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 Read more
The Meadows Center at the University of Texas at Austin has released a piece outlining 10 evidence-based policies and practices for high-quality assessment in schools, along with the research supporting them. These policies/practices include the following: School leadership ensures that teachers have a shared understanding of the curriculum and standards Read more
New data from researchers at Stanford, based on some 300 million elementary-school test scores across more than 11,000 school districts, reveals the school districts where children are showing the most growth. The results do not follow conventional wisdom. Districts with high growth are scattered across the country, in contrast with Read more
Recertification: It’s obscure. It’s ill-understood. It’s never studied. But most teachers have to meet these continuing education requirements every five years. A new special report from Education Week takes a hard look at recertification, posing questions about how it could be strengthened to support teachers better. The articles include an Read more
A working group that includes members from some of the country’s most influential education groups released new recommendations aimed at high school programs offering college credit. These programs, often dual-enrollment partnerships with local colleges, have grown in popularity, as have concerns about the rigor, costs and ultimate impact on college Read more
The world is changing and so are its schools. In recognition of the need to prepare students for an evolving and increasingly interconnected world, a growing number of countries have remodeled their education systems to deliver an education built for the 21st century, producing higher achievement and greater equity than Read more
As state leaders in education, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) aims to make sure every child has an effective teacher every year they are in school. Unfortunately, today, the education sector is facing a major challenge when it comes to the education workforce: States struggle to attract Read more
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recently completed an analysis of what each of the 50 states intends to do to provide a more equitable education to all students, as described in their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans. The analysis from NCTQ highlight strengths and opportunities, ultimately demonstrating Read more
A new literature review from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) explores research available on arts integration activities and finds 44 that could qualify for ESSA funding (10 studies met Tier I-III evidence standards for strong, moderate or promising evidence, while 34 met the Tier IV standard for having a Read more
Achieve has released a new report analyzing the English language arts (ELA)/literacy and mathematics standards of the 24 states that have reviewed and revised these standards after initially adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The report, Strong Standards: A Review of Changes to State Standards Since the Common Core, Read more
Effective teaching is the most influential factor in improving student achievement. One of the best ways to ensure students are taught by effective educators is by providing high-quality professional learning that helps teachers continuously improve and perfect their craft to meet the needs of their students. For years, many states Read more
Writing for The 74, Kate Stringer reviews a new randomized controlled trial that finds that one-on-one, in-person mentoring that starts in high school and continues through university study can have a significant effect on college persistence rates for low-income students. Excerpts from the article appear below: A college mentoring program Read more
Throughout this year, the Bush Institute has interviewed education leaders at length about what school accountability means to them. The result is the launch of The “A” Word: Accountability–The Dirty Word of Education Reform. Throughout this interview series, recognized leaders identify why accountability practices matter and how they have used Read more
A functional consensus is emerging among the nation’s boldest education leaders, producing not identical policies, but a set of vital principles that drive approaches shaped to the needs of each of their communities. It’s a set of principles born of extensive work, with the needs of students at the center. Read more
What can we learn from global education powerhouses? These are countries that consistently produce high-achieving, well-prepared students. Are there specific strategies that these top performers have consistently implemented? In this month’s issue brief, Core Education explores global perspectives on education reform. We look at best practices from high-performing countries and Read more
Achieve has released an online tracking tool that summarizes components of states’ accountability plans as submitted to the U.S. Department of Education under the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The tool also allows for users to compare states’ accountability metrics. As part of ESSA, every state was Read more