A recent article by Education Next examines the correlation between poverty and mediocre test scores in the United States. At a time when the national conversation is focused on lagging upward mobility and yawning income inequality, it is no surprise that many educators point to poverty as the explanation for American students’ mediocre test scores Read more about Poverty Cannot Explain America’s Mediocre Test Scores[…]
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. We’ve all heard the phrase. It’s true, of course, and always has been, that who you know is important. But in today’s technology-driven, globalized world, what you know matters more than ever. The set of skills that is most rewarded in terms of employment and wages Read more about Choosing our Future: A Story of Opportunity in America[…]
The 2016 edition of Education Week’s Quality Counts report—Called to Account: New Directions in School Accountability—examines how new state and federal strategies are transforming the assessment of school performance and reshaping the consequences for poor results. In addition to the special focus on accountability, Quality Counts 2016 features the report’s hallmark report card on the Read more about Education Week Releases Quality Counts 2016[…]
In the last several years, state policymakers have enacted a dizzying array of new policies on education issues ranging from assessment and accountability to cursive-handwriting and citizenship exams. Within states, education policy-making isn’t led by one person or entity, but many — state legislatures, state education agencies, state and local boards of education, the governor, Read more about Aspen Institute Releases Checklist for Education Policymakers[…]
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recently released the 2015 report on State Teacher Policy. The report summarizes how the states are doing in developing policies that improve the teaching profession. The 2015 State Teacher Policy Yearbook provides a 360-degree analysis of every state law, rule, and regulation that shapes the teaching profession—from teacher Read more about NCTQ releases the 2015 State Teacher Policy Yearbook[…]
On Thursday, May 28, Acting Commissioner Peggy G. Carr, National Center for Education Statistics, released The Condition of Education 2015. The indicators presented in The Condition of Education 2015 provide an update on the state of education in America and include findings on the demographics of American schools, U.S. resources for schooling, and outcomes associated Read more about NCES Releases The Condition of Education 2015[…]
A new policy paper by Rick Hess and Bethany Little for the American Enterprise Institute and Results for America wants to bring the thinking of baseball’s “Moneyball” to federal education policy. Key points: The ‘moneyball’ strategy, which used data to help improve success and cost-efficiency in baseball, should be applied to the US education system Read more about Moneyball for Education: Using Data, Evidence and Evaluation to Improve Federal Education Policy[…]
A new article by Jason Tanz for Wired Magazine makes the argument that big data already reigns supreme, and for the most part helps us, in our lives, so why shouldn’t it do the same in education? Tanz understands that there are legitimate concerns from parents and education leaders about the role of large-scale standardized Read more about Wired: Let Big Data Do Its Job in Education[…]
It has been no secret in education policy over the last decade or so that more STEM and Special Education teachers are needed. Nor has it been a secret that budget crunches and political wrangling have led to highly-publicized teacher evaluations systems and even teacher layoffs. But the new numbers out from the U.S. Department Read more about Steep Drops Seen in Teacher-Prep Enrollment Numbers[…]
A coalition of education organizations has set a goal of 90% graduation by 2020, and the government recently released a report suggesting that the U.S. may in fact get there. The Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm, just released data showing that the four year graduation rate for the 2011-2012 Read more about New IES data show graduation rate improvement[…]
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently released the PISA 2012 Results, entitled Creative Problem Solving: Students’ Skills in Tackling Real-Life Problems. It is the OECD’s first assessment of problem-solving skills and its first attempt to measure the creative skills that today’s economy demands from its workers. Some are surprised to see an Read more about PISA results: American Students as Creative Problem Solvers[…]
States should promote data use skills, ease of access to data, and the use of a common language about data literacy to support strengthening data literacy among the nation’s educators as an important lever for improving student achievement, according to a new policy brief, Data Literacy: It’s About Time. The policy brief looks at current Read more about Action Needed to Improve Educator Data Literacy[…]
The 48th in a series of publications initiated in 1962, the Digest‘s purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of education from pre-kindergarten through graduate school. The Digest contains data on a variety of topics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to Read more about NCES Releases “Digest of Education Statistics 2012”[…]
About four million U.S. children started kindergarten this fall. We know that learning begins long before children start school. What else do we know about these youngsters? Child Trends, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center on issues pertaining to children and youth, examined a range of available statistics to provide a portrait of the kindergarten class Read more about Ready or Not, Here Comes the Kindergarten Class of 2013[…]
A new report from Ed Money Watch explores the use of student achievement data to improve classroom instruction. The paper, Promoting Data in the Classroom: Innovative State Models and Missed Opportunities, highlights examples from two states, Oregon and Delaware, of federally funded, state-driven efforts to equip teachers with the tools they need to utilize student Read more about Report Explores Opportunities to Promote Data in Classrooms[…]
The National Center for Education Statistics recently released The Condition of Education 2013. The 42 indicators presented in The Condition of Education 2013 provide a progress report on education in America and include findings on the demographics of American schools, U.S. resources for schooling, and outcomes associated with education. Report findings include: As of 2012, Read more about NCES Releases The Condition of Education 2013[…]