Negotiated rulemaking (neg-reg) has now been used by administrations of both parties to enact major changes to Department of Education rules. The goal of neg-reg is consensus, and the agency's proposals and the conversations during the rulemaking sessions naturally determine whether that goal will be achievable with the parties at the table. To…

A long overdue, much needed transformation is underway in the higher education system. It started a decade ago, when federal and state policy­makers first began to collect data on what students earn after pursuing a postsecondary education. But new data are fundamentally differ­ent. Unlike broad-based national statistics, such as how much someone…

The higher education system does not work well for taxpayers, students, or higher education institutions. Student loans were expected to be such a good deal for taxpayers that their projected revenues were used to offset costs associated with the Affordable Care Act and increasing the size of Pell Grants. Less than a decade ago, the federal…

The "Wall Street Journal" declared 2011 the "year of school choice" after 13 states enacted new choice policies or expanded existing ones. This brief discusses coalitions as the secret ingredient of the choice movement's success and shares lessons learned from the most effective coalitions. Key points include: (1) parental…

As educators confront the challenge of remediating COVID-19 learning loss--and policymakers wrestle with measuring it amid widespread discontent with testing--now is an apt time to consider how much of the current accountability and assessment regime is truly necessary. This report examines the state of testing post-March 2020 and explores how a…

Whether and how to hold schools accountable for their performance has been a topic of debate in education circles for decades, and the use of standardized achievement test scores for accountability has been particularly contentious. One proposed strategy for reducing reliance on test scores is to incorporate non-test measures into accountability…

One of the most hotly debated K-12 education issues in recent decades has been the appropriate federal role in defining how states should measure, identify, and intervene in low-performing schools. In December 2015, after more than a decade of complex debate, Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to reauthorize the Elementary and…

Over the past two decades, education underwent a "big data" revolution as states began tracking individual student performance and interim assessments and educational software allowed for a greater granularity of data on students, teachers, and schools. Despite this plethora of new data, considerable gaps in data on early childhood…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) had mixed effects on the nation's educational ecosystem. NCLB succeeded in shifting the focus from inputs to outcomes, shining a light on performance of different student subgroups, and using reporting requirements to spur development of more-robust education data systems. But NCLB included several…

In March and April 2021, conservative education leaders representing state education agencies, charter networks, foundations, think tanks, research organizations, testing companies, universities and teachers convened in a private, three-part working group to discuss the future of state assessment and accountability systems. This brief highlights…

Although private school choice has historically been a Republican priority, education reform organizations often use strategies intended to appeal to Democratic lawmakers and interest groups. Among 70 votes held on final passage for private school choice legislation, Democrats provided only 381 "yes" votes compared to 2,844 Republican…

America's public schools are in a crisis. Despite investing more money in K-12 education than most other countries (nearly $15,000 per student annually), educational performance levels are stagnant. One source of the problem is a rigid and deficient process for selecting and employing teachers. Teacher certification laws, intended to ensure good…

COVID-19 is laying bare two realities in education. Over the past several decades, is has been warned that schools are not making the most of the time they have with students. Despite those warnings, little has changed. Additionally, the school calendar is not friendly to working families. As the education community plans for the upcoming school…

This report investigates several key questions concerning the current career and technical education (CTE) policy environment. First, what are common themes in how legislators have discussed the most recent legislative actions on CTE? Second, are there differences in these themes across the House and the Senate? Finally, did Democrats and…

As conservatives consider ways to crash through the growing choke hold that college degrees have held in employers' hiring processes, one idea that has gained currency is allowing federal student aid to follow students to unaccredited providers of education. Conservatives have also shown interest in funding competency-based programs--in which…