds and upper bounds of the fiscal effects of education choice program on taxpayers through FY 2022. This report does not include any universal education choice programs in the main analysis because it uses federal data that were available for years before any universal programs launched. The report also provides context by presenting information about the size and scope of each program, in terms of participation and funding, relative to each state's public school system and state budgets. It presents information on taxpayer funding disparities between students using the choice programs and their peers in public schools.

In this report, we perform a descriptive analysis of kindergarten readiness in Illinois. We use data on the population of Illinois kindergarteners between the 2017-18 and 2021-22 school years provided by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). In our analysis, we build on the existing literature and examine readiness over time, by domain, and by student subgroups, using an equity perspective to understand differences in scores.

In this report, we perform an analysis of kindergarten readiness in Illinois and relate it to students' third grade academic achievement. We study two cohorts of Illinois kindergarteners and follow them into third grade using data provided by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). We summarize our key findings below: (1) Disparities appear larger in third grade than in kindergarten; (2) Overall, KIDS predicts performance on standardized achievement tests in Grade 3; and (3) Kindergarten readiness alone does not guarantee academic success, especially for Black and Hispanic/Latino students and students who are FRPL-eligible.

The Partnership for College Completion (PCC) was founded to "advance equity in higher education" by supporting colleges and universities to improve college completion for Black, Latinx, and Pell-eligible students--those groups that experience persistent disparities in completion. Simultaneously, PCC engages in state policy reform to bring about systems-wide change. Begun in 2018, the Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative (ILEA) is its flagship initiative, designed to partner with Illinois colleges and universities to assist them in narrowing their college completion gaps. Promising new research suggests improving equity in college completion requires an explicit focus on race, attention to organizational change, commitment to equity-focused policies and plans, and cross-institutional partnerships to help manifest change. Drawing from this research, ILEA and its partner institutions developed and implemented public-facing equity plans to improve graduation rates for their Black, Latinx, and Pell-eligible students. This study examines how the ILEA collaborative institutions confronted and negotiated structural barriers inhibiting graduation for these historically marginalized groups. The report aims to: (1) Provide study partners, including the Partnership for College Completion, with program feedback; (2) Inform readers about equity plan development and implementation, policy, and practice collaboratives; (3) Identify strengths and growth opportunities about PCC's efforts to bring colleges and universities together to jointly improve college completion for Black, Latinx, and Pell-eligible students; and (4) Reflect on implementation successes and challenges.

We study changes to teacher working conditions from 2016-17 to 2022-23, covering school years before, during, and after the COVID pandemic. We show working conditions were improving leading into the pandemic but declined when the pandemic arrived. Perhaps more surprisingly, the pandemic was not a low point: teacher working conditions have continued to decline during the post-pandemic period. Teachers report worsening working conditions along many dimensions including the level of classroom disruptions, student responsibility, and safety, among others. They also report declines in trust between themselves and principals, parents, and other teachers. Trends in working conditions since the pandemic are similar in schools serving more and less socioeconomically advantaged students. However, schools in districts where online learning was the predominant mode of instruction during the 2020-21 school year have experienced larger declines than other schools.

In many parts of the country, enrollment in traditional public schools has fallen to its lowest point in decades. However, states, cities, and school districts have been slow to respond to the reality of empty desks. This report examines trends in school enrollment, focusing on several of America's most populous cities, as well as the budgetary and staffing responses to those trends. It also examines the states where these large cities are located. Key findings include: (1) New York, Illinois, and California experienced the largest declines in enrollment between 2013 and 2022, while Texas and Arizona had the largest increase in enrollment; (2) Texas will soon surpass California with the most public school students; (3) In California's two biggest cities, Los Angeles and San Diego, enrollments fell between 2013 and 2022; (4) Philadelphia experienced a decline in enrollment that mirrored overall statewide trends; (5) Although Texas experienced a strong uptick in student enrollment statewide, its four biggest cities--Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin--all experienced slight declines over the last decade; (6) Costs per student rose between 2013 and 2022 in New York City, Houston, San Diego, Dallas, Austin, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Antonio, and Los Angeles; and (7) Total staff increased in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Dallas over the 2013-22 period.

Simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) entails significant changes to the FAFSA and the methodology for determining eligibility for federal financial aid for the 2024-25 academic year. The changes to the FAFSA form that were mandated by the Simplification Act delayed implementation and shifted the timeline for release of the 2024-25 FAFSA from October to December 2023. This shift has also led to delays in processing the FAFSA. Through a partnership with the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP), SHEEO initially convened 12 states from across the country (now expanded to 17 states) in 2022 to participate in a learning community. The learning community provided states with opportunities to examine the impact of FAFSA simplification on state financial aid programs and to take advantage of the open policy window to reconsider state financial aid policies and processes. Feedback from state members has confirmed that, despite the challenges and uncertainties around the rollout of the new FAFSA, states were as prepared as possible to implement the new FAFSA due in part to their participation in the learning community. As the first phase of the learning community concludes, SHEEO staff have conducted case-study interviews with state members of the learning community and the larger SHEEO membership. While all states have worked diligently to help students complete the new FAFSA, the four states selected -- Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, and Minnesota -- were chosen to represent states that implemented successful strategies for taking advantage of the policy window (Minnesota), employing FAFSA completion initiatives (Alabama, Illinois, and Louisiana), and preparing for the new FAFSA (all states).

