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The development of a Mental Health Technology Program at Middlesex Community College is proposed. The 2-year program would train the student to become a middle-level generalist in the field of mental health with special abilities as a communicator. On successfully completing the program, the student would receive an Associate Degree in Mental Health Technology. The sections of the proposal are: 1. Purpose of the Program (Major Objectives, Job Performance, Specific Agencies to Be Served); 2. Need for the Program; 3. Program Design (Curriculum, Course Descriptions); 4. Clinical Affiliations; 5. Potential Enrollment; 6. Similar Programs; 7. Faculty Requirements; 8. Physical Plant and Equipment; 9. Cost Analysis; 10. Cover Letter and Attachments. (DB)

In this brief, we detail three major findings from our year of interviews and observations: (1) We describe how the external contexts of schooling shifted throughout the pandemic and how many of these outside pressures persist today; (2) We look internally at how district leaders make sense of external pressures and weigh their internal values to set budget priorities, arrive at defining problems, then remedy these concerns. Districts displayed three ways of emerging from the pandemic after the return to in-person learning; and (3) We compare the different solutions or innovations that districts pursued to reengage students and support their well-being. We compare large and small structural innovations as well as pedagogical and organizational innovations.

Education resources matter when they are allocated and used effectively. Yet, the upstream decisions school boards make about district budgets and resource allocation are understudied. In this descriptive study, we analyze data from 400 publicly available video recordings of financial deliberations in school board budget meetings between spring 2022 and spring 2023. Half of the video recordings are from school boards that received education finance training from the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. We find school boards discussed student outcomes in only 15-25% of board meetings focused on financial deliberations. Only about 11% of the variation in financial deliberations can be explained by district characteristics, student achievement, and community characteristics. We find no differences in the discussion of student outcomes for districts with and without the Edunomics training. However, descriptive evidence suggests a positive relationship between the Edunomics training and some summary measures of financial deliberations: the overall level of engagement in budgetary discussions; the likelihood per-unit cost and internal barriers (such as decision-making structure) were mentioned; and the likelihood that the budget was linked to outcomes. These findings underscore the variation in school board deliberations and suggest the potential value of training school board members to influence those deliberations.

The Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education provides funding and priority recommendations for Nebraska State College, University of Nebraska, and Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis (NCTA) capital construction budget requests, as outlined in Nebraska's Constitution and Statutes. The overarching principle used in this process is to provide safe, functional, well-utilized, and well-maintained facilities that support institutional efforts to provide exemplary programs. Section I of this report outlines the Commission's recommendations to continue reaffirmation funding of all partially funded capital construction projects. Section II outlines the State College, University, and NCTA capital construction budget requests as submitted by their respective governing board. These requests include Task Force for Building Renewal requests and individual capital construction budget requests from the State Colleges and University. Funding recommendations are provided in Section III of the report. The Commission prioritized one sector initiative, thirteen individual capital construction projects, and LB309 funding requests for the 2025-2027 biennium as outlined in Section IV. The Commission's prioritized list is aimed at identifying from a statewide perspective the most urgent capital construction needs for the coming biennium. The prioritization is designed to assist the Governor and Legislature in developing a strategy to address the most critical institutional facility needs from a statewide perspective.

Nebraska's constitution and state statutes require the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education (CCPE) to review the budget requests of the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska State College System, and the community colleges in light of specific criteria set forth in the statutes. The Commission also makes recommendations on major statewide funding issues and initiatives, as suggested by statute. The Commission's recommendations begin with a discussion of statewide funding issues and initiatives. This biennium, the Commission recommends that the state continue to concentrate on two statewide issues: providing financial aid for students from low-income families and continued state support for public postsecondary institutions. After considering statewide issues, the recommendations turn to the institutional requests. In the process of developing the public postsecondary education budget recommendations for the 2025-27 biennium, the Commission reviewed 15 requests as part of the continuation budget requests, four requests for new and expanded programs, and the community college state aid and dual enrollment request. In its recommendations, the Commission recognizes that financing higher education is a shared responsibility between the state and students but believes that the preponderance of the responsibility for affordable public higher education rests with the state.

