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This report summarizes the fiscal effects of education choice programs across the United States from an analysis of 48 private education choice programs in 25 states plus D.C. The programs in the analysis include five education savings account programs, 22 school voucher programs, and 21 tax credit scholarship programs. This study estimates the combined net fiscal effects of each education choice program on state and local taxpayers through fiscal year (FY) 2022--in both the short run and the long run. It uses short-run and long-run variable cost estimates to generate lower bounds and upper bounds of the fiscal effects of education choice program on taxpayers through FY 2022. This report does not include any universal education choice programs in the main analysis because it uses federal data that were available for years before any universal programs launched. The report also provides context by presenting information about the size and scope of each program, in terms of participation and funding, relative to each state's public school system and state budgets. It presents information on taxpayer funding disparities between students using the choice programs and their peers in public schools.

In 2022, Maryland implemented a new initiative focused on removing degree requirements from state positions. This initiative opened over 19,000 jobs to more than 1.3 million individuals Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs)--such as community college, workforce training, or on-the-job experience--rather than through a bachelor's degree in the State of Maryland. Skills-based/skills-first hiring has since branched across the U.S., with 22 states opening more than 467,000 jobs to STARs across the nation. Following Maryland's announcement to remove degree requirements from state positions, the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) launched the Skills-Based Hiring Initiative in 2023. The focus of ACCT's initiative is to facilitate a pilot program in Maryland dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of skills-based hiring. ACCT partnered with Opportunity@Work, the State of Maryland, and four Maryland Community Colleges (Carroll Community College, Community College of Baltimore County, Frederick Community College, and Howard Community College). This brief serves as a review of lessons learned and recommendations from the Maryland pilot program for institutions, organizations, and state/local government agencies looking to partner to create pathways for STARs. This brief outlines the initial scope of the project and how ACCT had to pivot, along with challenges that were encountered, lessons learned along the way, and it highlights the project that has resulted in improved collaboration with a community college and a state agency that has had significant vacancy rates. [Opportunity@Work partnered with the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) to produce this report.]

This research uses the implementation of a school suspension ban in Maryland to test whether a top-down state-initiated ban on suspensions in early primary grades can influence school behavior regarding school discipline. Beginning in the fall of 2017, the State of Maryland banned the use of out-of-school suspensions for grades PK-2, unless a student posed an "imminent threat" to staff or students. This research investigates (1) what was the effect of the ban on discipline outcomes for students in both treated grades and upper elementary grades not subject to the ban? (2) did schools bypass the ban by coding more events as threatening or increasing the use of in-school suspensions? and (3) were there differential effects for students in groups that are historically suspended more often? Using a comparative interrupted time series strategy, we find that the ban is associated with a substantial reduction in, but not a total elimination of, out-of-school suspensions for targeted grades without substitution of in-school suspensions. Disproportionalities by race and other characteristics remain after the ban. Grades not subject to the ban experienced few effects, suggesting the ban did not trigger a schoolwide response that reduced exclusionary discipline.

Despite substantial interest in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses in U.S. high schools--and associated scholarship on this topic--very little is known about characteristics of CTE teachers who are a critical resource for program implementation and expansion. Using eight years of statewide data from Maryland, we document key facts about the CTE teacher workforce and pathways into the profession. First, a sizable share (17%) of CTE teachers enter the profession with a high school diploma or associate's degree, aligned to state policy that allows Professional and Technical Education-certified teachers to substitute years of professional experience for higher degrees. Relatedly, CTE teachers are substantially more likely than non-CTE teachers to enter the profession through an "alternative" path that bypasses traditional undergraduate teacher education (54% versus 30%). Finally, there is a larger share of Black teachers in CTE versus out of CTE (25% versus 16%), leading to greater opportunities for teacher-student race matching. We hypothesize that these patterns are related: decreased barriers to entry into the CTE teaching profession may support more Black individuals to become CTE teachers.

