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Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is traditionally valued for its developmental benefits for youth, such as enhancing leadership and critical thinking skills. However, this brief evidences that YPAR's potential extends significantly beyond individual growth, serving as a powerful mechanism for organizational development and academic field-building. We explore how YPAR facilitates local insights into organizational practices from a youth perspective and contributes uniquely to the broader academic discourse, effectively bridging the research-practice gap.

Many educators in California are unaware of just how harmful out of school suspensions can be. When suspended students are barred from attending school, more often than not, the rule broken was some form of minor misconduct. This update of "Lost Instruction Time in California Schools" demonstrates that despite the important efforts by the state of California to reduce suspensions, those efforts are seriously insufficient. The most recent statewide rates of lost instruction due to out of school suspensions show a widespread increase in the days lost per 100 students. The increase in these lost instruction rates, is not large for every group, but the 2023 data reverses a consistent downward 6-year trend. In 2023, nearly every racial and ethnic group, as well as students with disabilities, experienced an increase over their rate of lost instruction from the prior year. Using the recently released data for 2023, show that not only are the rates for homeless youth increasing for every demographic, but they increased far more for Black and Native American homeless youth than any other groups.

Annually, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) prepares the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and Head Start Saturation Study to analyze access to Washington's ECEAP and Head Start programs serving 3- and 4-yearolds. This study estimates the number of eligible children living within each school district boundary and calculates the percentage currently served. It assigns points for each district based on numbers and percentages of unserved children and child maltreatment rates. These data are used to sort districts into groups by priority for ECEAP slot expansion. This Saturation Study is part of the information DCYF uses to determine appropriate locations for ECEAP slots. Current or potential ECEAP contractors may also use this study to inform decisions to apply for ECEAP slots or move existing ECEAP slots to communities with high needs

Head Start programs engage parents to support children's growth from birth through age 5 through services that promote early learning and development, health, and family well-being. These programs specifically seek to assist families with low incomes and families facing a variety of other adversities. The Head Start REACH: Strengthening Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Approaches with Families project is focused on understanding the eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance/ retention (ERSEA) approaches that Head Start programs use to engage Head Start--eligible families experiencing adversities. In this brief, the authors detail how programs develop and implement their criteria and processes for selecting families for enrollment. Selection refers to the procedures a program follows to assess their community's needs, update their selection criteria, and use those criteria to assign points to submitted applications. The authors highlight how programs use their selection processes to identify and select families with the greatest need. They also summarize approaches that programs perceive as successful and those that reflect opportunities for growth. The Methods section at the end of this brief details the sampling, data collection, and analysis methods.

Head Start programs engage parents to support children's growth from birth through age 5 through services that promote early learning and development, health, and family well-being. These programs specifically seek to assist families with low incomes and families facing a variety of other adversities. To foster positive child and family outcomes, Head Start programs build collaborative relationships or partnerships with community organizations that often provide various services to families who are eligible for Head Start. Strong community partnerships also appear important for supporting Head Start's eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance/retention (ERSEA) processes, particularly for families experiencing adversities. The Head Start REACH: Strengthening Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Approaches with Families project is focused on understanding the ERSEA approaches that Head Start programs use to engage Head Start--eligible families experiencing adversities. Six urban and rural Head Start programs of varying sizes from six Administration for Children and Families (ACF) regions were part of the Head Start REACH case studies. When recruiting programs, the study team asked program directors to name up to four community organizations they partner with for their ERSEA activities. From February to April 2022, we collected data from: (1) Head Start program staff; (2) families who participate in their programs; (3) organizations the programs partner with to work on ERSEA; and (4) families who are eligible for Head Start but not currently enrolled. The Methods section at the end of this brief details the sampling, data collection, and analysis methods. This brief summarizes findings from the Head Start REACH case studies to illustrate how programs partner with their community organizations to reach and support eligible families, including those experiencing adversities.

As the nation transitions from responding to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to navigating its ongoing impact on youth and their communities, K-12 students continue to experience mental health and wellbeing challenges. In the fall of 2021, Redwood City School District (RCSD) placed a full-time, district-employed mental health counselor in each of its twelve schools in order to bolster district capacity to support mental health and wellbeing. This study aims to identify strategic opportunities for understanding and advancing the counseling program's impact as it moves into its third year. With these goals in mind, this research brief will describe findings related to three questions: (1) What is the role of RCSD's school-based mental health counselors?; (2) What are early signals or "lead indicators" of the value or impact of the counseling program?; and (3) What considerations might further improve the program as it moves into Year 3? To answer these questions, the authors conducted 19 interviews with district administrators, site administrators, and mental health counselors; and 22 participant observations of meetings related to the counseling program and student services more broadly. While the research team employed qualitative data analysis software (Dedoose 9.0.90) to facilitate the coding of qualitative data, the analysis of coded data followed a more traditional, iterative approach, moving between deductive and inductive reasoning. This research brief summarizes key findings and offers considerations for leveraging the counseling program to strengthen a district-wide, coordinated system of support for mental health and wellbeing and developing a theory-based evaluation of impact during Year 3 of program implementation. [This work is generously funded by Stanford's Office of the Provost through the Office of Community Engagement.]