At their best, K-12 public school systems can be engines of social and economic mobility. Unfortunately, schools in lower-income districts -- whose students have the greatest academic needs -- often receive less funding than their counterparts in more affluent districts. Discussions about closing these funding gaps usually zoom all the way out to the state level or all the way down to the district level. But a big part of the problem lies in how funding is distributed across districts in the same metro area -- and in state policies that allow wealthy communities to raise and keep large amounts of local revenue exclusively for their own schools. "Leveling the Landscape: An Analysis of K-12 Funding Inequities Within Metro Areas" takes a closer look at the scale and sources of education funding within 123 large metro areas in 38 states, focusing on funding disparities among districts serving the same region. Key takeaways include: (1) a majority of public school students (62%) live in large metro areas with more than five districts -- a level of fragmentation that makes funding disparities more likely; (2) within fragmented metro areas, wealthy districts often generate much more local funding per student than less affluent districts; (3) state policies, despite their progressive tilt, rarely bridge this gap -- and often don't even come close; (4) in 49 of the 123 large metro areas we examined, school districts in affluent areas receive the most funding per pupil; (5) closing the state and local funding gap between districts within the metro areas we examined would cost $26 billion in additional state funding per year; and (6) more ambitious policies can greatly reduce or even eliminate funding disparities. The report also explores policy tools state leaders can use to ensure all districts within the same metro area at the very least receive similar funding per student and ideally, set the stage for even greater levels of per-pupil funding to flow to higher-needs districts.

The success of all students in schools, including students with learning differences, is contingent on how schools operationalize universally designed instruction, positive behavior support, and data-based decision-making for individualized and group-level interventions. When schools have fully functional multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) that center equity and focus necessary attention on academic conditions, student behavior, and social-emotional learning conditions, students are more likely to receive the instruction and interventions they need. Further, there is evidence of improvements in student outcomes, particularly those related to behavior, when MTSS is implemented effectively. To address the need for effective MTSS implementation, WestEd engaged in a research and technical assistance partnership in which WestEd subject matter experts provided guidance on designing and implementing effective MTSS. WestEd researchers simultaneously studied the short-, mid-, and long-term effects of these efforts on student outcomes. This interim report provides initial analyses of student-level impacts in one of the two school districts involved in this project.

For decades, college tuition costs have been skyrocketing, yet state financial aid has failed to meet the increasing economic needs of college students -- leaving many young people with the choice of bridging the financial gap by taking out student loans or not attending college at all. This pressing issue of rising college tuition is not just a matter of economic inconvenience; it is a harbinger of deepening racial and socioeconomic inequalities. The lack of financial aid disproportionately deters Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds from pursuing higher education and earning a college degree. In this report, we explore state financial aid funding and associated program requirements in 10 distinct states: California, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. In it, we shed light on the 12 key eligibility requirements that often serve as barriers for students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, undocumented students, and justice-impacted students to afford college: (1) Program type (Need, Merit, or Need and Merit); (2) FAFSA completion required; (3) Alternative to FAFSA; (4) Low-income requirement; (5) Available without standardized test score; (6) Available without mandated GPA; (7) Marginalized student populations included; (8) FAFSA as a state high-school graduation requirement; (9) Institution types eligible; (10) Average undergraduate cost of attendance (COA) for in-state students (2022-23 academic year); (11) Annual award amount description; and (12) Enrollment intensity. This analysis is designed to help educators, policymakers, and advocates better understand the barriers, strengths, limitations, and influences that state financial aid programs can have on the ability of students of color and students from low-income backgrounds to access and afford college.

The 2023 Illinois Career and Technical Education Report is submitted in compliance with Illinois School Code 105 ILCS 435/2e, which requires a written career and technical education (CTE) report to be issued to the governor annually. This report describes the establishment of and delivery of CTE in Illinois, the existing condition of Illinois CTE based on school year 2022-23 data (FY 2023), and the future developments and recommendations for CTE in our state as required by Illinois School Code 105 ILCS 435/2e. Further, this report provides an update on the police academy program in Illinois as required 105 ILCS/5/22-83. The work of the Gender Equity Advisory Committee and other ISBE initiatives also are referenced within the report.