This chartbook is the 14th version to be produced for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). The Chartbook describes the diversity of the Appalachian Region on a host of demographic and economic measures and provides an important annual view of the area and its people. The data contained in the 2018-2022 Chartbook describe how residents in the Appalachian Region were faring before and during the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020. Nearly half of the years during this time period were pre-pandemic and half were during the pandemic era. Thus, this Chartbook is a blend of these two eras. As future data releases reflect the post-pandemic era, data users will have additional insights on the long-term changes that the pandemic brought to Appalachia's social and economic dynamics. Most of the data shown here come from the 2018-2022 American Community Survey (ACS), a nationwide study collected continuously every year in every county in the United States by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is designed to provide communities with reliable and timely demographic, social, economic, and housing data each year. To provide as much county-level data as possible, we use ACS 5-year data files which provide reliable estimates for geographic areas with fewer than 20,000 people. Since many counties in the Appalachian Region have fewer than 20,000 residents, these data permit comparable statistics for all 423 counties in the Region. The primary purpose of the ACS is to measure the changing characteristics of the U.S. population in a way that is continually updated. The estimates in this Chartbook, therefore, are data collected over the five-year (or 60-month) period from January 2018 through December 2022. These ACS estimates are not averages of monthly or annual values, but rather an aggregation of data collected continuously over that time period.

Budget constraints and limited supplies of local tutors have caused many K-12 school districts to pivot from individual tutoring in-person toward small-group tutoring online to expand access to personalized instruction. We conduct a field experiment to explore the effect of increasing student-tutor ratios on middle school students' math achievement and growth during an online tutoring program. We leverage a novel feature of the program where tutors often taught individual and small-group tutoring sessions, allowing them to directly compare their experiences across these settings. Both experimental estimates and tutor survey responses suggest 1:1 tutoring is more effective than 3:1 tutoring online. Tutoring small groups in an online format presents additional challenges for personalizing instruction, developing relationships, fostering participation, and managing student behavior.

Boosting literacy among school-age children remains a national priority. Nearly one third of students in the United States have not developed the foundational reading skills needed to succeed academically, with students living in poverty, students with disabilities, and English learners especially at risk. Starting in 2010, Congress invested more than $1 billion for state literacy improvement efforts through the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy (SRCL) program. SRCL was intended to focus funding on disadvantaged schools, encourage schools to use evidence-based practices, and support schools and teachers in providing comprehensive literacy instruction. These efforts were expected to lead to improved literacy outcomes for students. This study assesses how well SRCL implementation was aligned with these goals, using information collected from states, districts, and schools in all 11 states awarded grants in 2017.

Local teacher recruitment through "grow-your-own" programs is a prominent strategy to address workforce shortages and ensure that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We exploit the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland career and technical education certificate program across public high schools, finding that exposed students were more likely to become teachers by 0.6 percentage points (pp), or 47%. Effects are concentrated among White girls (1.4pp/39%) and Black girls (0.7pp/80%). We also identify positive impacts on wages (5% on average/18% for Black girls), countering a prevailing narrative that teaching leaves one worse off financially relative to other labor market opportunities.

This memorandum provides information pertinent to the participation and performance of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations for 2023 graduates in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). In 2023, 59.3% of MCPS graduates took one or more AP exams; 17.3 percentage points more than graduates in Maryland and 24.6 percentage points more than graduates in the nation. Additionally, 46.1 % of the 2023 MCPS graduates earned a score of 3 or higher on at least one AP exam, while 27.4% of graduates in the State of Maryland and 21.7% of graduates in the nation earned an AP score of 3 or higher.

Mounting evidence supporting the advantages of a diverse teacher workforce prompts policymakers to scrutinize existing recruitment pathways. Following four cohorts of Maryland public high-school students over 12 years reveals several insights. Early barriers require timely interventions, aiding students of color in achieving educational milestones that are prerequisites for teacher candidacy (high school graduation, college enrollment). While alternative pathways that bypass traditional undergraduate teacher preparation may help, current approaches still show persistent racial disparities. Data simulations underscore the need for race-conscious policies specifically targeting or differentially benefiting students of color, as race-neutral strategies have minimal impact. Ultimately, multiple race-conscious policy solutions addressing various educational milestones must demonstrate significant effects--approximately 30% increases--to reshape the teacher workforce to align with student body demographics.

