All Publications

A positive school climate supports student learning and success. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides opportunities for states to address it and other non-academic indicators that affect student success. This brief describes how states can use data on school climate and what some states are doing, and suggests policies to improve it. It is part of the report Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap.

Suspensions from school can disrupt student learning and inhibit students’ success. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides opportunities for states to address suspension rates and other non-academic indicators that affect student success. This brief describes how states can use data on suspensions, what some states are doing, and policies to reduce suspension rates. It is part of the report Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap.

Extended-year graduation rates track students that graduate high school in 5 or 6 years. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides opportunities for states to address this and other non-academic indicators that affect student success. This brief describes how states can use extended-year graduation rates to incentivize schools to continue working with struggling students to help them graduate. It is part of the report Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap.

College- and career-readiness is an important factor of student success. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides opportunities for states to address it and other non-academic indicators that affect student success. This brief describes how states can use data on college- and career-readiness to measure and expand access to curricula that prepare students for the modern economy. It is part of the report Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap.

Chronic absenteeism disrupts student learning and impedes students’ success. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides opportunities for states to address it and other non-academic indicators that affect student success. This brief describes how states can use data on chronic absenteeism and what some states are doing, and suggests policies to reduce it. It is part of the report Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap.

Students living with the toxic stress and trauma of poverty and crime can struggle to learn. Research on science of learning & development shows that these struggles can be addressed through whole child and positive school climate approaches that support academic, physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development — systems that put students’ healthy growth and development at the center of the classroom.

Each year in the United States, 46 million children are exposed to violence, crime, abuse, homelessness, or food insecurity—experiences that can affect attention, learning, and behavior. This report looks at neuroscience, science of learning, and child development research on whole child approaches to education that improve learning for all students, especially those living with trauma.

Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), in addition to the required indicators of schools performance, states can select indicators to measure schools’ efforts to support students and provide equitable opportunities or to identify places where additional investments need to be made to improve education and support underserved students. This report documents how states are taking advantage of this opportunity to address disparities, make schools more inclusive, and help all students succeed.

Most states have been struggling to address teacher shortages for several years, often filling the vacuum with underprepared teachers. Governors and legislators in many of these states are now working to turn the tide. A new report from the Learning Policy Institute focuses on six evidence-based policies that states are pursuing to address their teacher shortages that can help states build long-term sustainable systems to attract, develop, and retain a strong and stable teacher workforce.

This brief is based on a report reviewing research on the role of money in determining school quality. The research found that schooling resources that cost money are positively associated with student outcomes. In addition to summarizing the report, the brief offers these policy recommendations: Ensure school finance reforms are linked to thoughtful standards and supports for students and teachers, invest more in students who have greater needs, and invest in human resources.