In 15 years of increasing average test scores, black-white and Hispanic-white student achievement gaps continue to close, and Asian students are pulling away from whites in both math and reading achievement. For the improving groups, these long-term trends may be a major educational success story. In stark contrast, Hispanic and Asian students who are English Read more about Five Key Trends in U.S. Student Performance[…]
If you spend more on education, will students do better? For many years, research on the relationship between spending and student learning has been surprisingly inconclusive. Many other factors, including student poverty, parental education and the way schools are organized, contribute to educational results. Teasing out the specific effect of money spent is methodologically difficult. Read more about “It Turns Out Spending More Probably Does Improve Education”[…]
“Leading from the Classroom,” is a new podcast series featuring firsthand accounts from the 2016 State Teachers of the Year. Each episode features a different teacher sharing a personal and poignant moment that crystallized the importance of teaching and of being a teacher. The teachers speak as advocates and ambassadors for sound education policy, for Read more about 2016 Teachers of the Year Share Powerful Narratives in “Leading from the Classroom” Podcast Series[…]
The Institute of Education Sciences has released a new report entitled Do Low Income Students Have Access to Effective Teachers? Evidence from 26 Districts. The report from the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) examines whether low-income students are taught by less effective teachers than high-income students, and if so, whether reducing Read more about Do Low Income Students Have Access to Effective Teachers?[…]
In Education Week Teacher, Elena Aguilar writes an insightful piece about the promise of transformational coaching. Excerpts appear below: I believe new-teacher support programs must be linked to schools’ moral imperative to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of every child, every day. To that end, the overarching objective of a teacher-support program should Read more about Developing Resilient, Equity-Conscious Teachers[…]
The Aspen Institute’s Education & Society Program and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) have released a new report, Advancing Equity through ESSA: Strategies for State Leaders. This framework is designed to help states make the most of the opportunities provided in ESSA to advance eight equity priorities that states already are pursuing. Read more about Advancing Equity through ESSA: Strategies for State Leaders[…]
The Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) is excited to announce the launch of its latest EdPolicy Leaders Online course, Learning to Dream: Education and Economic Mobility. This course explores the key components of economic mobility and how access to high quality education systems and diverse educational offerings is a key factor in ensuring all Read more about Free Online Course: Learning to Dream – Education and Economic Mobility[…]
Nicholas Papageorge, Seth Gershenson, and Kyungmin Kang have released a discussion paper, titled Teacher Expectations Matter, that uncovers teacher expectations that differ by racial groups in a way that puts black students at a disadvantage, exacerbating racial achievement gaps. The authors recently wrote about their findings in Brookings blog: We demonstrate that teacher expectations do Read more about Do teacher expectations matter?[…]
In the first of a series of reports from Digital Promise Global, Making Learning Personal For All – The Growing Diversity in Today’s Classroom explores learner diversity and learning variability across a variety of factors impacting student performance. A growing body of evidence stresses the need for the research community, educators, and education technology developers Read more about Making Learning Personal for All: The Growing Diversity in Today’s Classroom[…]
Michael Petrilli, writing for the Fordham Institute, recently explored the extent of the enrichment gap in America. This is the growing class difference in spending on children’s enrichment and extracurricular activities (things like sports, summer camps, piano lessons, and trips to the zoo). He writes: As the upper-middle class grows larger and richer, it is spending Read more about The Enrichment Gap[…]
No Child Left Behind meant well, but it had a pernicious flaw: It created strong incentives for schools to focus all their energy on helping low-performing students get over a modest “proficiency” bar. Meanwhile, it ignored the educational needs of high achievers, who were likely to pass state reading and math tests regardless of what Read more about High Stakes for High Achievers: State Accountability in the Age of ESSA[…]
Researchers find that a teacher workforce that reflects the diversity of the student population is going to require exceptionally ambitious efforts, taking far longer than previously acknowledged. Racial parity is not possible by relying solely on school districts to recruit more minority teachers. A study released last week by the Brookings Institution and the National Read more about Building A Truly Diverse Teacher Workforce Will Take Many Decades[…]
The percentage of students completing high school and enrolling in college has increased over time for all racial and ethnic groups, according to a newly released report. However, despite these gains, the rate of progress has varied among groups, and gaps persist on key indicators of educational performance. The National Center for Education Statistics recently Read more about New Report Examines the Status and Trends of Racial and Ethnic Groups in Education[…]
Brian Kisida and Anna Egalite, in Real Clear Education, write about the potential positive effects on increasing teacher diversity that they discovered through recent research. An excerpt from their post appears below: It’s long been touted that for students, having teachers that look like them leads to higher test scores. But that’s not the whole Read more about Increasing Teacher Diversity Could Be a Game-Changer for Students’ Attitudes[…]
Urban schools have been the center of investment and concern in public education for the past two decades. Yet many suburban districts now rival urban districts in the challenges they face, having experienced dramatic population changes in just the past decade, with fast growing numbers of English Language Learners and students living in poverty attending Read more about Suburban Schools: The Unrecognized Frontier in Public Education[…]
Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, the ticket to the American dream. But if educational opportunities are not offered equitably to all students, the American dream remains out of reach for youth. In this month’s issue brief, we explore new data on inequities in education, look at outcomes related to education funding, and Read more about June Issue Brief: Education and Inequality[…]