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An innovative component of the Federally-sponsored Bingham County career education project is the Programed Activities for Career Exploration (PACE) Center, a mobile unit offering programed student activities to assist individual students in career planning. The mobile center visits each high school in the county; the sophomore year is selected as the target grade for the career exploration activities, which are limited in size to groups of 12. A variety of media formats geared to a wide range of academic capabilities (sound filmstrips, taped interviews, microfilm, books, and pamphlet files) are available to students in separate learning stations. The program consists of six components: (1) interest identification (Kuder E General Interest Survey), (2) exploration activities (exploration of 15-20 occupations), (3) self-appraisel activity, (4) decision-making activities (identification of the career that is of most interest to the individual), (5) career planning (in the PACE center or in small groups), and (6) career guidance (continuing contact between student and counselor). The report also discusses administrational details of the program such as scheduling, staff, budget, and physical facilities. More than two-thirds of the document consists of supplementary exhibits within the appendixes--information and worksheets, PACE questionnaire, facility layouts, equipment, and instructional materials. (EA)

This document describes how the Florida Linkage System approach to local problem solving might be implemented in other school districts. It is presented here as a general strategy that can be adapted to meet the specific needs of a given school. The FLS model is comprised of a sequence of steps and activities leading to continuous improvement by making maximum use of the human resources in an educational system. Case studies of the application of the model are given. (Author/LH)

The Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative (MBLC) is a demonstration project taking place in 47 schools across Washington to help decision makers understand what quality mastery-based (or competency-based) learning looks like, how long it takes to implement, and what resources are necessary. The schools receive funding, coaching, and professional learning as part of a statewide network. In its first three years, the initiative has led to deeper Mastery-Based Learning (MBL) implementation and has shown positive impacts on early outcomes such as school climate, cultural responsiveness, and student engagement. Almost all school leaders said they would recommend the MBLC to other school leaders. The Aurora Institute is conducting a six-year evaluation of the MBLC to identify policies, practices, and system changes that can support successful mastery-based and culturally responsive learning. The report shares findings from the first three years of the first cohort of MBLC schools, based on extensive surveys and interviews of educators, school leaders, students, state leaders, and professional learning providers. This evaluation report offers insights and strategies for anyone working to shift K-12 schools, districts, and states toward more student-centered, equitable, and culturally responsive approaches.

Catholic schools have seen more than a 30% decline in enrollment over the past 20 years. While some of the decline in enrollment may have been spurred by secular trends or the Church abuse scandal, the increase in schools of choice, principally public charter schools, may explain at least some of this decline. In this paper we estimate the effect of the opening of charter schools in proximity to Catholic schools across the entire U.S. We find that the opening of a nearby charter school has a negative impact on Catholic school enrollment and increases the likelihood that the school will close. We also find that charter openings induce greater racial isolation. Findings are especially pronounced in K8 schools, rather than high schools.

This study analyzed Pennsylvania School Climate Survey data from students and staff in the 2021/22 school year to assess the validity and reliability of the elementary school student version of the survey; approaches to scoring the survey in individual schools at all grade levels; and perceptions of school climate across student, staff, and school groups. The survey encourages data-informed efforts in participating Pennsylvania schools to foster supportive learning environments that promote social and emotional wellness for students and staff. The study validated the elementary school student survey but found that one domain--safe and respectful school climate--did not meet the reliability threshold and thus suggests that revisions are needed. At all grade levels noninstructional staff had the most positive perceptions of school climate, followed by classroom teachers then students. The study found that different approaches to combining the school climate scores of students, teachers, and noninstructional staff within schools yielded slightly different distributions of school climate summary index scores. It also found that different performance category thresholds resulted in similar distributions of schools across categories. Scores calculated using simple averages were strongly and positively correlated with scores calculated using a more complex approach (Rasch models), suggesting that both approaches deliver similar information. School climate scores varied across student groups (defined by race/ethnicity, gender, and grade level) within schools and across school groups. Larger schools and schools with higher percentages of Black students tended to have lower school climate scores than other schools. The findings can inform the Pennsylvania Department of Education's decisionmaking on revisions to the elementary school student survey, approaches to scoring and reporting survey results, and efforts to increase participation in future survey administrations.

