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Weekly Update — 05/15/26
This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. Also note that this will be our last weekly update; in June we will switch to monthly updates. New report shows academic recovery is still…
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Why CEP Is More Than a School Meals Debate in Kansas
A simple bill with a complicated question underneath Kansas HB 2402 looks simple on paper. It requires eligible school boards to consider whether to participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision, commonly called CEP, if more than 50% of students in one or more schools qualify for free meals via direct certification. The…
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Weekly Update — 05/08/26
This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. Phone-free schools are not a shortcut to better learning Last week, we noted one emerging second-order effect on school cell phone bans: when phones are…
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2026 Kansas Legislative Session Review
The 2026 Kansas Legislative Session advanced several important education policies focused on student outcomes, workforce readiness, transparency, and long-term success. This year, Kansas lawmakers took action to strengthen classroom learning environments, improve accountability, expand education and workforce pathways, support early…
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Weekly Update — 05/01/26
This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. A promising side effect of cell phone bans Much of our work focuses on legislation, data, and the big debates shaping education and workforce policy.…
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Weekly Update — 04/24/26
This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. Missouri’s assessment pilot and the case for balanced accountability Missouri’s new assessment pilot has given life to an age-old debate in education policy. As we wrote last August,…
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Missouri Teacher Workforce Series: Part 3
The Fragility of the Missouri Teaching Workforce How Temporary Fixes are Becoming Permanent Solutions in Missouri Classrooms Missouri’s teacher workforce is holding together, albeit in different ways than before. This third report in Aligned’s Missouri Teacher Workforce Series examines how…
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Weekly Update — 04/17/26
This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. Kansas announces new commissioner On Tuesday, the Kansas State Board of Education selected Dr. Jake Steel to succeed Dr. Randy Watson as the state’s…
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Missouri Teacher Workforce Series: Part 2
The Hollow Core: Missouri’s Vanishing Mid-Career Teachers Missouri’s teacher workforce is not shifting evenly. This second report in Aligned’s Missouri Teacher Workforce Series examines where the loss of mid-career teachers is most pronounced and what those patterns mean for schools,…
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Weekly Update — 04/10/26
Many of Aligned’s priority bills become law This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. As lawmakers returned to Topeka for the final days of session, several of Aligned’s priority bills ranging across…
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Missouri Teacher Workforce Series: Part 1
Rising Novices, Growing Veterans, and a Shrinking Middle Missouri’s teacher workforce is not as stable as it looks. This first report in Aligned’s Missouri Teacher Workforce Series examines how the composition of the state’s educator workforce has shifted over the…
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Weekly Update — 04/03/26
This originally appeared in Aligned’s weekly newsletter. Want future updates in your inbox? Sign up today. After months of major design questions, members of the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force began to converge on key design choices that will…
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