Public schools buckled under the shock that arrived with the global pandemic, most closing their doors in March 2020. Still fresh in our memories, teachers attempted online instruction, viewing their students each day as small squares on computer screens. We know all too well that learning curves of students flattened or fell. Many kids and teachers experienced death in their families, along with emotional angst that's still reported by local educators. Yet as the COVID-19 virus receded, our research team began visiting a handful of California school districts in early 2021. We asked district leaders and school principals about how they were recovering from this unprecedented jolt, along with the challenges and joys of returning to in-person schooling. These early conversations also revealed a variety of organizational and pedagogical innovations--from digitally enlivened lessons to intense work with small groups of pupils. Teachers and staff, still dealing with health challenges in their own families, were turning to the social and emotional well-being of their students.

Leaders in higher education face increasing pressure to ensure their institutions are well-positioned to adapt to our changing world. As part of responding to these demands, a growing number of institutions have established dedicated teams of in-house experts to support this work and the culture change around it, broadly termed academic change or academic innovation. This report details methods and findings of a comprehensive survey of academic innovation department leaders in colleges and universities across the United States. The survey received responses from 138 academic innovation leaders who shared details on the scope of their work, the structures and institutional resources supporting it, their impact, and their perspectives on contemporary challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on postsecondary learning. Ten years after the first such survey, findings included evidence of increasing staffing and budgets, evolving priorities, shifting reporting structures, and technological advancement. Implications include expanding research and professional communities for this relatively new functional area within US higher education, recommendations for institutional leaders, and a focus on supporting continued growth. As a result, the report serves as a census of academic innovation units in an array of US colleges and universities, with details relevant for benchmarking and further research. The following are appended: (1) Data tables for all survey items; (2) Participating institution list; and (3) Survey instrument. [This report was produced by the University of Michigan, Center for Academic Innovation and Quantum Thinking. Additional sponsors for this report include: Class Technologies, Acadeum, Intelliboard, Auburn University, Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning Leading Academic Change, EdPlus at Arizona State University, Bentley University, University System of Maryland, William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, POD Network in Higher education (POD), and SAB Creative & Consulting.]

This report provides a brief summary of the status of FY2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) appropriations as of the cover date of this report. It also provides background on the scope of the LHHS bill generally and the context for congressional appropriations decisions, including the submission of the President's budget request for FY2025 and budget enforcement in the absence of a budget resolution. On May 23, 2024, the House Appropriations Committee voted to report its draft initial suballocations for all 12 subcommittees, including LHHS (30-22). (These draft suballocations, and subsequent revised suballocations, have not yet been reported to the House.) The Senate Appropriations Committee reported to the Senate its full set of suballocations (S.Rept. 118-190) on July 11, 2024 (15-11). On July 10, the House Appropriations Committee marked up its version of the FY2025 LHHS bill in full committee, and voted to report the bill (31-25). The bill (H.R. 9029) was reported to the House on July 12, 2024 (H.Rept. 118-585). Previously, the LHHS subcommittee had approved the draft LHHS bill on June 27, 2024 (voice vote).

An ongoing debate in K-12 education policy has been between the "reform" agenda, including charter schools and school vouchers, and advocates of traditional public schools, led by educator unions. A similar split has emerged in higher education, particularly community colleges. Using California as an example, this paper: 1) summarizes the evolution of the current political divide between advocates of the "completion and success" agenda and faculty-led opponents, including the major reforms involved, 2) discusses the claims that leading organizations on each side have made, including their policy priorities, and 3) argues that the two sides share do share some areas of mutual agreement. The paper concludes by noting future policy considerations that could complicate reform efforts.

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.