High-quality career and technical education (CTE) and work-based learning opportunities can support students along a pathway to credential attainment, employment and upward economic mobility through intentional skill development and experiential learning. CTE concentration in high school can increase graduation rates while helping students build employability skills that can support positive outcomes in the workforce. When CTE concentration is paired with opportunities for postsecondary credit or a quality work-based learning experience, students are more likely to attain postsecondary and workforce credentials, successfully enter the workforce and earn higher wages. The Education Commission of the States staff members interviewed state leaders and policymakers, including state education agency staff, state workforce development agency staff, higher education agency staff and district leaders in Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, North Dakota, South Carolina and Washington to better understand how they align CTE and work-based learning policies and programs with workforce needs. This Policy Brief highlights key findings from the interviews, including insight into obstacles and promising practices in increasing student access, program quality and stakeholder engagement.

This memorandum provides information on Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) course enrollment, exam participation, and exam performance during the 2022--2023 school year. During the 2022--2023 school year, 129 AP or IB courses were offered across high schools. Among the 25 comprehensive high schools, all offered AP courses, while 8 provided IB programs. Notably, 13 of the 25 high schools offered 30 or more AP/IB courses. The schools with the highest number of AP/IB course offerings included Bethesda-Chevy Chase (65 courses), Albert Einstein (55 courses), John F. Kennedy (55 courses), and Richard Montgomery (71 courses) high schools. Districtwide, in 2023, 48.4% of high school students enrolled in at least one AP or IB course, a slight increase from 47.6% in 2022. In 2023, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) high school students took 35,526 AP exams, an increase of 3,776 from 2021 and 2,235 from 2022. The percentage of AP exams taken by students achieving a score of 3 or higher was 73.5% in 2023, a 5.0 percentage-point increase from 2021 and a 1.0 percentage-point increase from 2022. In 2023, the 20 AP exams most frequently taken by students included: U.S. Government and Politics, English Language and Composition, World History, Psychology, U.S. History, Computer Science Principles, English Literature and Composition, Calculus AB, Statistics, Calculus BC, Biology, Spanish Language and Culture, Physics 1, Environmental Science, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Computer Science A, Chemistry, Human Geography, and Physics C: Mechanics. Over the last three years, IB participation has shown some fluctuations, starting at 3,084 in 2021, dipping to 2,992 in 2022, and rebounding to 3,027 in 2023. In 2023, the percentage of IB exams with a score of 4 or higher was 68.8%, marking a notable decline from 87.0% in 2021 and a decrease from 82.5% in 2022. In 2023, the 10 IB exams most frequently taken by students included: English A: Language and Literature, history, Spanish B, mathematics: Analysis and Approaches, mathematics: Application and Interpretation, biology, English A: Literature, Environmental Systems and Societies, Physics, and Psychology.

In 2023, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools elevated the voices of charter school students, educators, families, and advocates. The organization persevered through challenges and expanded access to high quality public charter schools for a greater number of students around the nation. This annual report covers what the sector achieved in 2023 and the National Alliance's contributions to it.

The annual Performance Accountability Report (PAR) serves as an important mechanism by which public colleges and universities in Maryland are held accountable. Through a performance accountability plan, institutions are required to establish and maintain performance standards, and use metrics to assess their effectiveness in tackling institutional and statewide higher education goals. The 2022-2023 Performance Accountability Report summarizes institution's progress toward the three key goals of the 2022 State Plan for Higher Education. Last year the PAR raised some concerns about inequities in student success and how institutions hold themselves accountable to equitably achieve the objectives of the Maryland State Plan for Higher Education. Therefore, the Commission provided reporting prompts seeking responses to: (1) how institutions identify long-term equity gaps; and (2) how institutions measure their long-term equity gaps.