Charter schools are public schools governed by an independent board of directors that come into existence through a contract with an authorized public chartering agency. This report, known as the Illinois Charter School Biennial Report, provides legislators, policymakers, educators, and the general public with information regarding the state of Illinois' charter schools. In compliance with Section 27A-12 of the Charter Schools Law [105 ILCS 5/27A-12], it contains information that: (1) compares the academic performance of charter school students to the performance of their peers in traditional public schools; (2) analyzes whether or not exemption from certain regulations allows charter schools to better meet their stated goals and objectives; and (3) recommends any changes to the Charter Schools Law. This report also includes authorizer-specific information for each school district authorizer in the state, including: (1) the authorizer's strategic vision for chartering and progress toward achieving that vision; (2) the status of each authorizer's charter school portfolio; and (3) the authorizing functions provided by the authorizer to the charter schools under its purview, including its operating costs and expenses. [For the 2019-2020, 2020-2021 report, see ED618454.]

This document was created as a resource to identify and describe four properties of effective resource allocation systems to help anchor the resource allocation review process in the State of Illinois and build districts' understanding of these properties. An effective resource allocation system will have the following properties: (1) Equitable--Provides resources based on the needs of students and schools such that those with higher needs receive additional resources; (2) Transparent--Provides resources through a simple, well-defined, and clearly documented process such that stakeholders understand how resources are allocated to schools and how resource levels are differentiated; (3) Engages stakeholders--Allows for input in the budgeting and planning process from various education stakeholders, such as school site leaders and staff, parents, and community members; and (4) Aligns with district goals and priorities--Integrates and aligns with planning and school improvement processes, focuses on improving student outcomes, and offers flexibility to be responsive to new or shifting goals and priorities.

The early childhood education care (ECEC) practitioner landscape is complex and encompasses many roles including center-based and school-based administrative, teaching, and support staff as well as home-based unregulated child care family child care (FCC) providers and home-based regulated (e.g., registered or licensed) FCC providers who simultaneously operate as small business owners and early childhood educators. FCC professionals represent an "essential component of the child care landscape," yet the number of FCC programs has seen an alarming decline for the past two decades. Moreover, while other professions often have well-defined steps or universal requirements for entry-level positions and identified milestones and clear pathways for advancement, those who open FCC programs tend to represent a more varied and flexible professional pathway. This makes it difficult to gain a systemic understanding of the experiences and characteristics that make up the workforce. Research is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of this distinct yet crucial sector of the ECEC workforce including motivations, role perceptions, and job satisfaction. This Research Brief aims to bridge this gap in the literature by offering a detailed professional report of FCC professionals.

Home visiting connects expectant parents, new caregivers, and their young children with a support person, called a home visitor. The home visitor meets regularly with the family, develops a relationship with them, and supports them to achieve their goals and meet their needs. To reach the thousands of additional families who could benefit from home visiting, we must increase support for culturally relevant and family-centered models. A new report -- "Community-Based Home Visiting: Fidelity to Families, Commitment to Outcomes" -- delves into the unique strengths and challenges of community-based home visiting models, whose design and measures of success intentionally center the perspectives of the families and communities they serve. These models are often developed by those with experience with the unique cultures, strengths, and solutions of he community they live in and aim to serve. This report summarizes themes from listening sessions with 30+ community-based home visiting models from across the country. It offers policy and funding recommendations that would improve support for these models and therefore families' access to home visiting that best meets their goals. [Additional support was provided by the National Home Visiting Coalition Steering Committee.]

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a joint child and parent psychotherapy model for children experiencing significant emotional and behavioral difficulties due to traumatic life experiences. Treatment includes trauma-sensitive, family-based interventions focusing on cognitive behavioral patterns, which are the connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2012). The model's goals include improving posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive and anxiety symptoms; improving children's externalizing behavior problems; improving parenting skills and parental support of the child; enhancing parent-child communication, attachment, and ability to maintain safety; improving children's adaptive functioning; and reducing shame and embarrassment related to the trauma event (Cohen et al., 2006). TF-CBT's focus on addressing trauma symptoms aligns with the needs of many Illinois families receiving Intact Family Services, according to caseworkers and clinicians. This brief summarizes themes from focus groups and interviews conducted in 2023 with child welfare caseworkers and TF-CBT providers in Illinois.

The following resource is an impact story of how NCSI built the capacity of Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to design a state system of support to begin addressing the special education teacher shortage. The resource provides context for the intensive technical assistance focusing on improvement science, provides qualitative and quantitative examples of impact, and concludes with lessons learned from the partnership.