In an effort to reduce state spending on special education in public schools, New Jersey moved to census-based funding as part of the new school funding formula, the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), adopted in 2008. The census approach funds all districts using the statewide average classification rate and a statewide average "excess cost." This report found that: (1) Classification rates for special education vary greatly among school districts, resulting in the inequitable distribution of resources to fund districts' actual special education enrollment; (2) In 2022-23, districts with classification rates higher than the statewide average received $378 million less than if they were funded on their actual special education enrollment; and (3) Districts with higher-than-average classification rates must divert funding from general education programs or raise additional local revenue to fill the gap for unfunded special education students. In this report, the authors show that census-based funding does not meet the needs of New Jersey school districts and the students, in both special and general education, they serve. The analyses presented in this report demonstrate the need for New Jersey to convene school finance and special education experts to explore and recommend alternative funding models for special education that would better meet the needs of the state's school districts.

The Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund had two main purposes: (1) to ensure that colleges could continue to provide education to students in the wake of the pandemic and (2) to provide emergency financial assistance through colleges directly to students. Four years after the onset of the pandemic, this ARCC Network brief uses college financial data--including data recently released for fiscal year 2022--to look at what happened to college finances and to assess the importance of HEER funding for the financial solvency of community colleges over the course of the pandemic. The authors find that during the peak years of the pandemic (2020-2022), community colleges lost huge numbers of students: On average, colleges lost 580 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students or 15% of pre-pandemic year-on-year enrollment, whereas college enrollments typically fluctuate by +/-2% each year. The authors also find that federal HEER funding saved community colleges from massive losses in tuition revenue during the pandemic. Instead of losing revenue, HEER funding increased total revenue per college from $81 million to $84 million, covering lost tuition and offsetting new costs associated with the pandemic. HEER funding also provided $4 million in student aid per college, on average, making up for lost resources students experienced during the pandemic. The authors--who also wrote an associated blog post that includes an interactive dashboard on this topic--contend that community colleges are confronting new fiscal challenges post-pandemic. As HEER funding has ended, many community colleges are faced with a difficult fiscal outlook, with increased costs due to inflation and decreased overall enrollments relative to pre-pandemic levels. Navigating these new fiscal realities will be extremely challenging for community colleges, raising new concerns about the viability of many colleges in the post-pandemic era. [This report was written with the Accelerating Recovery in Community Colleges (ARCC) Network.]

The School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), New Jersey's school finance law, requires the Governor, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, to review certain components of the school funding formula every three years. The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) issued four Educational Adequacy Reports (EAR) between 2013 and 2022, but none provided the in-depth analysis that is required to ensure the formula is delivering adequate resources to all students. These reports updated the underlying costs of the formula while failing to consider whether the inputs themselves are adequate for delivering the state's evolving learning standards. These surface-level reviews have left the SFRA out of step with current thinking on the resources needed to meet the state's academic and social-emotional standards. To ensure New Jersey students are receiving a constitutional "thorough and efficient" education, it is time for the NJDOE to conduct a much more thorough analysis. The FY2026 EAR, due to the Legislature in early 2025, provides the long overdue opportunity to do a thorough analysis of the formula and its components to ensure it is calibrated to the resources needed to provide all students with an adequate education aligned with New Jersey's current standards and curriculum.

Over the last 3 decades, the Direct Loan program has grown in size and complexity, with over $1.3 trillion in outstanding loans as of September 2023. This program provides financial assistance to help students and their parents pay for postsecondary education. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review issues related to Education's Direct Loan program cost estimates. This report examines: (1) the status of Education's planned model for estimating Direct Loan costs; (2) how certain federal and private sector estimation approaches would affect Direct Loan budgetary costs over time; and (3) the extent to which Education provides key information about the performance and risks of the Direct Loan program. GAO reviewed documentation on Education's current student loan model and plans for its new model. GAO analyzed the potential budgetary impact over time of four approaches for estimating the cost of a selected group of loans. GAO identified relevant reports, reviewed reporting guidance for federal loan programs, and interviewed officials from Education, other agency officials, and stakeholders with relevant expertise.