Home visiting connects expectant parents, new caregivers, and their young children with a support person, called a home visitor. The home visitor meets regularly with the family, develops a relationship with them, and supports them to achieve their goals and meet their needs. To reach the thousands of additional families who could benefit from home visiting, we must increase support for culturally relevant and family-centered models. A new report -- "Community-Based Home Visiting: Fidelity to Families, Commitment to Outcomes" -- delves into the unique strengths and challenges of community-based home visiting models, whose design and measures of success intentionally center the perspectives of the families and communities they serve. These models are often developed by those with experience with the unique cultures, strengths, and solutions of he community they live in and aim to serve. This report summarizes themes from listening sessions with 30+ community-based home visiting models from across the country. It offers policy and funding recommendations that would improve support for these models and therefore families' access to home visiting that best meets their goals. [Additional support was provided by the National Home Visiting Coalition Steering Committee.]

To better understand the challenges and opportunities facing community colleges that want to expand apprenticeship opportunities to their students, New America conducted a year-long study. We created an advisory committee to guide this work and spoke to apprenticeship, workforce development, and community college leaders about the community colleges role in expanding apprenticeship. Based on these conversations, we chose case studies and conducted in-depth interviews with leaders from the Community College System of New Hampshire's ApprenticeshipNH, Arapahoe in Colorado, San Jacinto in Texas, and Howard Community College in Maryland's programs in IT and cybersecurity, and Coastal Alabama Community College's nursing apprenticeship. Each of these colleges found a different way to fill the role of intermediary, taking on funding from different sources, using a mix of strategies for sponsorship, and finding place-based approaches to strengthening workforce partnerships. In a variety of sectors, these five colleges found ways to fill the intermediary role that worked for their context, and in doing so provided excellent programming that filled their community's needs. This mosaic of case studies demonstrates that there are some common challenges and successful strategies that colleges looking to serve as apprenticeship intermediaries can learn from.

Students with disabilities, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged students need additional resources and support to succeed in school. State school funding formulas should account for those additional needs so that every school can educate all its students. Weighted, student-based funding formulas are one of the most effective ways for states to direct funds to districts serving students with additional learning needs. In a weighted, student-based funding formula, all students generate a base amount of funding that is determined by the state. Then, school districts receive additional funding per enrolled student in a specific category so that the district has the resources to meet those additional learning needs.

The "Blueprint for Maryland's Future," passed by the 2021 Maryland General Assembly, requires that a college and career readiness (CCR) standard be set for Maryland public school students that "certifies that by the end of 10th grade, and not later than the end of 12th grade, a student has the requisite literacy in English and math to be successful in first-year, credit-bearing coursework at a Maryland community college or open enrollment postsecondary institution" (Blueprint for Maryland's Future Act, 2021, p. 9). The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) contracted with the American Institutes for Research® (AIR®) to conduct the empirical study required by the "Blueprint" and to explore additional possible measures of student readiness for college and career success. This report addresses the study's four objectives: (1) identify knowledge and skills required to be college and career ready; (2) assess the alignment between Maryland's College and Career Ready Academic Content Standards and postsecondary expectations; (3) assess how well the interim CCR standard and alternative specifications of the standard predict postsecondary progress; and (4) identify potential areas of bias within assessments used to determine CCR.

This memorandum provides information pertinent to the participation and performance of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations for 2022 graduates in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). In 2022, 63.2% of MCPS graduates took one or more AP exams--21.9 percentage points more than public school graduates in Maryland and 28.6 percentage points more than those in the Nation. Districtwide, 48.5 % of 2022 MCPS graduates earned at least one AP exam score of 3 or higher, while 27.4% of public school graduates in Maryland and 21.6% of graduates in the Nation. [For "Class of 2021 Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Exam Participation and Performance. Memorandum," see ED623568.]

This report presents results of a 50-state policy survey conducted by the National Center for Children in Poverty, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Children and Families, and Johnson Policy Consulting. The survey asked state Medicaid agency leaders about Medicaid policies related to screenings and services designed to identify, prevent, and treat infant-early childhood mental health problems. The results and recommendations presented in this report can help mental health and early childhood leaders take stock of current Medicaid policies and their potential to support infant-early childhood mental health. [This report was co-produced with Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Children and Families and Johnson Policy Consulting.]

