Education Policy Commons^™

Early Learning Across Decades: Advances In Measuring Head Start Effectiveness, Chloe R. Gibbs

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Head Start program, launched in 1965 and targeted to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, remains the largest early childhood care and education (ECE) program in the United States and the only one deployed at the federal level. As such, the Head Start literature spans several decades and now allows for synthesis of findings from different contexts, time periods, and research designs. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the rigorous evidence measuring Head Start’s effects on children, their families, and society. The focus is on how (1) the contrast between program and counterfactual conditions, (2) takeup of the program among …

First Nations Education Policy: Joint Response, Ninti One, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

Shaping educational policy

This is a joint submission made by Ninti One Limited and the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to the development of the new First Nations Education Policy. The submission is grounded in a significant body of evidence derived from recent collaborative work, including the First Nations Teacher Strategy (FNTS), the Closing the Gap Schools Initiatives evaluation, and the VET Workforce Study. Insights are drawn directly from the lived experiences of First Nations students, educators, families, and communities with whom we work across our collective and independent projects. The paper presents recommendations across four interconnected focus areas to strengthen educational …

Leading Where You Live: A Qualitative Multi-Case Study Of Public High School Principals Who Reside In Their School Communities, Joseph Held

Doctorate in Education

Despite extensive scholarship on relational trust, social capital, place-based leadership, and culturally responsive practice, little is known about how a principal’s residency within the school community shapes leadership demands. This qualitative, multi-case study employed semi-structured interviews, reflexive memoing, and cross-case thematic analysis to examine how nine Minnesota high school principals who lived in the urban, suburban, and rural communities they served experienced leadership practice, equity work, and emotional labor. Findings revealed that residency functions as a consequential leadership condition that reorganizes how principals build trust, exercise judgment, engage families, navigate boundaries, and interpret equity-related tensions. Six themes illuminated residency as: …

Empowering Rural Voices Through Deliberative Mini-Publics, Elizabeth B. Hinchcliff

The Rural Educator

This conceptual paper explores the tension between valuing and listening to community voices, while also providing a space wherein rural advocates and community members can come together to address difficult issues prevalent within rural schooling, through deliberative mini-publics. A multiplicity of reasons supports deliberative mini-publics, but I explore three in particular, the first being that they provide a space wherein an intentionally diverse set of community voices and perspectives can be shared, listened to, and explored. Second, the goal of any democratically deliberative space is to explore multiple perspectives as part of the process to seek solutions that contribute to …

Public Education Rankings In The Mountain West, 2025, Anthony Arroyo, Yiselle Olivas Ruiz, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

K-12 Education

This fact sheet reports 2025 public education rankings for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The Consumer Affairs report, “Best States for Public Education 2025,” ranks all 50 U.S. states across four categories: K-12 performance, school funding and resources, higher education quality, and school safety. This fact sheet also highlights the change in each Mountain West state’s overall ranking between 2024 and 2025.

A Qualitative Examination Of The Motivations For Homeschooling Among Black Americans, Portia J. Witt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study explored the motivations and lived experiences of African American homeschooling families. Twelve Black parents from multiple states participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using Moustakas’ (1994) Modified Stevick–Colaizzi–Keen method and coded thematically using NVivo. Nine themes emerged: autonomy, holistic education, community belonging, online networks, public resources, curriculum gaps, personal values, effective learning, and legacy of harm. While racialization in schools—including tracking, microaggressions, and misidentification—contributed to participants’ decisions, motivations also reflected intersectional factors such as faith, disability, mental health needs, giftedness, and a desire for cultural protection and flexible learning. Findings suggest homeschooling serves as a …

Student Disruptions And Teacher Turnover, Kyuhan Choi, Ying Shi, Maria Zhu

Center for Policy Research

This paper examines how exposure to disruptive students affects teacher retention using linked teacher–student administrative records from North Carolina. To address non-random classroom assignment, we instrument for classroom exposure using the school-by-grade share of disruptive students based on prior-year disciplinary infractions. A 10 percentage point increase in the share of disruptive students raises the probability of an early-career teacher leaving the school in the following year by 1.0 percentage points. Notably, working in a school environment with supportive leadership and greater teacher autonomy, particularly around student conduct policies, mitigates the impact of student disruptions.

