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Policy Briefs

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Policy Briefs

classroom desk with tools, Bible and blackboard

Avoiding the Supreme Court’s Religious Charter-School Trap: Governance Change for the New Legal Era

Policy Brief

Kevin G. Welner, Carol C. Burris, and Preston C. Green III

May 26, 2026

Dark sky over the United States Capitol building

Studying the First Year of Trump’s Second Term: The Renewed Importance of Participatory Governance

Policy Brief

Derek Gottlieb

April 21, 2026

Male teacher using tablet with children raising hands in elementary school class

The Cycle of Disinvestment in Public Schools: How Public-School Criticism Drives Policy and Disinvestment

Policy Brief

Huriya Jabbar and Daniel Espinoza

March 3, 2026

Christian Nationalism and Educational Policy in the United States

Policy Brief

Kevin J. Burke and Heidi Hadley

November 4, 2025

classroom with students using tablets and smartboards, interactive learning environment enhanced by AI-driven technology

Fit for Purpose? How Today’s Commercial Digital Platforms Subvert Key Goals of Public Education

Policy Brief

Faith Boninger and T. Philip Nichols

September 25, 2025

students walking down a school hallway with security officer looking on

Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place? Disentangling the Intersections of Student Behavior, School Discipline, and School Safety in the Post-COVID Era

Policy Brief

Richard O. Welsh and Kathryn James McGraw

May 20, 2025

The Mounting Trouble with Education Savings Accounts

Policy Brief

Samuel E. Abrams

April 17, 2025

Let’s Stop Asking Whether Teachers Are Professionals. Let’s Ask What Kinds of Professionals We Want Teachers to Be

Policy Brief

Emilie Mitescu Reagan and A. Lin Goodwin

March 11, 2025

picture of two school buses on city street

The Fiscal Impacts of Expanded Voucher Programs and Charter-School Growth on Public Schools: Recommendations for Sustaining Adequate and Equitable School Finance Systems

Policy Brief

David S. Knight and David E. DeMatthews

November 21, 2024

picture of teacher helping students in a classroom

How Can States Make School Voucher Systems More Accountable, Accessible, and Transparent?

Policy Brief

Joshua Cowen and Ryan D. Nowak

October 3, 2024

picture of a change jar labeled Education next to several schoolbooks on a shelf

Strengthening Oversight of Education Savings Account (ESA) Funding for Private and At-Home Schooling

Policy Brief

Luis A. Huerta and Trevor Baisden

September 5, 2024

Time for a Pause: Without Effective Public Oversight, AI in Schools Will Do More Harm Than Good.

Policy Brief

Ben Williamson, Alex Molnar, and Faith Boninger

March 5, 2024

The Potential for Land Use and Housing Reform to Address School Segregation and Educational Opportunity

Policy Brief

Genevieve Siegel-Hawley

February 13, 2024

The Conflict Over Parents’ Rights

Policy Brief

Vivian E. Hamilton

January 16, 2024

How Discriminatory Censorship Laws Imperil Public Education

Policy Brief

Jonathan Feingold and Joshua Weishart

November 30, 2023

Section 504 Plans: Examining Inequitable Access and Misuse

Policy Brief

Maria M. Lewis and Raquel Muñiz

June 8, 2023

Consumer-Oriented School Rating Systems and Their Implications for Educational Equity

Policy Brief

Jeanne M. Powers

April 13, 2023

Improving Trauma-Informed Education: Responding to Student Adversity With Equity-Centered, Systemic Support

Policy Brief

Stacy Gherardi

November 15, 2022

The Science of Reading Movement: The Never-Ending Debate and the Need for a Different Approach to Reading Instruction

Policy Brief

P.L. Thomas

September 13, 2022

State Accountability Rating Systems: A Review of School Report Cards as Indicators of School Quality

Policy Brief

Gail L. Sunderman

June 23, 2022

"Grow Your Own" Programs: Examining Potential and Pitfalls for a New Generation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Community Teachers

Policy Brief

Conra D. Gist

May 19, 2022

Transgender Students and Policy in K-12 Public Schools: Acknowledging Historical Harms and Taking Steps Toward a Promising Future

Policy Brief

Elizabeth J. Meyer, Bethy Leonardi, and Harper B. Keenan

March 24, 2022

The Economic Burden of Racism from the U.S. Education System

Policy Brief

Clive Belfield

June 11, 2021

Making Early Literacy Policy Work: Three Considerations for Policymakers Based on Kentucky’s “Read to Succeed” Act

Policy Brief

Amy Cummings

June 3, 2021

Estimating a Price Tag for School Vouchers

Policy Brief

Robert Shand and Henry M. Levin

May 25, 2021

The (Mis)Treatment and (Non)Education of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in the United States

Policy Brief

Ruth M. López

March 9, 2021

Teacher showing students something on whiteboard while one student raises her hand

Rethinking “Innovation Schools”: Strengths and Limitations of Autonomy-Based School Improvement Plans in Contexts of Widening Racial Inequality

Policy Brief

Terrenda White and Anna Noble

October 27, 2020

We All Want More Teachers of Color, Right?: Concerns and Considerations about the Emergent Consensus

Policy Brief

Thomas M. Philip and Anthony L. Brown

July 21, 2020

Tracking and the Future of Career and Technical Education: How Efforts to Connect School and Work Can Avoid the Past Mistakes of Vocational Education

Policy Brief

Emily Hodge, Shaun Dougherty, and Carol C. Burris

February 25, 2020

Investing for "Impact" or Investing for Profit? Social Impact Bonds, Pay for Success, and the Next Wave of Privatization of Social Services and Education

Policy Brief

Martin Carnoy and Roxana Marachi

February 4, 2020

The Starts and Stumbles of Restorative Justice in Education: Where Do We Go from Here?

Policy Brief

Anne Gregory and Katherine R. Evans

January 14, 2020

Funding Special Education: Charting a Path that Confronts Complexity and Crafts Coherence

Policy Brief

Tammy Kolbe

June 25, 2019

How School Privatization Opens the Door for Discrimination

Policy Brief

Julie F. Mead and Suzanne E. Eckes

December 6, 2018

Organizing and Managing Instruction in US Public School Districts: Considerations for Families, Communities, and States

Policy Brief

Donald J. Peurach and Maxwell Yurkofsky

September 27, 2018

What Might Happen If School Vouchers and Privatization of Schools Were to Become Universal in the U.S.: Learning from a National Test Case—Chile

Policy Brief

Ernesto Treviño, Rick Mintrop, Cristóbal Villalobos, and Miguel Órdenes

June 7, 2018

State-Level Assessments and Teacher Evaluation Systems after the Passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act: Some Steps in the Right Direction

Policy Brief

Kevin Close, Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, and Clarin Collins

June 5, 2018

Don't Expect Too Much: The Limited Usefulness of Common SES Measures and a Prescription for Change

Policy Brief

Michael Harwell

January 30, 2018

The State of Education Savings Account Programs in the United States

Policy Brief

Oscar Jiménez-Castellanos, William J. Mathis, and Kevin G. Welner

January 23, 2018

Law and Order in School and Society: How Discipline and Policing Policies Harm Students of Color, and What We Can Do About It

Policy Brief

Janelle T. Scott, Michele S. Moses, Kara Finnigan, Tina Trujillo, and Darrell Jackson

June 8, 2017

Community Schools: An Evidence-Based Strategy for Equitable School Improvement

Policy Brief

Jeannie Oakes, Anna Maier, and Julia Daniel

June 5, 2017

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