Recently in The 74, Kevin Mahnken looked at long-term scores from NAEP that show unprecedented score declines for nine-year-olds in math and generational literacy loss. Two decades of growth for American students in reading and math were wiped away by just two years of pandemic-disrupted learning, according to national test Read more
Recently Matt Barnum reviewed the research on class size for Chalkbeat. Excerpts of the piece appear below: The key takeaways: Students often do better in smaller classes. But there’s no agreement on exactly how much better, and it remains an open question whether or not class size reduction is a Read more
Recently, Getting Smart published an intriguing piece on the likely influence of natural language processors on education. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Natural language processing is a branch of computer science, specifically artificial intelligence, that enables computers to understand human language, process it, and create language to interact with Read more
The Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), in partnership with the Reinvention Lab powered by Teach For America, gathered a “change-maker” group of students, educators, and education leaders. It was an intimate gathering of people committed to a learner-centered, radically different future of education. The question posed to the group Read more
A four-day school week (4dsw) is becoming more common, especially in areas across the western United States. States with large rural areas are spearheading this change. For example, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota have more than 500 districts using a 4dsw. Champions of the shorter Read more
For many years, school administrators have served as instructional leaders and have set the tone for the culture of a school. The COVID-19 pandemic further expanded the role of the school administrator – with major emphasis on student health and wellness, school safety, and equitable practice. Indeed, the school leader’s Read more
A new report from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) focuses on the fundamental importance of the fine arts and provides policy recommendations for reclaiming the arts and culture in education. Key points of this report include the following: Despite overwhelming support for arts education, an increasing share of children is Read more
Writing for the Fordham Institute, Adam Tyner reviews a new research report by Jackson and Mackevicius that explores how money matters for student outcomes. Excerpts from the piece appear below: The overall effect of an additional $1,000 of spending per child on test scores, based on 2018 prices and over Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the education field in multiple ways. Policymakers, superintendents, school leaders, and teachers have had to adopt new models, processes, policies, protocols, and strategies in order to conduct the business of teaching and learning over the last year. As the nation (eventually) emerges from this pandemic, Read more
COVID-19 has presented new challenges for schools and families to grapple with when it comes to student learning — but the pandemic also has illuminated shortcomings and missed opportunities that have long been present in our education system. A new series of briefs from Bellwether offers guidance on how the Read more
Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The Superintendents Association, recently wrote a piece for the National Student Clearinghouse, claiming that the pandemic provides an opportunity to rethink the education system and to move toward exposing K-12 students to “opportunities and pathways that are available other than just a college degree.” Read more
Writing for the Hechinger Report, Jill Barshay recently reviewed a new index being used in Chicago to identify high schools with the best outcomes. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Parents are often stymied by the process of picking a good school for their kids. Word-of-mouth recommendations can be misleading. Read more
In Where Teachers Thrive, Susan Moore Johnson outlines a powerful argument about the importance of the school as an organization in nurturing high-quality teaching. Based on case studies conducted in fourteen high-poverty, urban schools, the book examines why some schools failed to make progress, while others achieved remarkable results. It Read more
Over the last 20 years, eight U.S. cities have seen more students attending more effective schools at a faster pace than other urban areas. In Oakland, D.C., Denver, New Orleans, New York City, Newark, Camden, and Chicago, education leaders have increased the number of high-performing schools and set up systems Read more
The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) launched The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL that provides an interactive planner, step-by-step guidance, field-tested tools, and continuous improvement processes to help educators implement social and emotional learning (SEL) in their schools. The free, online resource helps school teams coordinate and Read more
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 Read more