Examining Alumni Engagement Policies Among R1 Universities: A Comparative Analysis Of Best Practices, Howayda Ackleh

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the need to update policies and enhance practices for alumni engagement in higher education institutions. Current alumni strategic plans require evaluation and refinement, while new approaches must be developed to strengthen alumni involvement. By analyzing the challenges institutions face in maintaining alumni connections, this review seeks to identify gaps and establish effective best practices. By examining the questions, how do alumni associations at select public R1 institutions apply Utilization-Focused Evaluation (UFE) principles to assess and improve their alumni engagement strategies, and how does this impact their alignment with institutional goals and objectives? This study aims to evaluate …

Lunch Shaming And The Right To Privacy, Ira P. Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Lunch shaming is the practice of penalizing students who cannot afford to pay for their meals, resulting in them being denied food, served alternative meals, or publicly identified. The origins of lunch shaming can be traced to the financial pressures faced by school districts that struggle to balance tight budgets with the mandate to provide free or reduced-price meals to eligible students. Despite legislative efforts and advocacy campaigns aimed at mitigating the problems associated with lunch shaming, the practice persists, exacerbated by rising food costs and the expiration of pandemic-era food programs.

Many law journal and other articles have correctly …

"What Does It Mean If I Am Silent?”: Bipoc And Lgbtq+ Educators’ Narratives Of Identity, Responsibility, And Student Protection, Julie Nicole Von Stein

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This qualitative study examined how BIPOC and LGBTQ+ educators describe their experiences navigating curriculum restrictions and book bans in politically restrictive educational environments, their perceptions of administrator support, and how their identities uniquely shape their decisions about resistance and risk. Grounded in Scott’s theory of everyday resistance, the study explored the ways BIPOC and LGBTQ+ educators make decisions about resistance when curricular content connected to race, gender, sexuality, and marginalized identities is challenged or restricted. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with educators who identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+, allowing participants to describe their experiences, decision-making processes, perceived risks, and …

The Economics Of The U.S. Student Loan Market And The Case For The Education Development Financial Institution, Ian Akers

CMC Senior Theses

The United States student loan market is shaped by a variety of market failures–credit constraints, positive externalities, behavioral frictions including myopia, debt aversion, and misperception–that together justify government intervention in the market. Yet the design of federal intervention is just as important as its existence. This thesis details the economic theory underpinning the market for student loans, evaluates three historical federal student loan programs (the Perkins Loan Program, the Federal Family Education Loan Program, and the Federal Direct Loan Program) through the lens of that theory. The thesis then proposes a novel institutional model as a targeted response to the …

Rethinking Dfw In Gateway Mathematics: Preserved, Disrupted, And Dissipated Momentum Pathways To Student Retention, John Alan Nunnery, Charles Mathies

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study examines how disaggregated first-year mathematics outcomes, including failure, low-passing grades, course withdrawal, and no attempt at a credit-bearing mathematics course, are associated with second-year retention at a large, diverse, urban public university. The study extends academic momentum theory by positing and operationalizing preserved (marginal passing), disrupted (failure or withdrawal), and dissipated (non-enrollment) as qualitatively distinct momentum states rather than a single condition. Using a segmented binary logistic regression model with more than 26,000 first-time, full-time students across ten entry cohorts (2012–2021), we estimate differences in retention by mathematics outcome, course type, and cohort context. Results show a pronounced …

From Statute To Classroom: The Implementation Gap In California's Queer-Relevant Sex Education Policy, Alejandro Quiroz-Novela

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines why strong sex education laws do not reliably translate into consistent classroom experiences for LGBTQ+ students. Using a qualitative single-case study of California, it traces the evolution from SB 71 (2003) to the California Healthy Youth Act (CHYA) (2016) and analyzes how mandates move through a decentralized governance chain. Drawing on statutes, legislative records, state guidance, curriculum review tools, advocacy reports, media accounts, and public indicators, the study focuses on implementation mechanisms rather than estimating causal health effects. Three findings emerge: CHYA sets a clear legal floor but is difficult to verify at scale; district discretion and …

A Mandate With Teeth: Biting Back At The Neglect Of New York's Humane Education Law, Mei Brunson

Animal Law Review

New York passed its compulsory humane education law in 1917, which obligates school districts to provide weekly instruction in the “humane treatment and protection of animals” to all elementary school students. Though this mandate is clear, New York school districts routinely ignore it and deprive students of the humane education that they are statutorily entitled to. To make matters worse, the New York Commissioner of Education has abdicated their responsibility to enforce this minimum educational standard. Over the years, the laudable efforts of advocacy groups, educators, and legislators have brought about some instances of district compliance. Nevertheless, widespread district noncompliance …