These are the appendixes for the report, "Strengthening the Pennsylvania School Climate Survey to Inform School Decisionmaking." This study analyzed Pennsylvania School Climate Survey data from students and staff in the 2021/22 school year to assess the validity and reliability of the elementary school student version of the survey; approaches to scoring the survey in individual schools at all grade levels; and perceptions of school climate across student, staff, and school groups. The three appendixes in the document include: (1) Data and methods; (2) Supplemental findings; and (3) Additional findings.

In school choice systems, many families face geographic constraints. Yet, there is limited evidence on the association between school-based transportation and students' school choice, especially in fragmented transportation contexts. Using unique data on Detroit kindergarten students' eligibility and access to school-based transportation, we find that students with access to a bus at a school-- either a traditional or shuttle-style bus--were 4-5 percentage points more likely to enroll in that school. The association was greater for traditional buses in higher-crime neighborhoods and for shuttle-style buses for farther-away choices. We did not find that this association differed by block-group-level household car ownership. Our findings suggest that school-based transportation can increase school choice access, depending on policy design and contextual factors. [This report was written in collaboration with the Detroit Partnership for Education Equity & Research (Detroit PEER).]

The Partnership for College Completion (PCC) was founded to "advance equity in higher education" by supporting colleges and universities to improve college completion for Black, Latinx, and Pell-eligible students--those groups that experience persistent disparities in completion. Simultaneously, PCC engages in state policy reform to bring about systems-wide change. Begun in 2018, the Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative (ILEA) is its flagship initiative, designed to partner with Illinois colleges and universities to assist them in narrowing their college completion gaps. Promising new research suggests improving equity in college completion requires an explicit focus on race, attention to organizational change, commitment to equity-focused policies and plans, and cross-institutional partnerships to help manifest change. Drawing from this research, ILEA and its partner institutions developed and implemented public-facing equity plans to improve graduation rates for their Black, Latinx, and Pell-eligible students. This study examines how the ILEA collaborative institutions confronted and negotiated structural barriers inhibiting graduation for these historically marginalized groups. The report aims to: (1) Provide study partners, including the Partnership for College Completion, with program feedback; (2) Inform readers about equity plan development and implementation, policy, and practice collaboratives; (3) Identify strengths and growth opportunities about PCC's efforts to bring colleges and universities together to jointly improve college completion for Black, Latinx, and Pell-eligible students; and (4) Reflect on implementation successes and challenges.

Social-emotional development and well-being are integral to the teaching and learning of literacy practices. This introductory brief focuses on the underlying science of how thinking, feeling, and perceptions along multiple dimensions interact to influence what we do as learners. This brief draws on the work of scholars in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, human development, learning sciences, literacy, and social and emotional learning (SEL) to provide a grounding framework for understanding the relationship between social-emotional development and literacy development. This brief also provides concrete examples of how supporting the five core competencies of SEL -- self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making -- can support students' literacy development, and vice versa. Finally, informed by the civic goals of public education, this brief also documents the relationship between social and emotional learning and literacy development are central to civic reasoning and discourse.

This "Equity Tool" is intended to facilitate use of the concepts and processes described in greater depth in the Equity by Design brief, "Promoting Socially Just Evidence-based Practice." We summarize the framework presented in this brief and offer guiding questions to support educators' preparation for and engagement in equity-based practice (EBP) elements and processes.

In many low- and medium-income countries (LMICs), student-centered pedagogies are often implicitly or explicitly at the heart of innovative pedagogical reforms. In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on student-centered pedagogies, which aim to shift power dynamics, increase interaction, and prioritize the needs of learners. Many international agencies, governments, and education experts view these pedagogies as "best practices" or a pedagogical "silver bullet" to improve classroom practice. This paper is the second in a series of three working papers meant to serve as references and conversation starters for policymakers and researchers as they navigate pedagogical reform for education system transformation in their local contexts. Together, the three working papers emphasize the need for more locally driven collaborative research on how the interaction of culture, local education ecosystems, and learning theories--collectively called Invisible Pedagogical Mindsets--influences teachers' pedagogical choices in the classroom. This paper details why the authors recommend policymakers examine Invisible Pedagogical Mindsets in their local context to inform pedagogical reforms. The authors discuss the reasons why generalized "best practices"--namely "student-centered pedagogies" as currently implemented--do not often successfully transfer to new cultures, countries, and contexts and argue that many pedagogical reforms do not adequately consider the Invisible Pedagogical Mindsets embedded in each local context.