The Innovation Schools Act of 2008, § 22-32.5-102, et seq. C.R.S., was designed to provide a pathway for schools and districts to develop and implement innovative practices in a wide variety of areas and contexts to improve student outcomes. The Act provides a formal process that allows schools or groups of schools to make requests to their local school boards for waivers from district-level policies and for school boards to make requests to the Colorado State Board of Education for waivers from state-level laws and regulations. The Act enables schools to better provide educational services tailored to meet the needs of their student populations. Innovation schools are required to articulate a vision around the autonomies they are seeking, as well as to gain support from a variety of stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, and School Accountability Committee members, before receiving the innovation school designation. The innovation application process (see Appendix A) requires schools to think through the common goal and vision that will be made possible by receiving greater autonomy, as well as to identify the policies and documents that will need to change when these innovations are implemented. In compliance with the requirements of § 22-32.5-111, C.R.S., the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) has prepared this annual report divided into the following parts: (1) Overview of the Innovation Schools Act; (2) Current Demographics of Innovation Schools; (3) Description of the Innovations Implemented; (4) Summary of the Academic Performance of Innovation Schools; and (5) Recommendations for Legislative Changes. This report builds on the format from previous years, which typically includes a more detailed section regarding the academic performance of innovation schools and innovation school zones. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, state assessments in 2020 were suspended and the corresponding data is not available. For the 2020-21 school year, state assessments were administered to a limited number of grade levels. In the 2021-22 school year, state assessments were administered, and the corresponding data is included in this report. Similar to overall statewide trends, rates of participation in state assessments in 21-22 were still lower than in 2019 and should be considered when reviewing summary statistics.

New Leaders developed the Transformational Leadership Framework (TLF) to pinpoint practices commonly found in schools that were significantly advancing student achievement and in what sequence principals and their teams implemented those practices to deliver consistent and equitable outcomes for students. The TLF is based on: (1) More than 100 site visits and case studies of schools that achieved dramatic gains; (2) An extensive review of available research on effective schools and leadership; and (3) The collective knowledge of the New Leaders staff and program participants. The Framework is organized to show how specific school leader actions have influenced and enabled schoolwide practices that have collectively yielded sustained improvements in student achievement. [This report was adapted from "Breakthrough Principals: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Stronger Schools."]

COVID-19 upended schooling across the United States, but with what consequences for the state-level institutions that drive most education policy? This paper reports findings on two related research questions. First, what were the most important ways state government education policymakers changed schools and schooling from the moment they began to reckon with the seriousness of COVID-19 through the first full academic year of the pandemic? Second, how deep did those changes go -- are there indications the pandemic triggered efforts to make lasting changes in states' education policymaking institutions? Using multiple-methods research focused on Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Oregon, we documented policies enacted during the period from March 2020 through June 2021 across states and across sectors (traditional and choice) in three COVID-19-related education policy domains: school closings and reopenings, budgeting and resource allocation, and assessment and accountability systems. We found that states quickly enacted radical changes to policies that had taken generations to develop. They mandated sweeping school closures in Spring 2020, and then a diverse array of school reopening policies in the 2020/2021 school year. States temporarily modified their attendance-based funding systems and allocated massive federal COVID-19 relief funds. Finally, states suspended annual student testing, modified the wide array of accountability policies and programs linked to the results of those tests, and adapted to new assessment methods. These crisis-driven policy changes deeply disrupted long-established patterns and practices in education. Despite this, we found that state education governance systems remained resilient, and that at least during the first 16 months of the pandemic, stakeholders showed little interest in using the crisis to trigger more lasting institutional change. We hope these findings enable state policymakers to better prepare for future crises.

