This essay series explores how proposed or likely federal K–12 policy changes would affect the reach and impact of education resources. Our data-driven essays seek to help audiences understand what a proposed policy shift could mean for their students, school district, congressional district, or state.

How we select the policy changes we analyze

To be most useful, we try to identify likely policy changes that have enough details available to estimate effects without being so defined that the potential for change has passed. To inform our selections, we rely on input from policymakers, funders, and advocates from across the ideological spectrum.

In some instances, we provide estimates for language that’s still in discussion; in others, we hypothesize likely scenarios and develop estimates from there. Sometimes, we might examine policies that are nearly final to inform those on the ground about what enactment and implementation might look like.

To stay responsive to evolving policymaking contexts, we might share our analyses in stages, writing first about current policy while we wait for adequate details to emerge about policy changes before analyzing their potential effects.