The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) is collaborating with the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) to create an online arts education resource designed to help state boards of education develop evidence-based policy. The initiative is funded through the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The project on Common Core Standards – funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – focuses on helping states move past adoption to developing comprehensive policies to implement those standards.

NASBE’s Deeper Learning Initiative provides state policymakers the essential tools to make smart decisions on ways to prepare more students for college, career, and civic success. The deeper learning principles build on a larger body of work that includes “twenty- first century skills,” “habits of mind”, “college and career readiness,” and “student-centered learning.” Deeper learning competencies encompass the ability to master academic content; think critically and solve complex problems; work collaboratively; communicate effectively; and learn how to learn. The goal of NASBE’s project is to support states as they facilitate educational experiences that deliver on both the knowledge and skills students need to succeed. This project is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

With the rise in reported food allergies among students in the last 15 years, it is crucial that policymakers understand how to best prepare school personnel to deal with related health emergencies. To help with those efforts, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) is launching a new initiative designed to help state boards of education as they develop student health policies regarding anaphylaxis and epinephrine access and use.

Housed within NASBE’s Center for Safe and Healthy Schools, the HIV, other STD, and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Project is funded through a 5-year cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH).

Following the final release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), state boards of education are the entities that will be charged with examining them based on their merits and the needs of their states, as well as with implementing the standards following adoption through policy, practice, and communications. With twenty-six leadership states involved in the development of the NGSS and with nearly all state boards having authority over the adoption and implementation of standards for their respective states, NASBE’s support will be critical in helping states make informed, evidence-based decisions.

NASBE’s Nutrition and Physical Activity work provides research-based capacity-building assistance and information to education leaders to help schools establish, maintain, and evaluate healthy school nutrition, physical activity and obesity prevention environments.

NASBE’s Center for Safe and Healthy Schools is the umbrella for our Increasing Healthy Eating project and the project to Strengthen Leadership and Governance for HIV Prevention funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NASBE’s school discipline project, Examining and Reforming State Disciplinary Policies from a State-Level Perspective, focuses on strengthening state boards’ capacity to adopt and implement state education policies that limit the use of suspension, expulsion and criminalization of students and instead emphasize supportive climate-building practices and more positive disciplinary measures.

Recognizing the importance of school leadership in education, NASBE and The Wallace Foundation are extending their partnership in the exploration of education leadership in 2012. NASBE work will continue to explore leadership through the lens of state policy.

Recognizing the importance of out-of-school time in education, NASBE and The Wallace Foundation are extending their partnership in the exploration of summer learning. The upcoming NASBE work will continue to explore summer learning through the lens of state policy.

Recognizing the importance of comprehensive teacher induction, NASBE just released a discussion guide on supporting new teachers through policy.