How to get Schools to Use Practices that Work

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Writing for the Fordham Institute’s Flypaper blog, Michael Petrilli recently explored ways to encourage educators to implement evidence-based practices. He asks:  How might we dramatically increase the chances that our schools scale up the most effective practices, resulting in significantly better outcomes for students? Petrilli offers the following ideas: There are six plausible approaches that Read more about How to get Schools to Use Practices that Work[…]

The Impact of Early Colleges: What does the research say?

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Liz Bell, writing for EdNC recently explored the evidence basis for early college high schools. Excerpts of the piece appear below: The SERVE Center and researchers from RTI International and RAND Corporation have found early college students are more likely to attend class, complete courses that prepare them to enter into a university, and graduate Read more about The Impact of Early Colleges: What does the research say?[…]

The Importance of High-Quality Instructional Materials

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Learning Forward has released a special open-access issue of The Learning Professional. It builds on a vital topic for educators: the use of high-quality instructional materials. All students deserve access to high-quality content, and all teachers deserve support to implement it well. The message from research is straightforward: instructional materials matter. Good materials in the Read more about The Importance of High-Quality Instructional Materials[…]

In the Driver’s Seat: GripTape Learning Report

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In 2015, an organization called GripTape began a new experiment to see what would happen if young people were put in the driver’s seat of their own learning. GripTape’s most recent learning report details the results of this bold experiment, among which are the following outcomes: Youth experience a powerful and sustained transformation in their Read more about In the Driver’s Seat: GripTape Learning Report[…]

The Year of Thinking Forward

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In the Center for Public Education’s blog, The Lens, Robin Lake lays out 10 bold new ideas to push the education field toward the future. How can a shift in mindset from a portfolio of schools to a portfolio of learning opportunities help realize every student’s potential and prepare them to solve tomorrow’s most important Read more about The Year of Thinking Forward[…]

Shortage of Special Educators Adds to Classroom Pressures

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Education Week recently released data on the nation’s shortage of special educators. Excerpts of the article appear below: The number of special education teachers nationally has dropped by more than 17 percent over the past decade, a worrisome trend in a career path that has seen chronic shortages for years. An analysis of federal data Read more about Shortage of Special Educators Adds to Classroom Pressures[…]

Staying Power: TFA Alumni in Public Education

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Since its founding in 1990 to help staff classrooms in low-income communities, Teach For America has been attacked for devaluing public education by recruiting teachers to spend a minimum of two years in the classroom. A member of the Philadelphia City Council recently called TFA a “gimmick.” But TFA’s most recent information about its more Read more about Staying Power: TFA Alumni in Public Education[…]

Researchers Peek into the Black Box of the Classroom

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Writing for Ed Excellence, Michael Petrilli has summarized some of the biggest problems with educational research and has proposed three promising pathways forward. Excerpts from his piece appear below: Whereas the world outside of our schools has been transformed by information technology, the data we collect on classroom practices is somewhere between nonexistent and laughably Read more about Researchers Peek into the Black Box of the Classroom[…]

Teachers of Color in the American Teacher Workforce

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Recently in Chalkbeat, Matt Barnum analyzed recent reports of teacher demographics and explained how the demographic make-up of the American teacher workforce can be understood in two different ways. Excerpts from his piece appear below:                 Teachers of color are still a small share of the teaching force. In Read more about Teachers of Color in the American Teacher Workforce[…]

From Fragmentation to Coherence

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Fragmentation in education limits our ability to provide students with what they need to succeed. Students lose out when the adults in their lives get pulled in different directions. They lose out when their teachers teach one way to deliver a curriculum, and another to prepare them for standardized tests. They lose out when what Read more about From Fragmentation to Coherence[…]

Four Keys to Success at the Most Innovative Schools in the World

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Recently in Getting Smart, David Ross wrote an article summarizing key practices for school innovation, with links to some of the most innovative schools in the world. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Recent visits to renowned centers of innovation such as AltSchool in San Francisco and the Dalton Academy in Beijing have got me Read more about Four Keys to Success at the Most Innovative Schools in the World[…]

Having Just One Black Teacher Can Up Black Students’ Chances of Going to College

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Recently, in Education Week, Madeline Will summarized a new study from Johns Hopkins University that finds that if a Black student has just one or two Black teachers in elementary school, that student is significantly more likely to enroll in college. Black students who had just one Black teacher by 3rd grade were 13 percent Read more about Having Just One Black Teacher Can Up Black Students’ Chances of Going to College[…]

Strong Teacher Evaluation Systems Go Hand-in-Hand With Improved Teacher Quality

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Analysis from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) finds tangible evidence that teacher evaluation systems, when implemented well, are coinciding with real and measurable benefits for students and teachers alike. The past decade has been marked by rapid changes in teacher evaluations. While many districts and states announced their intention to install better systems, Read more about Strong Teacher Evaluation Systems Go Hand-in-Hand With Improved Teacher Quality[…]

Is There Racial Inequality at Your School?

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Based on civil rights data released by the U.S. Department of Education, ProPublica has built an interactive database to examine racial disparities in educational opportunities and school discipline. Look up more than 96,000 individual public and charter schools and 17,000 districts to see how they compare with their counterparts. The database allows users to sort Read more about Is There Racial Inequality at Your School?[…]

Is your neighborhood offering children the best chance in life?

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The Census Bureau, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard and Brown, has published nationwide data that makes it possible to pinpoint – down to the census tract, a level relevant to individual families – where children of all backgrounds have the best shot at getting ahead. Nationwide, the variation is striking. Children raised in poor Read more about Is your neighborhood offering children the best chance in life?[…]

In 29 States, Teachers Cannot be Dismissed due to Ineffectiveness

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New analysis from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) finds that a majority of states fail to specify teacher ineffectiveness as an explicit reason to dismiss a teacher. In Walking the Tightrope: Teacher Effectiveness and Personnel Policies, NCTQ examines if states are achieving an appropriate balance of interests between teachers and students when it Read more about In 29 States, Teachers Cannot be Dismissed due to Ineffectiveness[…]