Unlike vouchers and tax credit scholarships that do not allow parents to customize their children's education, Education savings accounts (ESAs) provide funding to pay for part-time classes at public and private schools, tutoring, curricula, services for special needs, and more. As navigating the opportunities that come with ESAs can be difficult, there is a growing movement to include "choice navigators" as an eligible expense in ESA programs, which can inform parents what educational opportunities are available and help tailor an education program for their children. This paper examines several key elements, including determining the types of navigation services that parents need in the changing education landscape; identifying best practices that states can adopt to simplify ESA navigation; tapping into the experiences of current ESA users and traditional homeschoolers; and deciding whether there are policies that can encourage an adequate supply of navigators without creating counterproductive rules.

While current higher education literature stresses the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, these imperatives have been mainly absent from conversations related to boards of higher education. In this paper, the authors present a historical overview of the demographic landscape of trustee boards from inception to the present. Using critical literacy as a methodology, the authors problematize the lack of discourses regarding Board's diversity. The authors juxtapose the longstanding homogeneity of boards with the increasing heterogeneity of higher education students and argue that systemic forms of racism have denied the opportunity to diversify those in charge of making decisions in higher education. Additionally, using the case of California, the authors problematize how diversity gaps in board composition manifest even within one of the most diverse and liberal states in the country. Ultimately, the authors make a case for diversifying the board of trustees as an instrumental step to align with the national push for enhanced diversity and equity in higher education.

District leaders seeking to close schools often frame decisions as "right-sizing" or "modernizing the footprint" of the district. Historical influences such as population and economic shifts and desegregation during the civil rights era, and more recent factors like deteriorating building conditions, school performance "accountability" measures, declining enrollment, and the expansion of school choice policies have contributed to school closure decisions. Whatever language used, or factors considered, these consequential decisions often spark fierce community debate. In Pennsylvania, which operates one of the most inequitable public education systems in the nation, several communities have controversial histories of school closures, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and rural regions. Now, the prospect of future school closures again looms large as many districts have experienced several years of declining enrollment and face financial cliffs, challenges made worse in the wake of COVID-19. To inform community members and guide district leaders navigating these difficult decisions, this brief revisits Research for Action's 2013 Issue Brief on School Closings Policy. In this update, the authors focus on the inequitable impacts of school closures on students, staff, and surrounding communities, with particular attention to how systemic and historical inequities continue to influence the school closure process. The brief concludes with considerations from research on school closures for school district leaders and decision-makers contemplating closing schools that can better inform plans and address potential equity issues for students and surrounding communities.

This report is the first in a series that unpacks the barriers to access that families face, the variety of solutions that navigation organizations have developed, and the challenges that limit the reach and impact of those solutions. This series offers recommendations for how to help navigators address these challenges and support more families and students. In many ways, families across the country have never had more access to learning options. Participating in the learning ecosystem requires families to dedicate more time and energy to making decisions on behalf of their children. For many families, those decisions can be daunting. For some families, the entwinement of those decisions with other needs and constraints creates barriers that are insurmountable without support. The disconnect between family demand and participation is indicative of challenges that complicate families' access to learning options, including financial constraints, logistical barriers, and limited access to the information they need to make decisions. Building on the approaches of early navigators in school choice, other organizations have emerged to help families navigate different learning options. This report discusses how navigation organizations help enable families' access to learning options.

The present study investigates how social media and screen time usage negatively affect High School students' body image and overall perception of confidence. It was found that screen time is a neutral factor when considering how deeply it affects one's confidence. Almost no matter what, students seem to end up worse, whether that be psychologically or physically, etc., after being exposed to content on social media. This research uses a mixed-method survey to provide a variety of responses using both quantitative and qualitative data. In all, there were twelve participants and all genders were incorporated. Overall, this research explores how indecent social media content and exposure lead to negative choices in daily life and decision-making. Even though social media content can promote healthy lifestyle trends, in the long run, it is bad and the exposure from social media is toxic.

