Three State Policy Priorities to Give Every Student Effective, Diverse Teachers

When it comes to ensuring every student gets great teachers, state governments play a crucial and underappreciated role. Without access to the right data, school systems will struggle to match the supply and demand for new teachers. Without certification policies that prioritize student impact over paper credentials, too many talented people will be shut out Read more about Three State Policy Priorities to Give Every Student Effective, Diverse Teachers[…]

Share

Eight lessons we learned from education research in 2019

Writing for Chalkbeat, Matt Barnum has compiled eight lessons the sector has learned from education research in 2019. Excerpts of his piece appear below: Education research is hard to keep up with, and often enough, it’s hard to even understand. It seems like there are more caveats than clear conclusions, findings are “mixed,” and one Read more about Eight lessons we learned from education research in 2019[…]

Share

Three Persistent Myths about School Integration, 65 Years after Brown v. Board

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in the landmark Brown v. Board decision that school segregation was unconstitutional. Yet 65 years later, schools in major US cities remain more segregated than neighborhoods, and many students attend classes filled mostly with students who look like them. At the same time, opportunity and achievement gaps Read more about Three Persistent Myths about School Integration, 65 Years after Brown v. Board[…]

Share

The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth

Researchers from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, D.C. have released a new report, “The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth.” Adolescents—young people ages 10 to 25—make up nearly one-fourth of the U.S. population. Drawing upon recent scientific advances, the report finds ample evidence that adolescence offers great promise: Read more about The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth[…]

Share

Insights on Diversifying the Educator Workforce

The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) has released a free, user-friendly data tool that helps states, educator preparation programs (EPPs), and districts to identify and visualize diversity gaps across the entire educator career continuum, from “future teachers” graduating from high school and entering preparation programs, to preservice teachers entering the educator workforce, Read more about Insights on Diversifying the Educator Workforce[…]

Share

Student-Teacher Race Match in Charter and Traditional Public Schools

There’s mounting evidence that, for children of color especially, having one or more teachers of the same race over the course of students’ educational careers seems to make a positive difference. But to what extent, if any, do the benefits of having a same-race teacher vary by type of school? Existing “race-match” studies fail to Read more about Student-Teacher Race Match in Charter and Traditional Public Schools[…]

Share

Race and Gender Differences in Teacher Evaluation Ratings

Over the past decade, Michigan has made changes to a number of laws related to teachers and teaching in the state’s public school system. These changes include new requirements for teacher evaluation, and the use of teacher performance ratings for decisions such as teacher tenure, dismissal and retention. Since 2011, state law has required local Read more about Race and Gender Differences in Teacher Evaluation Ratings[…]

Share

Why Equally Talented Students Don’t Get Equal Chances to Succeed

The great sorting of the most talented young people into haves and have-nots starts long before college, according to a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) in partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Born to Win, Schooled to Lose: Why Equally Talented Students Don’t Get Equal Chances Read more about Why Equally Talented Students Don’t Get Equal Chances to Succeed[…]

Share

Report Proposes Common Definition for Successful STEM Talent Development

A new report by professional services firm STEMconnector defines a successful result for talent development in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields as the emergence of “a diverse and STEM-ready talent pool with the knowledge, skills, and mindsets needed to secure and succeed in careers today and in the future.” The report, “Input Read more about Report Proposes Common Definition for Successful STEM Talent Development[…]

Share

Why They Leave: The Reasons Teachers Give for Quitting the Profession

Thousands of public school teachers voluntarily leave their jobs each year, hurting student achievement and costing districts billions of dollars to find replacements. Lynnette Mawhinney and Carol Rinke were once part of that churn. Now, with both women serving as professors at teacher prep programs, Mawhinney and Rinke have co-authored a new book that illuminates Read more about Why They Leave: The Reasons Teachers Give for Quitting the Profession[…]

Share

Culturally Responsive Teaching in State Teaching Standards

New America has analyzed professional teaching standards in all 50 states to better understand whether states’ expectations for teachers incorporate culturally responsive teaching. To support this analysis, researchers identified eight competencies that clarify what teachers should know and be able to do in light of research on culturally responsive teaching. The study finds that while Read more about Culturally Responsive Teaching in State Teaching Standards[…]

Share

Recommendations to Strengthen Teacher Preparation & Diversity

A new report from Educators for Excellence New York outlines the importance of teacher preparation and offers recommendations for increasing teacher diversity.   Ready for Day One and Beyond is a new paper written by teachers on the Educators for Excellence New York Policy Team. The paper starts with two important questions:   1. What Read more about Recommendations to Strengthen Teacher Preparation & Diversity[…]

Share

Reframing Education Data for Equity

State leaders have outlined bold equity goals to improve the outcomes of all students. But these goals can’t be met if the data used to measure and support them reflect bias. The Data Quality Campaign’s latest blog series dives into the concept of asset framing and examines how data can be better constructed, presented, and Read more about Reframing Education Data for Equity[…]

Share

The Impact of Faculty Attitudes About Intelligence

A new study suggests that faculty members’ attitudes about intelligence can have a major impact on the success of students in science, mathematics and technology courses. Students see more achievement when their instructors believe in a “growth mind-set” about intelligence than they do learning from those who believe intelligence is fixed. The impact was found Read more about The Impact of Faculty Attitudes About Intelligence[…]

Share

Teachers of Color in the American Teacher Workforce

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[…]

Share

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

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[…]

Share