Grant-O-Thon: A Designathon-Informed Grant Writing Program To Enhance Research Grant Writing Skills In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Yusha Tao, Gifty Marley, Lauren Fidelak, Bin Yu, Yusuf Babatunde, Anita N. Walker, Anthony A. Attama, Andrea L. Conroy, Esther K. Afolabi, Dimitrios N. Vatakis, Iheanyi Omezuruike Okonko, Shyngle K. Balogun, Hongyun Fu, Xin Peng, Ijeoma M. Ifeorah, Patience Kukundakwe, Alexandra Cossio, Ifeoma M. Obionu, Ángela Patricia Beltrán López, Matthew Idowu Olatubi, Ucheoma C. Nwaozuru, Yuanyi Chen, Huachun Zou, Eneyi E. Kpokiri, Daniil Wu, Oliver Ezechi, Juliet Iwelunmor, Meredith Labarda, Jason J. Ong, Weiming Tang, Joseph D. Tucker

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Problem

Early career researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face substantial barriers when writing research grants and have limited writing support. A designathon approach was applied to organize a grant writing workshop (grant-o-thon) tailored for early-career LMIC researchers. This study describes the planning, implementation, and participant-reported outcomes of the grant-o-thon as a participatory training approach.

Approach

Grant-o-thons were organized in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Consistent with the designathon model, the grant-o-thon was structured in three stages: preparation using co-creation with end-users, intensive collaborative teamwork supported by mentor feedback and weekly writing deliverables, and structured follow-up. Each grant-o-thon consisted of …

Human Rights Education For Children And Youth On Human Rights And Digital Technologies, Diane A. Desierto, Faisal Yamil Meneses, Notre Dame Global Human Rights Clinic

Journal Articles

AI Generated Summary

This document outlines the importance of human rights education for children and youth, particularly in relation to digital technologies, emphasizing the need for comprehensive, inclusive, and accessible educational frameworks.

Private Money, Public Risk: Why Florida’S Sb 178 Undermines Equity, Ethics, And Accountability In K–12 Athletics, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper critically evaluates Florida Senate Bill 178, which would require the Florida High School Athletic Association to adopt bylaws allowing coaches to use personal funds to support student athletes, once reported and presumed not to be an impermissible benefit. While the bill is framed to help students who lack essential items, it introduces serious structural risks that outweigh its intended benefits. By relying on private contributions within a public educational system, SB 178 threatens equity, transparency, and ethical governance.

The bill encourages uneven financial assistance that varies based on a coach’s personal means and the socioeconomic conditions of individual …

The Attention Safeguard Models: Governing Digital Harm Without Restricting Lawful Speech, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Digital platforms increasingly govern contemporary social, civic, and psychological life through systems optimized for attention capture, amplification, and monetization. While lawful expression remains protected under the First Amendment, the infrastructural mechanisms that determine how speech circulates have produced a range of attention‑based harms, including cyberbullying, engagement farming, compulsive doom scrolling, emotional dysregulation, and civic polarization. This research paper introduces the Attentional Safeguards Model (ASM), coined and formalized by Delante Clark, as a novel governance framework that mitigates such harms by regulating systems of amplification rather than restricting expression itself. Building on attention economy theory, technological mediation, constitutional free‑speech doctrine, …

From Deference To Dialogue: How International Gtas From High Power Distance Cultures Adapt To U.S. Classroom Dynamics, Deborah Akua Afi Appiah

Theses and Dissertations

International graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) from high power distance cultures play a significant role in undergraduate education at U.S. universities, yet they face challenges that go well beyond language proficiency. Coming from educational backgrounds where teacher authority is unquestioned and hierarchical, these GTAs must navigate American classrooms that operate on fundamentally different assumptions, where authority is earned rather than assumed, informality is the norm, and students expect to question, negotiate, and be personally known by their instructors. The present study examined how eighteen (18) international GTAs from seven (7) high power distance countries perceived and adapted to these differences while …

Tensions And Possibilities: A Study Of International Graduate Students' Encounters With Critical Pedagogy In The United States, Munchuree Kaosayapandhu

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the question, “How do international graduate students experience and negotiate their encounters with critical pedagogy across time and educational contexts?” The research was motivated by the researcher’s own experience in encountering critical pedagogy and prior studies focusing on critical pedagogy from the teacher perspective. This left a gap in understanding the student experience. The research used the phenomenology paradigm. The participants included six international graduate students in education studies programs. Using the phenomenological interview approach, each participant was asked over a series of three interviews about past experiences of education, their initial encounters with critical pedagogy and …