While the statewide trends and disparities suggest that the rate of lost instruction in California due to out-of-school suspension (OSS) is about where it was before the COVID-19 school closures, this is the first report to highlight how post-COVID suspensions in 2021-2022 have added to the pandemic's harmful impact of instructional loss, especially for students from "high-needs" groups, who were most harmed by the pandemic. This report analyzes California Department of Education (CDE) data sources to provide a detailed review of how suspensions directly contribute to disparities in learning opportunities for students in foster care or experiencing homelessness, as well as along the lines of race and disability in every California school district. It also describes evidence of extreme differences in how some districts responded to student misconduct in 2021--2022 and uses the data on student enrollment and the raw count of days lost due to OSS to establish a baseline measure for calculating comparable rates of lost instruction for every group in every district in California.

State Quality Rating Improvement Systems (QRIS) can effectively support the improvement of school-age childcare programs by leveraging Program Quality Assessments (PQAs) alongside structured improvement planning and professional development. Real-world implementations in Arkansas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania underscore the impact and adaptability of the PQA within QRIS, emphasizing its role in fostering a culture of improvement and the importance of investing in well-trained staff to ensure positive outcomes for school-age children.

The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) administers and operates a state-funded preschool program called the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP). To inform systemwide improvements in the program, the department contracted with Education Northwest to conduct a qualitative study of nine sites across the state. The goal of the study was to identify unique or innovative practices and provide recommendations for scaling these practices across the state in alignment with five domains in the ECEAP Performance Standards: (1) family engagement and partnerships; (2) use of an evidence-based and culturally relevant curriculum; (3) fostering supportive adult-child interactions; (4) measuring and supporting child outcomes; and (5) professional development and training.

Over the past decade, the Washington State Legislature has made significant progress in juvenile justice reforms. However, these investments have not been balanced by equal changes in education. This report provides 10 recommendations for the Legislature to reform institutional education in Washington focused on the following: (1) An organizational and accountability structure that is focused on meeting complex student needs and improving student outcomes; (2) An equitable, long-term funding model that sustainably supports the instructional, organizational, and accountability structure; and (3) A regular and ongoing review of system performance and education outcomes. Implementing the recommendations in this report will allow the state to meet the complex educational needs of students and to change the immediate and long-term trajectory for the young people that move through the state's system.

Annually, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) prepares the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and Head Start Saturation Study to analyze access to Washington's ECEAP and Head Start programs serving 3- and 4-year-olds. This study estimates the number of eligible children living within each school district boundary and calculates the percentage currently served. It assigns points for each district based on numbers and percentages of unserved children and child maltreatment rates. These data are used to sort districts into groups by priority for ECEAP slot expansion. This Saturation Study is part of the information DCYF uses to determine appropriate locations for ECEAP slots. [For the 2020-21 report, see ED629221.]

This is a technical report of agency actions and legislative recommendations for programs regulated by the state or government-to-government responsibilities that must be met for children aged 3-5. As changes in PreK services affect enrollment in birth-3 and school-age care, impacts on these other programs are vital to alignment work. Partnering with tribal nations and Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) advisory groups to implement the Centennial Accord is essential to this work. The state honors tribal sovereignty and sustains government-to-government partnerships with tribes. Input from native families and tribal representatives are embedded in this report.

Parents and educators want children to be seen and valued when they enter their classroom each day. A student-affirming education creates a welcoming environment for all children regardless of their race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, income, ability, family structure or other characteristic. Such an education sees each student as an individual with both great potential and a unique perspective that positively contributes to the classroom's learning and community. A student-affirming education teaches honest history and respects students' ability to think, problem-solve, and form their own opinions. In this kind of responsive classroom, students see their own as well as others' backgrounds, experiences, and identities reflected in both history lessons and other curricular materials. Award-winning educators from across the country agree with the research: affirming students' identities, teaching them a full account of history, and helping them learn about other cultures and backgrounds improves students' academic outcomes and career readiness. Understanding the value of a student-affirming education and how educational content impacts children is critical to protecting our nation's children and the education they deserve. When lawmakers create policies that ensure students have access to affirming learning environments, they create the conditions for meaningful learning experiences and growth. This report shares the positive effects that students experience when they have access to honest education. The authors hope their examination of the harm to students caused by educational gag orders helps others to see the urgency for policies that support students as they grow into good students.

