Explore Shared Education Challenges with the Challenge Map

School districts across the country are tackling the toughest challenges in education, from kindergarten readiness, to family engagement, to school redesign. To address these challenges, we need to understand how they are experienced in different settings — from small, rural districts to large, urban districts — and we need to learn from educators and researchers Read more about Explore Shared Education Challenges with the Challenge Map[…]

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Common Misconceptions About Change Management

Thomas Arnett, senior research fellow at the Christensen Institute, recently summarized his new research paper for The 74. Excerpts appear below: Recently, my colleagues and I released a research paper that unveils common misconceptions about change management in schools. Given that many school initiatives falter for lack of teacher buy-in, we set out to uncover Read more about Common Misconceptions About Change Management[…]

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How High School Teachers can Better Engage their Students, according to Teens

If students are going to get the most out of school, they need to be engaged. Research shows, for example, that disengaged students are more likely to suffer a range of bad consequences, such as failing a course, repeating a grade, and dropping out. Yet however much rhetoric we may hear about building a “student-centered” Read more about How High School Teachers can Better Engage their Students, according to Teens[…]

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Student Learning That Works: How Brain Science Informs a Student Learning Model

Knowing how the brain receives new information, creates memories, and accesses stored knowledge can help educators plan memorable lessons for their students. In a new report, Student Learning that Works: How Brain Science Informs a Student Learning Model, McREL CEO and author Bryan Goodwin reviews the science of memory and gives practical classroom tips and Read more about Student Learning That Works: How Brain Science Informs a Student Learning Model[…]

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Don’t Rate Teaching Schools Based on Student Test Scores, Study Warns

In recent years, public officials have sought to determine the quality of our nation’s teacher preparation programs, both the traditional programs at colleges and universities, as well as alternative preparation programs like Teach for America. One proposed way to do this is to track graduates into the classrooms where they become teachers to see how Read more about Don’t Rate Teaching Schools Based on Student Test Scores, Study Warns[…]

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Latinos, African-Americans have Less Access to STEM Classes

Recently, Carolyn Jones, writing for California’s EdSource, shared the findings of a recent research report that focuses on equitable access to math and science courses for students of color. Excerpts of her piece appear below: African-American and Latino students were less likely to attend schools that offer advanced math and science classes, new data shows. Read more about Latinos, African-Americans have Less Access to STEM Classes[…]

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New Report on the Condition of Education in the United States

The National Center for Education Statistics has released The Condition of Education 2018, a congressionally mandated report that summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. This year’s report provides new analyses on a wide range of issues, including the cost of early childhood care arrangements and average student loan debt Read more about New Report on the Condition of Education in the United States[…]

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Disadvantaged Kids Need Equal Access to Great Teachers

Kevin Mahnken, writing for The 74, recently reviewed a new working paper by the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Resear (CALDER). The study, conducted by CALDER director and University of Washington professor Dan Goldhaber, synthesizes two separate research topics: the influence of teacher quality on student achievement, and the inequities in access Read more about Disadvantaged Kids Need Equal Access to Great Teachers[…]

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New Collaborations and New Approaches to Teacher Preparation

In October 2017, American Institutes for Research (AIR) convened a panel of more than 30 teacher educators, researchers, and school and district leaders to present interdisciplinary research study designs that would break ground on new ways to better prepare teachers. These innovative designs, and the conversations they sparked, represent the cutting edge of teacher preparation Read more about New Collaborations and New Approaches to Teacher Preparation[…]

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Education Data 101

The Data Quality Campaign has released Education Data 101, a primer on the most important concepts and research related to education data. The purpose of this publication is to bring policymakers up to speed, but it also provides a nice summary of talking points for anyone involved in education. The publication focuses on eight pressing Read more about Education Data 101[…]

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10 Charts That Changed the Way We Think About America’s Schools in 2017

Every year, education researchers force us to re-examine our cherished assumptions about education. In 2017, we started thinking differently about the importance of high-quality preschool. We began talking about the boon to minority students of a more diverse teacher workforce. We questioned the country’s skyrocketing high school graduation rates. And we took a second look Read more about 10 Charts That Changed the Way We Think About America’s Schools in 2017[…]

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Strategies to Scale Up Social Programs

Sam Larson, James W. Dearing and Thomas E. Backer of the Wallace Foundation recently worked with 45 diverse nonprofits to discover successful strategies for scaling successful programs.   “Strategies to Scale Up Social Programs: Pathways, Partnerships and Fidelity,” examines how successful organizations address how to scale up, whom to involve in the process and the Read more about Strategies to Scale Up Social Programs[…]

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Eight Lessons Learned From Piloting the Rapid Cycle Evaluation Coach

For the last 18 months, the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the Department, has been working with Mathematica Policy Research and SRI International to build the Rapid Cycle Evaluation Coach (the RCE Coach). The RCE Coach is a free, open-source, Read more about Eight Lessons Learned From Piloting the Rapid Cycle Evaluation Coach[…]

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Retaining Minority Teachers in Schools where Most of their Colleagues are White

Minorities continue to be largely underrepresented among elementary and secondary teachers relative to the racial and ethnic composition of the nation’s student body, and tend to be concentrated in urban, high-minority schools. This means that many nonwhite or Hispanic students who attend schools with few minority teachers lack valuable role models. Many studies find that Read more about Retaining Minority Teachers in Schools where Most of their Colleagues are White[…]

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Fostering a New Approach to Research on Teacher Preparation

We know that students learn more when they receive high-quality instruction. We also have findings suggesting that some teacher preparation programs produce graduates that are more capable than others. These two pieces of evidence have led many teacher educators, researchers, and stakeholders to conclude that we need better studies of activities and experiences that are Read more about Fostering a New Approach to Research on Teacher Preparation[…]

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What Teens Want From Their Schools

Among high school students who consider dropping out, half cite lack of engagement with school as a primary reason, and 42 percent say that they don’t see value in the schoolwork they are asked to do. In What Teens Want from Their Schools: A National Survey of High School Student Engagement, the Thomas B. Fordham Read more about What Teens Want From Their Schools[…]

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