Globally, climate change disproportionately affects women and girls, intensifying and heightening their vulnerability to natural disasters, food insecurity, caregiving responsibilities, displacement, and related challenges as well as hindering opportunities for their social and economic empowerment (UN Women 2022). In Bhutan, as temperatures rise, the country has become increasingly vulnerable to a multitude of climate-related threats and disasters like glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), with implications for the well-being of all and with heightened risk for girls and women (NCWC and UNDP 2020). In the face of these challenges, Bhutan has taken on ambitious climate goals through its climate leadership and environmental stewardship. Though Bhutan also has a strong track record in achieving gender-focused educational milestones--with over 90% school enrollment at gender parity and a largely matrilineal society--patriarchy is strong and ingrained, and there is much to be done to achieve gender equality. Furthermore, efforts within the three areas of climate, gender, and education still mostly operate in silos, with little intersectoral work. This policy brief presents results of the research conducted through two focus group discussions with 16 girls (ages 13-18); an online survey of 52 district education officers; and interviews with eight organizations from the government, civil society, and international partners from June to August 2023 in Thimphu and Paro. The study explored girls' understanding of climate change and its impacts on them (individual level), what and how climate education is taught in the education system (systems level), and who and what the different actors are doing and could potentially do collaboratively (ecosystem level). The findings of this study clearly indicate that there is a need to rethink and reframe climate literacy in Bhutan in ways that recognize the gendered impacts of climate change and promote learning spaces and pedagogical approaches for supporting Bhutan's green growth and climate strategies. Gender-invisible approaches to climate, climate education, and climate literacy have neither effectively addressed the gendered impacts of climate change nor promoted the learning and participation of girls and women in climate action. Therefore, this policy brief proposes gender-transformative climate literacy (GTCL) as a novel solution path for a green and gender-equal future. GTCL would be an interdisciplinary approach that challenges underlying gender inequalities within the context of climate change while endeavoring to reshape societal gender norms and attitudes. At the nexus of climate, gender, and education, GTCL would empower individuals to actively engage in climate action and decision-making processes while promoting gender equity to achieve a reality where climate and gender are embedded within the teaching and skills training functions of the education system. The education system is an untapped space to advance climate action by developing skills for a climate-informed, climate-resilient individual. Incorporating GTCL within education would present a window of opportunity to strengthen climate literacy while highlighting and reshaping gender dynamics and norms.

This study sought to understand if a decline in student satisfaction occurs in undergraduate nursing students, and if students recover from such a decline. The purposes of this study were to examine overall undergraduate nursing satisfaction, explore the potential decline in satisfaction as students' progress through nursing school, and to describe the impact of student satisfaction on retention, at a private, not-for-profit health sciences and nursing school. The study used a qualitative approach, with one-on-one semi-structured interviews with nursing students in their final semester of nursing school to explore usage of student services, connection with staff, faculty, and peers, and sought to determine if students were happy as they prepared to graduate. Although some of the students in the study had more tumultuous academic journeys, each of the students in the study ultimately did find connection and reported they were happy with their selection of college and career choice. Limitations of the study include small sample size and niche area of study, investigating only undergraduate, Bachelor of Science in Nursing students.

College students make job decisions without complete information. As a result, they may rely on misleading heuristics ("interesting jobs pay badly") and pursue options misaligned with their goals. We test whether highlighting job characteristics changes decision making. We find increasing the salience of a job's monetary benefits increases the likelihood college students apply by 196%. In contrast, emphasizing prosocial, career, or social benefits has no effect, despite students identifying these benefits as primary motivators for applying. The study highlights the detrimental incongruencies in students' decision making alongside a simple strategy for recruiting college students to jobs that offer enriching experiences.

This study investigates the role of college major choices in labor market outcomes, with a focus on racial minorities and immigrants. Drawing upon research on school-to-work linkages, we examine two measures, linkage, the connection between college majors and specific occupations in the labor market, and match, the alignment of workers' occupations with their college majors. Analyzing data from the American Community Survey, 2013-2017, we show that linkage positively predicts earnings, particularly for workers in matched occupations, and negatively predicts unemployment. Notably, Black, Hispanic, and foreign-born workers in matched occupations benefit more from linkage strength than their White and U.S.-born counterparts. This advantage is more pronounced in states that are popular destinations for immigrants. Our findings suggest that earnings and unemployment disparities experienced among racial minorities and immigrants may diminish if they pursue majors closely tied to jobs in the labor market and secure jobs related to their college majors.