Blended learning, a pedagogical approach that uses a mix of different physical environments as well as digital and non-digital learning tools, has emerged as a cornerstone of modern education. In particular, integrating traditional face-to-face teaching with technology-mediated instruction has gained momentum through the digital revolution and the exigencies of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering flexible, personalised and inclusive learning experiences. Blended learning undoubtedly possesses transformative potential to enhance the engagement, learning outcomes and critical thinking skills of students within an increasingly digitalised educational context. Blended learning can prove especially advantageous for students with special needs as well as those in remote areas, for whom it offers the potential to ensure educational continuity amid disruptions and to increase inclusivity. In realising these benefits, however, the present report underlines the importance of well-designed blended learning models, pedagogical strategies, teacher training and equitable access to technology.

Despite significant advances in STEM education and a growing emphasis on gender equality in research and policy circles, women across Europe remain under-represented in STEM careers and among graduates majoring in STEM related fields. This report aims to consolidate current research findings, policy analyses and best practices in relation to gender disparities in STEM education. Its key objective is to systematically identify and analyse the factors at individual, contextual and institutional levels that contribute to the gender gap in STEM education. This includes examining aspects such as societal attitudes, educational practices, curriculum design and the role of educators in shaping gender perceptions and choices in STEM. The report highlights the multifaceted nature of the gender gap in STEM education and careers. This issue calls for a comprehensive, multi-level approach that encompasses educational reforms, policy interventions, societal attitude shifts and targeted support mechanisms to bridge this gap effectively. Addressing the gender gap in STEM is not only a matter of educational equity but also an issue of critical economic and societal concern, given the increasing importance of STEM fields in navigating the modern world, driving innovation, and addressing global challenges.

The adoption of the European Council Recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development (2022) notes the critical role of education, and demonstrates the commitment of Member States to the attainment of sustainable futures. This Recommendation established a solid political foundation for co-operation in the European Education Area and formally acknowledged the need for lifelong and transformative learning to address the planetary crisis and the well-being of citizens. Formal education plays a critical role in learning for sustainability (LfS), with policy-makers paying particular attention to curriculum requirements, teacher education and school attainment. However, learning opportunities also exist outside of formal education. These are found in: communities of practice; cultural, lingustic and scientific institutions; government and private organisations, sports clubs, youth and faith groups, as well as at heritage sites, and in national parks and natural spaces. Such non-formal education offerings present diverse opportunities to experience and connect with people and planet issues; to build sustainability literacy skills and capabilities for active citizenship; to create more hands-on engagement with the natural environment; and to explore sustainable lifestyles. These opportunities extend learning beyond classrooms to involve learners and persons of all ages and backgrounds in sustainability thinking and practice. Despite the significant role played by such offerings, few data and little evidence exist that clearly define the unique contributions or impact of the non-formal education sector on the attainment of the green transition. In the absence of longitudinal data or meta-analysis, a need exists to map existing provision and to extrapolate this potential contribution from current practice.

A high-quality preschool education can foster critical development and learning that promotes joyful, affirming, and enriching learning opportunities that prepare children for success in school and life. While preschool programs generally provide emotionally supportive environments, their curricula often fall short in advancing learning in math, early literacy, and science, and lack the necessary support for multilingual learners emerging bilingualism. Additionally, access to high-quality, effective early learning experiences may be limited and inadequate based on factors such as a childs race, location, gender, language, identified disability, and socioeconomic status. A New Vision for High-Quality Preschool Curriculum examines preschool curriculum quality for children from ages three to five, with special attention to the needs of Black and Latine children, multilingual learners, children with disabilities and children experiencing poverty in the United States. The report articulates a vision for high-quality preschool curricula for all children, grounded in an equity and justice-oriented principles from inception to implementation and evaluation.

Within the context of the European Education Area (EEA) strategic framework, the working group on early childhood education and care (ECEC WG) supports EU members states to implement the European Quality Framework for ECEC, which is a key part of the 2019 Council Recommendation on High-Quality ECEC Systems. Throughout 2022-2023, the ECEC WG has been focusing on the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of quality in ECEC. This topic is one of the five pillars supporting the provision of quality In addition, the group discussed a number of topics related to the organisation and the quality of the ECEC sector, such as staff shortages or providing support to Ukrainian refugees.