This study explores the efficacy of core phonics and intervention products by 95 Percent Group, LLC ("One95"), drawing on the relationship between technology, the science of reading, and learning sciences. Researchers analyzed data from 440 K-1 students in Maryland that rolled out One95 over two school years, fall 2020 to spring 2022. The sample included students who were 54% Black, 15% ELL, 8% SPED, and 75% Economically Disadvantaged. According to iReady® Diagnostic Reading, One95 students outperformed similar students who did not receive the program in the first year. In the second year, both groups used One95, and students with two years of use showed earlier growth and doubled the effect sizes than those with one year of use (0.64 vs. 0.31). Black One95 students also showed stronger reading outcomes than their comparison group peers by spring 2022. These results support that One95 positively and significantly impacted student literacy achievement.

Baltimore City Public Schools includes approximately 30 high schools, and the characteristics of each school's graduates vary systematically according to schools' admissions policies, curricular areas of focus, and resource availability, which depend on school size, management type, and leaders' priorities. This report summarizes trends in college-related outcomes among City Schools graduates over a ten-year timespan, from 2011 to 2020. The data presented centers on core activities in accessing college, from applying for admission and financial aid, to college enrollment and, ultimately, degree completion. The authors acknowledge that pursuing postsecondary education is but one path to independent adulthood. Many young adults wish to engage in other types of training and preparation that are not represented in this report, such as apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and military service. However, research concludes that individuals with at least some college education have higher lifetime earnings (Kim & Tamborini, 2019), better health outcomes (Kaplan et al., 2017), and greater civic engagement (Campbell, 2009). Moreover, higher education attainment in the aggregate yields benefits for the local economy (Koropeckyj et al., 2017) and greater well-being for the community (Baum et al., 2013). The authors thus offer the data in this report as one means of monitoring opportunity for Baltimore youth and Baltimore City as a whole.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate administrator perceptions of the second-year implementation of Dynamic Impact (DI) in Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) by Johns Hopkins' Center for Technology in Education (CTE). As described by CTE, DI builds the capacity of school districts to form and sustain high-performing teams using several protocols to guide their work together as they implement school improvement plans. This descriptive study collected and analyzed interview data to document district and school administrators' perceptions of DI as implemented in WCPS, including the following: (1) Motivations and hopes for using DI to develop and implement school improvement plans; (2) Perceptions of stakeholder engagement in DI and its protocols; (3) Perceptions of the impact of DI; and (4) Overall reactions to DI. Senior administrators at WCPS were asked to participate in interviews, as were principals of schools in the Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) program. Data collection took place during the spring semester of 2023. Findings suggest that school and district administrators see DI as a productive school improvement process that engages a broad array of stakeholders, examines root causes of issues, develops action plans to support the implementation of evidence-based practices and implements the practices with fidelity, and engages in ongoing progress monitoring and adjusting plans as needed.

The community schools strategy transforms a school into a place where educators, local community members, families, and students work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development. As partners, they organize in- and out-of-school resources, supports, and opportunities so that young people thrive. A growing number of states are investing in community schools as a strategy to address long-standing social inequities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a review of state American Rescue Plan Act plans, as well as state legislative and state education agency websites and other online resources, this report describes community school initiatives in eight states. The report highlights three potential approaches to state support for community schools: (1) ongoing support through school funding formulas; (2) competitive grant funding; and (3) capacity-building supports (such as certification processes).

Data governance is a core obligation for leaders and staff across any agency that collects, stores or uses individuals' data. It ensures that individuals' personal information is protected, and can support the continuous improvement of data quality and use, particularly when it includes well-defined processes, structure and responsibilities. Effective data governance can promote trust among those who administer the data systems, those who use them and those whose private information the data systems collect. This Policy Brief stems from a Thinkers Meeting hosted by Education Commission of the States that gathered experts in data governance to discuss how state leaders can avoid common pitfalls that undermine data governance policies. The group developed six principles that can aid any state leader in establishing effective governance of data systems.