Discussions about college affordability often revolve around helping students pay their tuition and fees. But nontuition expenses, including food, housing, and other living expenses, make up a large portion of student budgets and contribute to increased student debt. These expenses can be a barrier to student enrollment and completion. Lack of information about the true full cost of attendance, stringent requirements to qualify for income support benefits, and limited grant aid make it hard for many students to access enough resources to cover their basic needs. In this report, we summarize our findings emerging from research and a convening we hosted on nontuition expenses. Currently, there is no standardized way to measure cost of attendance at institutions, making it difficult for students to compare nontuition costs across schools. Providing students personalized information about what their food, housing, and other living expenses may look like allows them to plan for the school year but is distinct from practical solutions for measuring student need for financial aid purposes. Doubling the Pell grant is a common suggestion when discussing the cost of education, and incorporating some level of basic living expenses, in addition to the costs of books and supplies, into estimates of adequate grant aid would be constructive. But increasing the Pell grant is insufficient, as using it explicitly to cover living expenses could lack political support and may lead to unintended consequences, such as tuition increases. Based on these findings, state and federal policymakers can do more to support students who cannot afford nontuition expenses through changes to federal, state, and institution-level policies. Both enabling students to have access to income support benefits and more generous grant aid are central to policy efforts for addressing financial barriers to student access and success. Increases in need-based financial aid from federal and state governments, as well as institutions, are important. But we should not view low-income students as entirely distinct from other low-income adults, and education policy alone cannot be responsible for meeting students' basic needs.

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's (Department's) fiscal year (FY) 2023 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, other external stakeholders, and the American people on how the Department used the federal resources entrusted to it to advance the mission of the Department to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. The Department accomplishes its mission and the related strategic goals and objectives by administering programs that range from preschool education through postdoctoral research; enforcing civil rights laws to provide equal access and treatment; and supporting research that examines ways that states, schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions can improve America's education system. As evidenced by the information contained in this AFR, the Department has demonstrated that it is a good steward of financial resources and has put in place well-controlled and well-managed business and financial management systems, processes, and practices. The AFR also provides high-level financial and performance highlights, assessments of controls, a summary of challenges, and a demonstration of the Department's stewardship. The AFR is divided into four sections. The Management's Discussion and Analysis section provides information about the Department's mission and organizational structure as well as its high-level performance results, financial highlights, management assurances regarding internal controls, and forward-looking information. The Financial Section provides a message from the chief financial officer, the Consolidated Balance Sheet and related notes, and the report from the independent auditors. The Other Information section provides the unaudited financial statements and related notes, required supplementary information, the Office of Inspector General's Management and Performance Challenges for FY 2024, a summary of financial statement audit and management assurances, "Payment Integrity Information Act" reporting details, civil monetary penalty adjustment for inflation, Climate Related Financial Risk, and the "Grants Oversight and New Efficiency Act of 2016" and grant closeout process reporting. The Appendices section provides a listing of selected Department web links, education resources, and a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations.

The value of school libraries is well-established, with reviews and studies worldwide highlighting the impact on children and young people's academic achievement and literacy outcomes. Yet, it is still not a statutory requirement for schools to have a school library or school library system. As such, there are no official figures as to the number or proportion of schools that have a school library or school librarian in the UK. This report provides an up-to-date picture of school libraries at both primary and secondary schools in the UK. It focuses on what is known about the extent of current school library provision, the evidence of the need for further support of school libraries, and the impact that school libraries can have on children and young people.

All students deserve access to a high-quality education and the resources they need to thrive. However, in Michigan this has not been the reality for far too long, particularly for students who are the most underserved. Longstanding inequities have persisted and worsened since the beginning of the pandemic, and Michigan has fallen further and faster than leading states since 2019. Further, pandemic recovery as of 2023 has been woefully inadequate. To improve outcomes for all Michigan students, Education Trust-Midwest (ETM) outlined 10 evidence-backed recommendations as part of the 2023 State of Michigan Education Report. In the Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget Recommendation, Governor Whitmer includes several key investments for students' educational recovery and acceleration that align with those recommendations. This document is intended to highlight these key pieces of Governor Whitmer's education budget recommendation and explore how these priorities, as well as other strategies, can advance equity and excellence in Michigan schools.

