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 Read more
Increasingly, schools are becoming the centers of student well-being, providing more meals during the day, health exams, as well as greater social and emotional coaching. So the most recent federal report on children’s well-being gives a snapshot of what today’s 73.6 million children need — from mental health services to Read more
By September of this year, states will be submitting their state plans to meet the new standards under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As part of the equity requirements of the policy, states are required to formulate policies that ensure historically disenfranchised students are not disproportionately taught by ineffective Read more
A project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, KIDS COUNT is the premier source for data on child and family well-being in the United States. KIDS COUNT examines hundreds of indicators to provide information that supports smart decisions about children and families. The graphic below shows the overall child wellbeing Read more
EdSource’s John Fensterwald recently reported on a new multimeasure school rating system for California and the data it uncovers. The Oakland-based nonprofit GreatSchools analyzed these data and produced Searching for Opportunity, a fresh look at a stubbornly persistent problem: racial and ethnic gaps in student achievement in California schools. Among Read more
Marc Tucker of Education week comments on college readiness for students across the nations, and the different definitions of being ready for different groups of students. Does this nationwide difference drive inequality? Excerpts of his commentary appear below: The rapidly increasing social class and racial isolation of the last four Read more
The Education Trust-West has launched a new tool for advocates to use when discussing educational equity with parents, educators, students, and other community members. This new tool provides presentation materials, a video, logistical recommendations, and a facilitation guide so that advocates across the country can lead Data Equity Walks. Data Read more
In 15 years of increasing average test scores, black-white and Hispanic-white student achievement gaps continue to close, and Asian students are pulling away from whites in both math and reading achievement. For the improving groups, these long-term trends may be a major educational success story. In stark contrast, Hispanic and Read more
Many states and districts are adopting commercially available teacher observation instruments for the professional practice component of their evaluation systems. A report by Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Mid-Atlantic provides new evidence to help educators choose among five widely used “off-the shelf” teacher observation instruments and decide how much weight to Read more
The Center on Great Teachers & Leaders has released a new discussion guide, Teacher Effectiveness in the Every Student Succeeds Act. Systemic challenges in the educator workforce require thoughtful and bold actions, and ESSA presents a unique opportunity for states to reaffirm, modify, or improve their vision of educator effectiveness. Read more
The Institute of Education Sciences has released a new report entitled Do Low Income Students Have Access to Effective Teachers? Evidence from 26 Districts. The report from the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) examines whether low-income students are taught by less effective teachers than high-income students, Read more
In Education Week Teacher, Elena Aguilar writes an insightful piece about the promise of transformational coaching. Excerpts appear below: I believe new-teacher support programs must be linked to schools’ moral imperative to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of every child, every day. To that end, the overarching objective Read more
The Aspen Institute’s Education & Society Program and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) have released a new report, Advancing Equity through ESSA: Strategies for State Leaders. This framework is designed to help states make the most of the opportunities provided in ESSA to advance eight equity priorities Read more
The Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) is excited to announce the launch of its latest EdPolicy Leaders Online course, Learning to Dream: Education and Economic Mobility. This course explores the key components of economic mobility and how access to high quality education systems and diverse educational offerings is a Read more
Nicholas Papageorge, Seth Gershenson, and Kyungmin Kang have released a discussion paper, titled Teacher Expectations Matter, that uncovers teacher expectations that differ by racial groups in a way that puts black students at a disadvantage, exacerbating racial achievement gaps. The authors recently wrote about their findings in Brookings blog: We Read more
Michael Petrilli, writing for the Fordham Institute, recently explored the extent of the enrichment gap in America. This is the growing class difference in spending on children’s enrichment and extracurricular activities (things like sports, summer camps, piano lessons, and trips to the zoo). He writes: As the upper-middle class grows larger Read more