Child care and early education (CCEE) educators typically have low levels of compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and professional development; inconsistent working conditions; and high levels of stress and burnout. There are also high rates of job turnover, which can strain remaining educators and decrease the quality of care they offer. Policymakers at the federal and state levels are taking steps to build and stabilize the CCEE workforce, but effectively addressing these challenges requires a better understanding of the issues. The Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project aims to increase knowledge and understanding about the CCEE workforce by documenting factors that drive turnover and by building evidence on current initiatives to recruit, advance, and retain a stable and qualified CCEE workforce. Wage data from state Unemployment Insurance (UI) systems can be used to address some of the most pressing policy and research questions about the CCEE workforce because they track individual-level employment and quarterly earnings over time and across employers. This brief describes how these data can support longitudinal analyses that address the following questions: (1) How do educators enter and exit the CCEE workforce over time? (2) Which other industries do educators work in before and after child care employment? (3) When and how often do educators change CCEE employers or leave the industry? (4) How do wages change over time for CCEE work? and (5) How do CCEE wages compare with wages in other industries? A better understanding of how CCEE workers move through the labor market can inform the development of targeted recruitment and retention strategies, as well as evaluations of these strategies. This brief is a technical primer for researchers or agencies interested in using UI wage data to better understand the labor market experiences and, especially, the job trajectories of CCEE workers. Informed by a series of analyses of Illinois UI wage data, this brief describes how child care workers can be identified and characterized in these data, and suggests methods to measure important aspects of their employment, such as job duration, wages, and retention. This brief also includes a short discussion of possibilities for linking UI wage data to other data sources to address these limitations.

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of Imagine Learning's MyPath program on student mathematics and reading achievement growth. This study examined achievement growth trajectories of kindergarten students in one suburban Midwestern district in the 2022-23 school year. NWEA MAP mathematics and reading scores served as the main outcome variables in quantitative impact analyses. As Imagine MyPath was used by all district kindergarten students, MAP mathematics and reading score growth of district kindergarten students was compared to that of matched comparison students obtained from a Similar Schools Report (SSR) provided to the district by NWEA. Additionally, a questionnaire was administered to district teachers that used Imagine MyPath to examine teacher perceptions of the program. A statistically significant positive impact of Imagine MyPath on mathematics achievement was observed, with treatment students outgaining matched comparison students by more than 2 points. Treatment students also outgained matched comparison students in reading achievement, but this difference was minimal and not statistically significant. Teacher perceptions of Imagine MyPath were largely positive, especially regarding perceived program impacts on student learning. The results of this study provide preliminary evidence regarding the efficacy of Imagine MyPath in relation to mathematics achievement. It is important to note that results from this study are derived from data in one unique district in which all students used the program. Future research may focus on contexts where some students are using Imagine MyPath while other students are participating in business-as-usual instruction.

School districts historically approached conflict-resolution from a zero-sum perspective: suspend students seen as disruptive and potentially harm them, or avoid suspensions and harm their classmates. Restorative practices (RP) -- focused on reparation and shared ownership of disciplinary justice -- are designed to avoid this trade-off by addressing undesirable behavior without imparting harm. This study examines Chicago Public Schools' adoption of RP. We identify decreased suspensions, improved school climate, and find no evidence of increased classroom disruption. We estimate a 19% decrease in arrests, including for violent offenses, with reduced arrests outside of school, providing evidence that RP substantively changed behavior. [Additional funding provided by the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago and the Hymen Milgrom Supporting Organization through the Successful Pathways from School to Work initiative of the University of Chicago.]

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is committed to the cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development of all children in Illinois. ISBE's Multilingual/Language Development Department is focused on ensuring that students with diverse linguistic repertoires and those who may benefit from additional support have equitable access to academic instruction in English. These students also must be provided with access to all educational opportunities to which they are entitled. Section 105 ILSC 5/14C-3 requires that one of two types of programs be provided for all preK-12 English learners (ELs) to help them become proficient in English. The two options are a Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) program and a Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI). Pursuant to 105 ILCS 5/2-3.39, this report delineates state data on English learners. Data for this report were extracted by the ISBE Data Strategies and Analytics Department from the SY 2021-22 Student Information System Enrollment, EL Record Data, and I-Star Student Approval Data. The data values were calculated based on the 2022 Report Card Snapshot. [This report was produced by the Illinois State Board of Education's Multilingual Department and the Data Strategies and Analytics Department. For the 2020-21 report, see ED624087.]

Data about compensation received by employees in Illinois' 48 public community colleges are gathered by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). Data in the Fiscal Year 2023 Salary Report, which derive from the ICCB Faculty, Staff, and Salary (C1) Data and Supplementary Faculty, Staff, and Salary Information, reflect the census date of October 1, 2022. Most tables in this report contain information on full-time employees. The report includes faculty salary data which are based on actual contracts, salaries from salary schedules, overload faculty salary rates, and part-time faculty salary rates. Also included are administrative salaries, other (nonteaching) professional staff salaries; information on average faculty load; salaries for selected administrators; and fiscal year 2022 salaries actually paid to faculty, administrators, other (nonteaching) professionals, and classified staff.