Which programs and policies can we adopt from other countries to increase access to preschool programs in the U.S.?

How are states going to tackle teacher shortages – and keep their great teachers? Ellen Sherratt analyzed 10 strategies from states’ new ESSA plans.

A rigorous 2017 study found no significant effect of the $7 billion federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program on student outcomes. But the story of SIG is far more complex. In this blog post, Kerstin Carlson Le Floch unpacks the story of SIG, highlighting instances in which program elements worked, and posing important questions about school improvement.

There is a growing evidence base on the effectiveness of selective alternative certification programs like Teach for America and TNTP. In this blog post, Hans Bos and Dean Gerdeman draw on a recent AIR report to examine how teachers who receive credentials through TNTP’s alternative certification program compare to their counterparts with more traditional credentials.

In the more than 40 years since the IDEA was passed, educational outcomes for students with disabilities have improved, but large achievement gaps remain between students with and without disabilities. In this blog post, Allison Gandhi and Louis Danielson explore how states can ensure that students with disabilities receive meaningful educational benefits, as guaranteed by IDEA—and now required by a Supreme Court decision.

The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) reports that 94 percent of prisoners have at most a high school education—and 30 percent of those who previously attended high school did not earn a diploma. Yet, access to in-prison education and work experience are associated with a reduction in the likelihood of recidivism and provide inmates with a critical element on the path to reshape their personal identities. Could offering prisoners more education and work experience inside prison be a key solution to mass incarceration in the U.S.?

It’s been 40 years since performance standards were substantially revised for Head Start. The newly Revised Head Start Rules were approved and released last September. They include four major changes: increased duration, expanded access, special supports for vulnerable populations, and improved supports for teachers. In this blog post, Eboni Howard offers a run-down on the evidence-base for these new rules.

U.S. colleges and universities are increasingly hiring contingent faculty, or full- and part-time faculty who work on contract. While institutions say doing so saves money, two studies by the Delta Cost Project at AIR find the strategy has not translated into a large overall savings. In this blog post, Deanna Hill and Steve Hurlburt share these results and consider whether long-term unintended consequences may off-set short-term cost savings.

Failing high school algebra can have serious consequences, and students are increasingly turning to online courses to recover algebra credits. What happens when students try to make up algebra credits virtually instead of in a classroom setting? In this blog post, Kirk Walters shares new findings from a study comparing course content and student outcomes for 1,200 Chicago Public School Students in credit recovery courses.

Education has borrowed many ideas from the medical field. Now a new initiative shows the exchange isn’t just a one-way street. Bookmarking, a widely-used method for establishing student proficiency levels in major education tests—such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress—is being adapted to healthcare so patients and their families can better communicate the severity of symptoms. In this blog post Michelle Langer and Ellen Schultz explain this innovative new approach.