Policy Papers

  • policy paper | February 06, 2015 | Education Policy

    Better Policies for Dual Language Learners

    Bridging Research, Policy, Implementation, and Classroom Practice

    Better Policies for Dual Language Learners: Bridging Research, Policy, Implementation, and Classroom Practice, summarizes presentations from the co...
  • policy paper | January 21, 2015 | Education Policy

    Myths & Misunderstandings

    The Undeserved Legacy of Year-Round Pell Grants

    Ben Miller Jason Delise
    The year-round Pell Grant was a widely misunderstood federal program. Despite existing for just a few short years, it has garnered a reputation as ...
  • policy paper | December 22, 2014 |

    After Winning, Then What?

    An Inside Look at Four Winners of Federal Early Education Grant Competitions

    Paul Nyhan with introduction by Abbie Lieberman
    Over the last six years competitive grants have played a large role in triggering changes in the early education space, which has been a growing pr...
  • policy paper | December 17, 2014 |

    The Case for Payroll Withholding

    Preventing Student Loan Defaults with Automatic Income-Based Repayment

    A new paper, The Case for Payroll Withholding, co-authored by New America, Young Invincibles, and the National Association of Student Financial Aid...
  • policy paper | December 04, 2014 |

    Putting Learning on the Map: Visualizing Opportunity in 21st Century Communities

    Visualizing Opporunity in 21st Century Communities

    Rising income inequality has been the subject of heated debate in 2014, and education is often proffered as a remedy. But do all American learners ...
  • policy paper | November 26, 2014 |

    Financing Dual Language Learning

    Clare McCann Jessica Bowen
    Dual language learners make up a sizeable—and growing—portion of the student population, particularly in some states and school districts with larg...
  • policy paper | November 21, 2014 |

    Skills for Success

    Supporting and Assessing Key Habits, Mindsets, and Skills in PreK-12

    It is widely acknowledged that parents and communities can play an important role in helping children and adolescents develop habits, mindsets, and...
  • policy paper | October 16, 2014 |

    Beyond the Skills Gap

    In survey after survey over the last decade employers have complained of the difficulty finding workers with the right mix of skills. As a result, ...
  • policy paper | September 30, 2014 |

    Chaos for Dual Language Learners

    Recent data suggest that American schools are more linguistically diverse now than ever before: In 2011, nearly 22 percent of American PreK–12 stud...
  • policy paper | September 17, 2014 |

    Undermining Pell

    Fifty years ago, the federal government committed itself to removing the financial barriers that prevent low-income students from enrolling in and ...
  • policy paper | August 06, 2014 |

    Making the Hours Count

    With growing public interest in how states and localities provide access to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, policymakers are increasingly being ...
  • policy paper | August 06, 2014 |

    Zero Marginal Cost

    The New America Foundation’s Education Policy Program today released a new higher education policy brief, “Zero Marginal Cost,” investigating the c...
  • policy paper | July 21, 2014 |

    Common Core Goes To College

    Each year, hundreds of thousands of American students graduate from high school and enter college without being adequately prepared to succeed ther...
  • policy paper | July 15, 2014 |

    Beyond Subprime Learning

    Education policymakers must put more focus on teaching and learning in the early years and continue that work up through third grade, according to ...
  • policy paper | July 15, 2014 |

    The Case Against Exit Exams

    In the 2013-14 school year, twenty-four states required students to be proficient on standardized tests in order to graduate from high school. But ...
  • policy paper | June 27, 2014 |

    Building a New AAU

    Criteria used to select members of America’s most influential higher education organization are encouraging colleges to adopt policies of exclusion...
  • policy paper | June 27, 2014 |

    Federal Funding for Students with Disabilities

    The Evolution of Federal Special Education Finance in the U.S.

    In Federal Funding for Students with Disabilities: The Evolution of Federal Special Education Finance in the U.S., New America provides a history o...
  • policy paper | May 01, 2014 |

    Building an AOTC Movement

    Strengthening Outreach for a Reformed American Opportunity Tax Credit

    Today, too many families fail to claim higher education tax benefits for which they are eligible. For example, a Government Accountability Office (...
  • policy paper | March 26, 2014 |

    Envisioning a Digital Age Architecture for Early Education

    The young children of today will soon grow into the middle-schoolers of the next decade, the high school graduates of the late 2020s, and the citiz...
  • policy paper | March 25, 2014 |

    The Graduate Student Debt Review

    New America analysis of recently available Department of Education data reveals that much of America’s student debt problem may be a result of expe...
  • policy paper | March 24, 2014 |

    Time to Improve

    How Federal Policy Can Promote Better Prepared Teachers and School Leaders

    While educator preparation has always been important, it is now more important than ever. Currently, there are more first year teachers in the Unit...
  • policy paper | March 11, 2014 |

    College Blackout

    How the Higher Education Lobby Fought to Keep Students in the Dark

    Ever-rising college costs, more than $1 trillion in outstanding federal student loan debt, and graduates doubtful that they’ll be able to earn enou...