Trends Shaping Education

Did you ever wonder what the impact of climate change will be on our educational institutions in the next decade? What does it mean for schools that our societies are becoming more individualistic and diverse? Trends Shaping Education is a triennial report examining major economic, political, social and technological trends affecting education.  While the trends Read more about Trends Shaping Education[…]

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National Call to Action for Summer Learning: How Did School Districts Respond?

Seeking to counter the pandemic’s harmful impact on students, the vast majority of school districts nationwide mobilized in 2021 to deliver summer learning programming. A full 94 percent of districts responded, reaching nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of their student populations, on average. A new slide presentation from Westat details early findings from an ongoing multi-method Read more about National Call to Action for Summer Learning: How Did School Districts Respond?[…]

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The Power of Expectations in District and Charter Schools

Now that the most acute phase of the Covid crisis is over, public conversation has turned to the millions of students who are still struggling academically and emotionally—and how our nation’s schools ought to respond. Decisions that education leaders make right now will determine whether this generation of students recovers or continues to lose ground. Read more about The Power of Expectations in District and Charter Schools[…]

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ESSER Hold’em for Districts

Released by ERS, ESSER Hold’em is a modified version of Budget Hold’em for Districts that helps districts plan, focus investments, and navigate tradeoffs in spending ESSER dollars among the 5 Power Strategies that have been identified. These five strategies address critical student needs now and lay a sustainable foundation for lasting improvement. The game will Read more about ESSER Hold’em for Districts[…]

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3 State Policy Levers to Support Teacher Mental Health

Writing for EdNote, authors Alyssa Rafa and Cassidy Francies present three state policy levers to support teacher mental health. Excerpts from the piece appear below: While state policymakers have been working to improve student mental health for years, there has not been much legislative action related to teacher mental health. It is, however, an issue Read more about 3 State Policy Levers to Support Teacher Mental Health[…]

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7 Ways 5,000 Districts & Charter Networks Are Spending Relief Funds on Teachers

Writing for FutureEd, Phyllis Jordan and Bella DiMarco explore trends in federal COVID ed aid spending. Excerpts from the piece appear below: To understand state and local policymakers’ strategies for bolstering teaching resources in the wake of the pandemic, FutureEd analyzed the COVID relief spending plans of 5,000 districts and charter organizations, representing 74% of Read more about 7 Ways 5,000 Districts & Charter Networks Are Spending Relief Funds on Teachers[…]

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‘Nation’s Report Card’: Two Decades of Growth Wiped Out by Two Years of Pandemic

Recently in The 74, Kevin Mahnken looked at long-term scores from NAEP that show unprecedented score declines for nine-year-olds in math and generational literacy loss. Two decades of growth for American students in reading and math were wiped away by just two years of pandemic-disrupted learning, according to national test scores.  Dismal releases from the Read more about ‘Nation’s Report Card’: Two Decades of Growth Wiped Out by Two Years of Pandemic[…]

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A revealing reality: Spring 2022 survey of teachers and administrators

As schools reopened last fall, many education leaders and stakeholders predicted that most online learning would fall away, and teachers and students would begin to recover from an unprecedented event. But new data from the Christensen Institute’s ongoing, nationally-representative surveys of hundreds of teachers and administrators have uncovered fascinating insights into what’s actually happening in Read more about A revealing reality: Spring 2022 survey of teachers and administrators[…]

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The state of learning loss: 7 takeaways from the latest data

Writing for Chalkbeat, Matt Barnum explores the takeaways from the latest data on pandemic learning loss. Excerpts from the piece appear below:  In the last year, students in younger grades have recovered between 15% and 35% of the learning they had lost, according to data released by the testing group NWEA. That’s the good news, Read more about The state of learning loss: 7 takeaways from the latest data[…]

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How Blue States & Red States Use COVID Relief Funds Differently to Aid Schools

Recently in The 74, Bella Dimarco and Phyllis Jordan reviewed the ESSER spending pattern of different states, according to their political persuasion. Excerpts from the piece appear below: As school districts have decided how to spend billions in federal Covid-relief aid, there has been more convergence on priorities—and even a few surprises, according to a Read more about How Blue States & Red States Use COVID Relief Funds Differently to Aid Schools[…]

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The Nation Faces School Attendance and Graduation Crises

Writing for Governing Magazine, Carl Smith chronicles the nation’s growing school attendance crisis. Excerpts of the piece appear below: For K-12 students, chronic absence, generally defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days, has escalated into a “full-scale crisis” since 2019, says a new report from the nonprofit Attendance Works, with two- and Read more about The Nation Faces School Attendance and Graduation Crises[…]

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Harvard Economist Offers Gloomy Forecast on Reversing Pandemic Learning Loss

Along with collaborators from Dartmouth, the CALDER Center at the American Institutes for Research, and the nonprofit testing group NWEA, Harvard economist Tom Kane released a paper this May incorporating pre- and post-pandemic testing data from over 2 million students in 49 states. Its conclusion: Remote instruction was a “primary driver of widening achievement gaps” Read more about Harvard Economist Offers Gloomy Forecast on Reversing Pandemic Learning Loss[…]

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Restoring Pandemic Losses will Require Major Changes in Schools and Classrooms, Superintendents Say

Though kids are learning this year, many have fallen even further behind grade level. A new report from Brookings, written by Paul Hill and Kate Destler, draws from a national survey of school districts and in-depth interviews with six school districts. Highlights from the piece appear below:  Many school and district leaders had hoped to Read more about Restoring Pandemic Losses will Require Major Changes in Schools and Classrooms, Superintendents Say[…]

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Agency by Design: Making Learning Engaging

The global COVID-19 pandemic pulled back the curtain on the growing need for greater student agency and student engagement. As we rethink the future of education in a post-pandemic world, learner agency must be at the center of learning designs and learning models so that we can support students anytime, anyplace, and at any pace. Read more about Agency by Design: Making Learning Engaging[…]

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Crisis Breeds Innovation: Pandemic Pods and the Future of Education

In partnership with their funders, the Center on Reinventing Public Education launched a national initiative that brought together researchers from around the country to track and analyze the pandemic pod movement. The goal was simple: to learn from the families, educators, and community-based organizations who stepped in during the crisis to solve urgent challenges and, Read more about Crisis Breeds Innovation: Pandemic Pods and the Future of Education[…]

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PROOF POINTS: Combining remote and in-person learning led to chaos, study finds

Writing for the Hechinger Report, Jill Barshay reviews new research that finds what teachers were saying throughout the pandemic – it is madness to teach students in the classroom and those joining by computer simultaneously. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Although educators are trying to keep schools open during the pandemic, they still have Read more about PROOF POINTS: Combining remote and in-person learning led to chaos, study finds[…]

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