Seeking to counter the pandemic’s harmful impact on students, the vast majority of school districts nationwide mobilized in 2021 to deliver summer learning programming. A full 94 percent of districts responded, reaching nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of their student populations, on average. A new slide presentation from Westat details early Read more
Now that the most acute phase of the Covid crisis is over, public conversation has turned to the millions of students who are still struggling academically and emotionally—and how our nation’s schools ought to respond. Decisions that education leaders make right now will determine whether this generation of students recovers Read more
A new guide from Education Evolving is designed to help teams design learning that equitably honors the unique assets and needs of students. It provides tips, stand-out examples, and discussion questions for teams to work through, focused on each of Education Evolving’s seven principles of student-centered learning. The guide draws Read more
Students across the country continue to return to in-person learning after more than a year of varied access to the educational opportunities they need to succeed. For example, some estimates show that 3 million students have either been consistently absent from or have not been actively participating in remote learning Read more
Writing for the Fordham Institute, Jeff Murray recently reviewed the results of a new Growth Mindset survey administered for the first time with the 2018 PISA assessment. Excerpts of the piece appear below: For the 2018 administration of the test, PISA included a “growth mindset” instrument. Students who have this Read more
In the past year, more students have engaged in self-directed, independent learning than ever. One organization, Griptape, has been perfecting their approach to cultivating Learner Agency through their work with over 12,000 students during Learning Challenges since 2015. After completing an application describing their passion project, selected students (teens ages Read more
Bruno Manno of the Walton Family Foundation and Lynn Olson of FutureEd recently partnered to propose a new bipartisan education agenda focusing on offering multiple career pathways to students. Excerpts from the piece appear below: The new career pathways emerging around the country exemplify what University of Texas law professor Read more
A report released by The YES Project at America’s Promise Alliance provides key insights into young people’s conceptions of the changing employment landscape and what it means to be ready for, connected to, and supported within today’s world of work. Drawing from interviews with 65 young people, ages 16-28, who Read more
A new resource from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, The Acceleration Imperative: A Plan to Address Elementary Students’ Unfinished Learning in the Wake of COVID-19, aims to give the nation’s chief academic officers and other educators a head start on planning for that recovery, with a particular focus on high-poverty 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 Fordham Institute, Joni Lakin and Jonathan Wai review the struggles that visual learners encounter in traditional schooling and outline the loss to the STEM field when these students decide STEM is not for them. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Students who have the kinds of talent Read more
Writing for the Fordham Institute, Chris Yalumaby reviews the “gifted gap” between low- and high-income students and the compounding effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. Excerpts from the piece appear below: The Covid-19 pandemic has further exposed the inequities that have long existed in the K-12 education system. School closures due Read more
What happens when teachers start using science of learning principles? A new, rigorous study suggests some very powerful outcomes for students. A group of researchers have been exploring the question of what happens when teachers get professional development based on the science of learning. Their latest research article explores the Read more
All 2019 Wonkathon submissions are in. This year’s Wonkathon asked contributors to address a fundamental and challenging question: What’s the best way to help students who are several grade levels behind? Fordham’s Flypaper received nineteen submissions from policy experts and education practitioners. As expected, there was a wide range of Read more
An interactive data tool from the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University creates the first database that attempts to measure the performance of every elementary and middle school in the country. The data set not only provides academic achievement for schools, districts, and states around the country, but it also Read more
Forty-eight states and Washington, DC have committed to measuring and reporting on individual student growth under ESSA. This means everyone in those states – from parents to policymakers – will have more information than before on student performance and school quality. But the questions they’ll be able to answer depend Read more