Recently Matt Barnum reviewed the research on class size for Chalkbeat. Excerpts of the piece appear below: The key takeaways: Students often do better in smaller classes. But there’s no agreement on exactly how much better, and it remains an open question whether or not class size reduction is a particularly good use of funds Read more about Does class size really matter? A Chalkbeat look at the research[…]
Next Generation Learning Challenges has released an informative guide to nurturing adult learning communities. Excerpts from the piece appear below: It is only by cultivating the types of adult learning cultures where our teachers feel revived and excited about the work that we can hope to create the types of schools where students feel empowered Read more about Got Staff? Get Cultured! The Key Ingredients to Nurturing Adult Learning Communities[…]
U.S Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recently laid out his vision for how the nation can support teachers across the country and elevate the teaching profession. During an address and fireside chat at the Bank Street College of New York, Secretary Cardona discussed how the Department, states and districts, and higher education institutions can recruit, Read more about Secretary Cardona Lays Out Vision to Support and Elevate the Teaching Profession[…]
Writing for Fordham’s Flypaper, Michael Petrilli explores the college gender gap and finds that it begins in kindergarten. Petrilli’s recommendations rest on three facts: At the close of the 2020–21 academic year, women made up 59.5 percent of college students, an all-time high, and men 40.5 percent, according to enrollment data from the National Student Read more about The college gender gap begins in kindergarten[…]
School administrators serve as instructional leaders and set the tone for the culture of a school, play an important role in hiring and retaining teachers, and impact student outcomes from attendance to achievement. The principal’s influence is pivotal. In this month’s issue brief, Core Education explores effective school leadership and recommendations for policy to improve Read more about May 2022 Issue Brief: Effective School Leaders[…]
Writing for the 74, Candice Bobo, DC Executive Director of Rocketship Public Schools, provides a perspective that the best way to help students is to support their teachers. Excerpts from the piece appear below: The pandemic, plus the current socio-political climate, has compounded everything that was already hard about teaching in public schools. So it’s Read more about The Key to Helping Students Right Now Is to Invest in Teachers’ Well-Being[…]
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[…]
Writing for the Hechinger Report, Jill Barshay surveyed the difficulties in providing data to teachers and expecting instructional improvement. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Teachers are spending a lot of time talking about student data. In a 2016 survey by Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research, 94 percent of middle school math teachers said Read more about PROOF POINTS: Researchers blast data analysis for teachers to help students[…]
Writing for The 74, Marianna McMurdock recently reviewed new research that shows that Black and Latino students are disproportionately taught by inexperienced, uncertified teachers. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Across the country, schools serving predominantly Black students have 5 percent more novice teachers than schools with fewer Black students, according to analysis from education Read more about Black, Latino Students Disproportionately Taught by Inexperienced, Uncertified Teachers[…]
A new piece from ASCD highlights a “pernicious dynamic” that is emerging from the pandemic: a loss of teachers’ professional efficacy. Highlights of the piece appear below: Amid the mix of emotions stirred in teachers by the sudden shift to online learning was a profound sense of helplessness (Bintliff, 2020). Feeling powerless dampens teachers’ sense Read more about Restoring Teachers’ Efficacy[…]
Recently in The 74, Kevin Mahnken reviewed a study out of Tennessee that shows that classroom observations, utilized for teacher effectiveness determinations, show evidence of racial and gender bias against male and Black teachers. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Significant bias has contributed to lower classroom observation scores for thousands of teachers in Tennessee Read more about Classroom Observations Biased Against Male, Black Teachers, Research Suggests[…]
A new piece from the Brown Center Chalkboard reviews innovations in teacher preparation taking place at the University of Virginia that make the most of classroom simulators. Excerpts appear below: In teacher preparation, simulated practice is designed to complement—not to replace—student-placement experiences. However, it also has the potential to powerfully address “experience gaps” that we Read more about Using Classroom Simulators to Transform Teacher Preparation[…]
For years, researchers have found teacher professional development programs to be largely ineffective. But a new and growing body of research suggests that professional learning, done well, can both increase teacher morale and raise student outcomes. This means it is: Grounded in the content and curriculum of the teachers receiving it; Dependent on the expertise Read more about Teacher Professional Development Is in a Rut, but Better Research Can Help[…]
As educator preparation programs prepare teacher candidates to be successful in the classroom on day one, they recognize that they must anchor that preparation in teacher residencies – high-quality clinical experiences where candidates receive a full year of practice under an experienced, highly effective mentor teacher in a K-12 classroom. What’s more, these experiences optimally Read more about Scaling the Site Coordinator Role[…]
In partnership with the Barr Foundation, the Center on Reinventing Public Education conducted longitudinal interviews with ten teachers and seven parents across four school systems in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts between January and June of 2021. The interviews expose how ill-equipped New England schools were to address adolescent well-being during the pandemic. Specifically, Read more about COVID–19 Showed Us How Important It Is to Focus on Adolescent Well-Being: Here Is What School Systems Should Do[…]
Writing for The 74, Jill Barshay recently reviewed the evidence behind COVID-19 recovery efforts in schools. Excerpts of the piece highlighting the most promising interventions appear below: Tutoring Research points to intensive daily tutoring as one of the most effective ways to help academically struggling children catch up. A seminal 2016 study sorted through almost Read more about What Science Says about Helping Students Catch Up after COVID Closures[…]