Since establishing its first campus in 1868, the University of California (UC), California's land-grant university, developed into the nation's first multi-campus system in the United States, and is today widely recognized as the world's premier network of public research universities. This short essay provides an historical brief on the role that shared governance, and specifically the role of the Academic Senate, played in creating an academic culture of excellence and high achievement in pursuing its tripartite mission of teaching and learning, research and knowledge production, and public service. A key component in understanding the critical role of the Senate in UC's evolution from a single campus in Berkeley to now a ten-campus system is the university's unusual designation as a public trust in the state constitution that, beginning in 1879, protected the university at critical times from external political pressures and allowed the university to develop an internal academic culture guided by the Academic Senate. By the 1920s, the emergence of California's unique and innovative public system of higher education, with UC as the sole public provider of doctoral degrees and state funded research, also helps explain the ability of the UC system to maintain its mission and formulate what is termed a "One University" model. The Academic Senate has created coherency and shared values within UC, and a culture and expectation for faculty performance that is unique among universities around the world. This essay also offers a brief reflection on the Academic Senate's past influence, its current status, and prospective role. The overall intent is to provide context for the current academic community and higher education scholars regarding the past and future role of faculty in university governance and management, and what distinguishes UC in the pantheon of major research universities.

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is a federal advisory committee that advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on issues related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was established by the "Children's Health Act of 2000" (Public Law 106-310), reconstituted under the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (CAA; Public Law 109-416), and was most recently renewed under the "Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support (CARES) Act of 2019" (Public Law 116-60). One of the statutory responsibilities of the IACC under the CAA and subsequent authorizations is the development of a strategic plan for autism, to be updated annually. The "Autism CARES Act of 2019" requires that the strategic plan address the "conduct of, and support for, autism spectrum disorder research, including as practicable for services and supports." With each update of its "Strategic Plan," the IACC re-evaluates the needs of the autism community and the best ways to achieve progress. The "2021-2023 IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Research, Services, and Policy" summarizes current understanding of autism-relevant topics and addresses current gaps and opportunities in autism research, services and supports, and policy. As in previous years, the "IACC Strategic Plan" is organized around seven general topic areas that are represented in the Plan as community-focused Questions. Each question is assigned a chapter in the "Strategic Plan" that provides an Aspirational Goal, or long-term vision for the question; a description of the state of the field; the needs and opportunities in research, services, and policy; and three broad Objectives. In this edition of the "IACC Strategic Plan," the Objectives from the "2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan" have been updated and renamed as "Recommendations." The 24 total updated Recommendations in this "Strategic Plan," including the new equity Recommendation and the Budget Recommendation, address critical gaps and potential opportunities for advancement that were identified by the IACC. The IACC's goal during the development of this "Plan" is to present a collective voice detailing the current status and future goals of autism research, services, and policy. [For the "Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2018-2019 Update," see ED608308.]

Ohio's students deserve a world-class education, including safe and well-resourced schools that are staffed with teachers who are well trained and fairly paid. However, the combined effects of the COVID pandemic and Ohio's legacy of inadequate, inequitable funding have weakened the role school plays as a foundational public institution. Ohio ranks 21st in the nation for K-12 education, 46th for equitable distribution of funding, and 40th in starting teacher salaries. Ohio public schools educate 1.7 million students across racial, gender, socioeconomic and geographic lines -- and every one of them deserves better. The state of the schools is a direct result of policy choices made by legislators. This report, which focuses largely on public schools, describes how Ohio's schools are funded in the most recent budget, examines staffing issues, summarizes critical performance metrics and identifies new legislation that will impact education throughout the state. Policy recommendations are provided that will make Ohio's schools better places to learn, grow, teach and work.