While the United States leads the world in Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation, schools lag behind in preparing teachers and students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To help accelerate action in U.S. public education and develop a short-term roadmap for districts and other education leaders, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) brought together over 60 state and federal policymakers, edtech innovators, school system leaders, and advocates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in April 2024 to participate in the Think Forward: Learning with AI forum. The setting for the Think Forward AI learning forum emphasized the importance of collective decision-making--and the consequences of getting those decisions wrong. This report reflects key learnings and conversations that emerged from CRPE's Think Forward convening, including: (1) how AI can enable needed changes in our schools; (2) how current conditions in the edtech market act as barriers to closing equity gaps; and (3) how policy and practice must adapt for lasting system change. It concludes with a short-term action plan developed by forum participants that provides an immediate path forward and outlines the roles wide-ranging stakeholders must play to address our shared challenges and opportunities.

Accreditation is one of the three tickets that every college in America must punch if it wants access to federal student aid (FSA) programs for its students. The current regulatory regime for postsecondary institutions forces each college wanting to participate in FSA programs to get authorization from the state in which it operates, meet the standards set by the U.S. Department of Education, and--strange as it may seem--get a green light from a nongovernmental organization called an accreditor. The good news is that while American colleges can't shop for a different federal government, they can shop for a different accreditor. That's a new development. During the Trump administration, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos instituted new regulations letting any accreditor do business anywhere in the country. Before this change, a small number of accreditors divided up the country into fiefdoms and did not intrude on each other's turf; they were therefore called regional accreditors. The historically regional accreditors are now all national accreditors. So, which accreditor should a college choose? This policy brief can help colleges and universities make a sound decision.

Today's young adults want and need a diverse array of education options, including, but not limited to, two- and four-year degrees to help them connect learning with earning. Young people and employers alike are eager for effective, efficient, work-aligned pathways to employment that enable people not just to say, "I know a lot, and here's the paper to prove it," but instead, "Let me show you what I can do with what I know." We surveyed over a thousand young adults who are not pursuing a four-year degree. Around half of our survey respondents have chosen to pursue nondegree, education-to-career pathways such as apprenticeship, certification, and licensure. The other half of our respondents have chosen not to pursue any postsecondary education. Our goal is to better understand the motivations, circumstances, influencers, priorities, and satisfaction level of today's "non-college youth" to ensure that emerging generations of students have access to accurate information about the many viable pathways that exist and how they might pursue them. [This report was collaborated with American Student Assistance.]

With this paper, we deepen and expand upon our body of research into the public awareness and reputation of nondegree pathways, focusing on the beliefs and attitudes of young people, their parents, and their teachers. For those looking to pursue, or encourage someone to pursue, a nondegree pathway today, there are no easy answers. Information about nondegree pathways is hard to come by, and it isn't making its way into schools at a great enough rate to disrupt the damaging "college for all" mentality. Yet, what we observe among those who have chosen the path less traveled hints at a subtle awareness shift taking place. All parties--young people, parents, and educators alike--want more information about nondegree pathways, and are hungry to understand what opportunity exists beyond the degree. And most importantly, those young people who are pursuing or have pursued apprenticeships, boot camps, certifications, micro-credentials, and beyond are generally satisfied with their choices. They are largely employed, and they are appreciative of the opportunity to connect learning to earning in a meaningful way that doesn't come with a burdensome price tag or require them to put life on hold for four years. With this research, we put forth a call for change and a request for students, parents, and educators everywhere to adopt a more open lens on what success looks like. We ask the public to help those young people who are about to transition to adult life to not resort to knee-jerk choices, but instead to ask the question, "What if?" We commit to playing a role in the establishment of a stronger framework of information and quality assurance that makes the choice less daunting and more realistic for millions of young Americans. [This report was collaborated with the American Student Assistance.]

