Although English language learners (ELLs) have an increasing presence in postsecondary education, their unique needs are often unmet by institutions of higher education. Technology-mediated English language instruction may be a solution to the pressing challenges that postsecondary institutions face in providing personalized instruction to ELLs, because it allows instruction to be tailored to an individual’s English proficiency, academic needs, and professional interests.

Many schools now use early warning systems to identify students who are at risk of not graduating, with the goal of intervening early to help students get back on track for on-time graduation. This study examined the impact and implementation of one early warning system on student and school outcomes, and provides rigorous initial evidence that even with limited implementation during the first year of adoption, using a comprehensive early warning system can reduce the percentage of students who are chronically absent or who fail one or more courses.

States have prioritized documenting and improving the quality of early childhood education programs by developing quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs). This report describes the quality improvement efforts of early childhood education programs participating in Iowa’s voluntary quality rating and improvement system, the Iowa Quality Rating System (QRS). The findings of this study provide an overview of the landscape of quality improvement activities among early childhood education programs participating in the Iowa QRS and their relationship with increased ratings.

A quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) is a voluntary state assessment system that uses multidimensional data on early childhood education programs to rate program quality, support quality improvement efforts, and provide information to families about the quality of available early childhood education programs. This report describes three versions of a survey that helps states collect data, including how to use it, how it was developed, and how it can be adapted for other states.

Recent federal and state policies that recognize the benefits of high-quality early childhood education and care have led to a rapid expansion of quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs). This study examined QRISs in use across the Midwest Region to describe approaches that states use in developing and implementing a QRIS. Findings suggest that the process of applying for a Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge grant helped advance the development of a QRIS system.

As national attention has increasingly focused on the potential for high-quality early childhood education (ECE) to improve children’s school readiness, states have developed quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) to document the quality of ECE programs, support systematic quality improvement, and provide clear information to families about their child care choices. This brief discusses quality improvement supports, including their prevalence in state and regional QRISs, and key considerations for their implementation.

Documenting and improving early childhood program quality is a national priority, leading to a rapid expansion of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs). QRISs document and improve the quality of early childhood education programs and provide clear information to families about their childcare choices. Findings from this study suggest that incremental changes to how QRIS ratings are calculated can alter inferences about program quality.

This study tested the impact of expanding access to Algebra I to grade 8 students by offering an online course in schools that do not typically offer Algebra I in grade 8. The results indicate that offering Algebra I as an online course to algebra-ready (AR) students is an effective way to broaden access in schools.