This annual report provides information regarding students who registered with disability services at Maryland colleges and universities. To better understand higher education outcomes for students with disabilities in Maryland, the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Disabilities and in partnership with the state's higher education institutions, created a survey administered to colleges and universities to collect these data in aggregate form. The information may be used to improve policies and practices to support the success of students with disabilities. In fiscal year 2021, 15,937 undergraduate students and 2,024 graduate students were registered with their institutions' disability services office as students with disabilities, which represents 4.0% of all students enrolled in fiscal year 2021, almost no change from the previous year. Specifically, this represents 4.5% of undergraduate students and 2.2% of graduate students enrolled. [For the 2022 edition of this report, see ED618780.]

Research tells a bleak story of U.S. children and youth with unmet mental health needs (anxiety, depression, eating disorders, etc.). One-in-five children and adolescents experiences a mental health condition in a given year. One-in-ten high school students attempted suicide one or more times during the past year. And 59% of youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment. To help combat this dismal situation, some states are providing more support in schools because that is where children and teens spend significant time. The addition of school-based mental health coordinators -- individuals who can both identify students with mental health needs and direct them to treatment options -- enhances the capacity of schools to address the youth mental health crisis. This fact sheet examines what are school-based mental health coordinators and students need them.

More than 427,000 undocumented students are enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions. That's an impressive number, considering the many hurdles they must overcome on the road to college and a degree, including restrictions on their ability to enroll in higher education institutions; limits on access to in-state tuition, state financial aid, professional and commercial licenses, driver's licenses, state health care, and food and housing assistance; and difficulties obtaining work authorization and employment -- not to mention the threat of deportation they are under. Providing equitable higher education access for undocumented students means making college accessible and affordable for them. But it also means acknowledging the unique challenges they face because of their immigration status and ensuring that they get the additional supports they need. Researchers from The Education Trust analyzed 9 criteria in the 15 states with the largest shares of undocumented college students -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington -- to determine whether state policies are helping or hurting undocumented students' ability to attend college and how access and success for this underserved student population could be improved. [This report was supported by the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, FWD.us, and United We Dream.]

Engagement in Phase 2 focused on refining the Phase 1 foundational elements such as the mission, vision, values, priorities and enablers, as well as identifying emerging goals and metrics. In addition to the engagement methods outlined in first phase, this phase involved discussions centered around data focused on specific regions in Maryland connected to the priorities and enablers outlined in the Strategic Plan. This report is a companion piece to the Strategic Plan guidebooks, and the documents should be read together for an in-depth understanding of the plan's content and how it originated. [For the Phase 1 report, see ED627592. For "Maryland State Board & Department of Education Strategic Plan. Phase 2," see ED627583.]

The Maryland State Board of Education and Maryland State Department of Education are developing a multiyear Strategic Plan that will be released in three phases leading up to June 2023. The Strategic Plan will anchor the vision, mission, values, priorities, enablers, goals, and flagship programs, initiatives, and strategies to realize the Blueprint for Maryland's Future promise of an excellent and equitable education for every student. This guidebook articulates the Phase 1 & 2 elements of the Maryland State Board and Department of Education's Strategic Plan: (1) The vision and mission for transforming public education in Maryland; (2) The values that inform the everyday practices and relationships with diverse communities and stakeholders; (3) The priorities that must be achieved to ensure a successful educational experience for every Maryland student, from early childhood to college and careers; (4) The enablers, or structural conditions, regarding data-driven decision-making, resource allocation, human capital, and support systems that need to be in place for the priorities to be achieved; (5) The goals that guide our direction in creating long-lasting, positive change in education; and (6) The metrics, or the data sources and data subsets, used to evaluate progress and establish baseline measures. [For the Phase 1 report, see ED627582.]

Much attention has been focused on the importance of providing physical and mental health services to students in educational environments in recent years. Millions of students receive school-based health services, and for many students, schools are their first and only option to receive health care. State policymakers have a lot to consider in this policy area, including funding, workforce needs and coordination of efforts across agencies. State leaders are not only enabling health services to be offered in schools but working to ensure equitable access to those services for students who may otherwise struggle to receive them. This Policy Brief outlines how some states have been using school-based health services in K-12 environments -- particularly through the school-based health center (SBHC) and community school models -- to pursue equitable access to both physical and mental health services for all students.