Results for America and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) recently released Leverage Points, a new report that spotlights 13 opportunities for states to accelerate their use of data and evidence to improve K-12 schools. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires in some parts (and encourages in others) the use of evidence-based Read more about Leverage Points[…]
Alaska and New York pay teachers nearly double the salaries of those working in Mississippi and Oklahoma, says a new study by GoBankingRates. According to the finance website, teachers in Alaska and New York are paid each year on average $77,843 and $76,953, respectively. By contrast, the averages in Mississippi and Oklahoma are $42,043 and Read more about Which States Pay Teachers the Most (and Least)?[…]
If you spend more on education, will students do better? For many years, research on the relationship between spending and student learning has been surprisingly inconclusive. Many other factors, including student poverty, parental education and the way schools are organized, contribute to educational results. Teasing out the specific effect of money spent is methodologically difficult. Read more about “It Turns Out Spending More Probably Does Improve Education”[…]
Every three years, half a million 15-year-olds in 69 countries take a two-hour test designed to gauge their ability to think. Unlike other exams, the PISA, as it is known, does not assess what teenagers have memorized. Instead, it asks them to solve problems they haven’t seen before, to identify patterns that are not obvious Read more about What America Can Learn About Smart Schools in Other Countries[…]
There are many flavors of school choice—vouchers, education savings accounts, tax-credit scholarships, and charters, to name a few. Voucher is the word on everyone’s mind at the moment and it’s a politically loaded term. Many of the other types of choice people hear about—education savings accounts and tax-credit scholarships—are just variations. But the differences between Read more about The Many Flavors of School Choice[…]
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 that states already are pursuing. Read more about Advancing Equity through ESSA: Strategies for State Leaders[…]
Last week the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave away over $34 million in grants to teacher-preparation programs across the nation. These grants were given to 5 consortia from about 40 applications representing some 500 programs in all. The three year grants were given to create “transformation centers” based on the following criteria: developing strong Read more about Gates Foundation Awards for Teacher Prep Transformation Centers[…]
Does money matter in education? Isabel V. Sawhill of the Brookings Institution answers: Yes, education spending–and teacher salaries–affect student outcomes. Not only that, but the research shows that money matters even more for minority and underprivileged students, making the money issue an equity issue as well. Sawhill reviewed education policy papers and research going back Read more about Does Money Matter?[…]
On September 11, 2015, the Entertainment Industry Foundation launched Think It Up in a star-studded television special that aired on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. Think It Up is an initiative of the Entertainment Industry Foundation created to bring broad cultural attention to the urgency of improving the learning experience in America. The national education Read more about Think It Up![…]
School equity has long been an issue in the United States. This year marks 61 years since the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that was designed to give the federal government the authority to enforce school integration. But statistics tell us that despite this case, not that much has changed in many parts Read more about 61 Years after Brown v. Board of Education, Many Schools remain Separate and Unequal[…]
NewSchools Venture Fund has announced the launch NewSchools Catapult, the first endeavor of its new national strategy. Its goal over the next several years is to propel successive waves of education entrepreneurs to launch new schools – the kinds of audacious, life-altering schools that can truly prepare students to pursue their most ambitious dreams. The Read more about NewSchools Venture Fund Launches NewSchools Catapult[…]
School districts that serve the highest percentages of low-income students and students of color receive significantly less in local and state funding than districts that serve predominantly white and affluent students, according to a new report from the Education Trust (Ed Trust) and a separate analysis by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). And that Read more about Funding Gaps 2015: Widening Funding Gap Between School Districts[…]
On the Top Performers blog of Education Week, Marc Tucker has written a compelling post which challenges American complacency on the new “separate but equal.” Despite Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, various statistics show that American schools are as segregated as they ever were before that monumental court decision. And of course, this Read more about Marc Tucker on “Separate But Equal” in American schools today[…]
Recently, Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post wrote a lengthy story concerning the role of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in fostering the Common Core State Standards. If you haven’t already seen the full article, you should read it (see below for the link). For now, we will summarize it for you. The article Read more about Bill Gates and the Common Core[…]
With America’s public schools unlikely to return to past funding levels in the near future, the District Management Council (http://www.dmjournal.org/spending-money-wisely/) released a policy guide this week to help districts thrive, rather than just survive, within the constraints of their new fiscal realities. In the main report, “Spending Money Wisely: Getting the Most From School District Read more about School Districts Get Advice on ‘Doing More With Less’: Report reflects new realities[…]
The American Federation of Teachers, to date the recipient of more than $11 million in Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation largesse, will no longer accept Gates funding, Politico has reported, citing increasing criticism from members. This is a real case of “put your money where your mouth is”, or in this particular case, “don’t take Read more about AFT Says It Will No Longer Accept Gates Funding[…]