The Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC), in a research practice partnership with the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), conducted a survey study to examine why preservice teachers in Utah choose careers in special vs. general education, how they perceive the special education teaching profession, and what factors influence these perceptions.
This report provides findings from the Utah Education Policy Center’s 2024-2025 evaluation of STEM Action Center’s K-12 Math Personalized Learning Software Grant Program. Using teacher surveys, student surveys, math learning software (MLS) usage data, and statewide administrative data, the evaluation examined five key evaluation questions related to the quality of MLS implementation, teacher and student perceptions of its value, and the relationship between MLS usage and student math attitudes and achievement.
The Youth Teaching Youth (YTY) program at the Natural History Museum of Utah engages middle school students as science educators for elementary students and provides high school participants with paid internship opportunities. This report presents findings from the Utah Education Policy Center’s evaluation of YTY, examining its impact on three key outcomes: middle school students’ end-of-year science test scores, chronic absenteeism rates, and on-time high school graduation rates.
The Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC), in partnership with Talent Ready Utah (TRU) and in collaboration with the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), Department of Workforce Services (DWS), and the Governor's Office, conducted a comprehensive study of Utah's youth apprenticeship landscape.
Using qualitative methods, this study explored how states framed the need for their work, their motivations for implementation efforts and challenges, key partnerships in establishing and implementing the work, perceived impacts, and reflections on lessons learned, missed opportunities, and planned next steps.