This document provides state education agency (SEA) leaders with a systematized approach to identifying and defining elements, major tasks, and deliverables for conducting a meaningful resource allocation review (RAR). Based on the findings of an intensive four-year design process, field research, and recommendations from the pilot audit of the RAR process conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, this document: (1) offers education leaders at the state and local level with concrete examples of resource inequities; (2) presents considerations for decision-making around resources, and (3) proposes ways to reduce the burden on LEAs and schools by streamlining the RAR completion process.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been a catalyst for transformation in K-12 through initiatives, including diversifying teaching pipelines, starting new schools, and establishing programs designed to meet the aspirations of students far away from quality opportunities. HBCUs and their alumni have played powerful roles in K-12 public education, including charter schools. Alumni are leading outstanding charter learning institutions with exceptional student outcomes, and some HBCUs have partnered with charter schools in effective ways including integrating charter schools on their campuses. This arrangement provides students with a unique experience in which they are introduced to the promise and prestige of higher education earlier in their educational journey. Utilizing that expertise and record of achievement is especially important now. America's public schools lag behind those of our international competitors, both in terms of student attainment and educational equity. The lasting influences of a global pandemic, particularly for lower-income students and students of color, have magnified the challenges of our outdated K-12 system -- one that was not working well for many students even before COVID-19. This report examines the potential for HBCUs to make high-stakes decisions about who is able to start new public schools, what outcomes those schools should meet, and what to do when adults fail students.

Many students with disabilities use accessibility features and accommodations during instruction and when taking assessments. It is important to consider teacher perceptions and experiences when making accessibility decisions. The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) synthesized and summarized research conducted between 1999 and 2022 on the perceptions of teachers regarding accommodations. Based on this research on teachers' perceptions of accommodations, NCEO suggests several strategies that could improve practice.

This brief examines which students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) were more likely to choose the STEM endorsement in ninth grade. The study examined STEM endorsement choice among students who began high school in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years. The analyses showed female students were significantly less likely to choose the STEM endorsement than male students. Furthermore, Asian and Pacific Islander students were more likely to select the STEM endorsement than Black, Hispanic, and White students. Finally, the analyses found a positive relationship between students' scores on the STAAR science test in eighth grade and STEM endorsement choice upon high school entry.

This study examined whether there were gendered patterns in STEM endorsement choice in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and how those patterns changed over time, in the wake of a policy change to guidance counseling. The first students required to choose high school endorsements were freshmen in 2014-2015 and graduated high school in spring 2018. The second cohort of students required to do so were freshmen in 2015-2016 and graduated in spring 2019. Students in this second cohort met with their guidance counselor during their senior year to check in on their endorsement progress; this meeting was called the Personal Graduation Plan (PGP) check-in. This was a new district policy implemented beginning in fall 2018, which means that the first cohort did not experience the PGP check-in, while the second cohort did. This study reveals gender gaps in STEM endorsement choice among ninth-grade students. For the high school graduating class of 2018, which did not experience the PGP check-in, female students were less likely than male students to choose the STEM endorsement at any point during high school. However, for the high school graduating class of 2019, which did experience the PGP check-in, female students were less likely than male students to choose the STEM endorsement upon high school entry. Importantly, however, this gender gap in STEM endorsement choice nearly disappeared by high school graduation, suggesting that individualized counseling efforts might be a strategy to improve female retention in STEM.

Determining whether a state's young people are on track for a life of opportunity is a difficult task for governors and state leaders. States can be both awash in data and unable to easily access and use that data to inform policy. State longitudinal data systems that meaningfully connect workforce, higher education, K-12, and early childhood outcome data from multiple state agencies over time are foundational to strong decision-making by state leaders. State leaders are charged with determining how to advance educational and workforce opportunities, particularly for historically underserved populations, including rural students, students living in poverty, English-language learners, and students of color. Policymakers need reliable, relevant, and transparent data from PK-12 to the workforce to inform decisions and allocate resources. Researchers need access to data to assess current conditions and to identify possible solutions. Finally, the public -- including parents -- needs easily accessible, user-friendly information about readiness and opportunity for young people in the state. Well-governed and well-structured state longitudinal data systems can help. Today, most states have disparate data systems that are functionally siloed off by education level, like early childhood or K-12 or higher education. Meaningfully connected and well-governed data systems make it easier to see the relationships between metrics like early-grade reading scores, high school graduation, and wage data. Disaggregated outcome data about the youngest learners up to young adults provide invaluable insights to policymakers, researchers, and parents. This report examines how state leaders should prioritize state longitudinal data systems in legislation and policymaking.