Enrollment in California public schools has been declining and is projected to fall even more steeply during the next decade. Because funding for school districts is largely based on average daily attendance rates, a decline in enrollment results in a loss of funding. To address budget shortfalls and align services with student counts, many districts have consolidated or closed schools, or they are contemplating doing so. Leaders in declining-enrollment districts will need to consider the benefits and costs when seeking to balance their budgets with new enrollment realities. This report makes three recommendations for how local decision makers, including district officials and school board members, should approach school closures: (1) establish and execute an inclusive, transparent process; (2) implement a strategy to provide displaced students and the broader student community with accessible, high-quality educational opportunities; and (3) develop a long-term plan to address factors--such as housing affordability, gentrification, and economic divestment--contributing to the disproportionate closure of schools serving low-income students and students of color. This report aims to provide evidence and suggestions to help state and local education leaders as they confront declining enrollment and urges them to work with other city and county agencies, including housing and economic development authorities, to increase opportunities for low-income families and communities of color so that fewer enrollment-related school closures are necessary.

This report presents changes in educator and student outcomes for HISD, Achieve 180 Program schools, and non-Achieve 180 comparison schools which were Title I, Part A campuses for the fifth year of the program. Positive effects of the Achieve 180 Program were observed although there were still challenges which Achieve 180 Program schools needed to overcome. Within the Achieve 180 Program, five treatment groups (tiers) were formed according to their Texas Education Agency (TEA) accountability ratings, the number of years with their ratings, their level of support needed, and the specific school office assigned to address their needs. In Year 5, most Achieve 180 Program schools had remained in the same tier group since Year 4. Summary results are provided that detail: (1) Characteristics of Achieve 180 Program Students; (2) Years of Achieve 180 Program Participation; (3) Achieve 180 Program Total Budget Expenditures; (4) School Leader Appraisal System (SLAS) Ratings; (5) Teacher Appraisal and Development System (TADS) Ratings; (6) State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Grades 3-8 Performance; (7) State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) End-of-Course Performance; and (8) Texas Education Agency (TEA) Accountability Ratings.

This research-practice partnership (RPP) focused on developing and testing metrics and tools to foster improved evidence-based budgetary decision-making. The expectation was that research findings would directly influence decisions about program expansion, contraction, or elimination. Instead, unexpected findings led to unexpected uses: changes in program implementation, administrative data collection processes, and the kinds of information provided to inform budget and program improvement decisions. A content analysis of two rounds of interviews with senior district budget decision-makers identified recommendations for improving the budget decision process and document changes in the budget process over time. The study highlights the sometimes unanticipated ways that RPPs can inform educational decisions. [This is the online first version of an article published in "Peabody Journal of Education."]

School is a place where childhood happens. Ohio's public educators teach children of all races and backgrounds basic skills, but also challenge and inspire them to follow their dreams. For many students, school is a safe place to learn, develop and grow. This report describes how the state funds public K-12 education and some key investments proposed in the 2024-25 Executive Budget, the legacy of unconstitutional funding, the role private school vouchers play in harming public schools, and how the Fair School Funding Plan -- when fully funded and fully implemented, including weights and cost corrections -- can provide districts with more resources to prepare Ohio's children to succeed. [For the executive summary, see ED628215.]

After trailing the national average for five years, funding per student at public colleges and universities in Wisconsin overtook it in 2021. State and local tax and tuition funding per student dropped nationally after adjusting for inflation and rose in Wisconsin, though it remains lower for four-year campuses in Wisconsin. The state's colleges have shed students at an alarming rate, leaving their future and that of Wisconsin's workforce murky. The funding and enrollment data are published by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) and were used in "Falling Behind? The State of Wisconsin's Public Colleges and Universities" (ED612810), examining challenges to state higher education institutions. This brief updates key data from that report and looks at the issues facing the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) as lawmakers draft the 2023-25 state budget. The SHEEO data presented in this brief look at tax and tuition funding used for operations and exclude revenues used for capital projects and debt payments, research, medical education, hospitals, and financial aid and tuition discounts.

This document includes the "FY 2022 Annual Performance Report" and "FY 2024 Annual Performance Plan." The "FY 2022 Annual Performance Report" provides narrative and data on the US Department of Education's progress toward the strategic goals and objectives outlined in its "Fiscal Years 2022-2026 Strategic Plan" (ED625432) and the "FY 2024 Annual Performance Plan" details the Department's planned strategies and activities to achieve those strategic goals objectives.