Working to Make Diverse Perspectives in Research, Policy, and Technical Assistance the Norm

At a recent event hosted by the AIR Equity Initiative, a panel of experts discussed different strategies for systematically and meaningfully engaging diverse voices and perspectives in research, technical assistance, and policy development and implementation to address long-standing social inequities. This included examining internal structures and practices, partnering with a variety of stakeholders, and reimagining Read more about Working to Make Diverse Perspectives in Research, Policy, and Technical Assistance the Norm[…]

The Key to Helping Students Right Now Is to Invest in Teachers’ Well-Being

Writing for the 74, Candice Bobo, DC Executive Director of Rocketship Public Schools, provides a perspective that the best way to help students is to support their teachers. Excerpts from the piece appear below: The pandemic, plus the current socio-political climate, has compounded everything that was already hard about teaching in public schools. So it’s Read more about The Key to Helping Students Right Now Is to Invest in Teachers’ Well-Being[…]

Learning More: Why did U.S. schools make so much progress in the 1990s and early 2000s?

In the New York Times newsletter, David Leonhardt works against bad-news bias and covers a positive and mostly overlooked trend in American education: the educational progress of the 1990s and early 2000s. Excerpts of the piece appear below: For years, you’ve probably been hearing that our schools are in crisis. And K-12 education in the Read more about Learning More: Why did U.S. schools make so much progress in the 1990s and early 2000s?[…]

Weaving a Stronger Society: Starting in our Schools

A new multimedia effort, “Weaving a Stronger Society — Starting in our Schools” is the product of a partnership between The 74 and The Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C. In 2018, New York Times columnist David Brooks and Aspen started Weave: The Social Fabric Project, seeking to mend the broken social Read more about Weaving a Stronger Society: Starting in our Schools[…]

The forgotten 20 percent: Achievement and growth in rural schools across the nation

NWEA recently released new research using data from over 2,300 rural schools across the US providing unique insight into math and reading achievement of students in rural schools. Key findings and recommendations from the report appear below:  KEY FINDINGS  • Kindergarten math and reading achievement is slightly higher in rural than non-rural schools, but by Read more about The forgotten 20 percent: Achievement and growth in rural schools across the nation[…]

Creating Safe, Equitable, and Engaging Schools

Four years ago, Mary Catryn D. Ricker of the Shanker Institute and David Osher of AIR collaborated on the introduction to a book, Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools. Their introduction shared six practical, science-based principles that not only ground the book, but also speak to the current crises in education. These six principles are integral Read more about Creating Safe, Equitable, and Engaging Schools[…]

Employers in Six Communities Announce Youth-Designed Actions to Promote Diversity and Inclusion

Employers in six communities in Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas announced a series of new commitments to address and promote inclusion and belonging in the workplace for young employees of color. These commitments are the culmination of a unique collaboration supported by America’s Promise Alliance, known as Action Roundtables, between employers, nonprofit Read more about Employers in Six Communities Announce Youth-Designed Actions to Promote Diversity and Inclusion[…]

Future Scenarios for Schooling

Just what the future of education looks like is opaque. But thanks to insights from Tracey Burns, an international education researcher, and others, some possible options for how school could change exist. Burns co-authored the recent Back to the Future of Education: Four OECD Scenarios for Schooling report, which looks at themes inside the education Read more about Future Scenarios for Schooling[…]

Agency by Design: Making Learning Engaging

The global COVID-19 pandemic pulled back the curtain on the growing need for greater student agency and student engagement. As we rethink the future of education in a post-pandemic world, learner agency must be at the center of learning designs and learning models so that we can support students anytime, anyplace, and at any pace. Read more about Agency by Design: Making Learning Engaging[…]

The Time Has Come for Truly Personalized Learning — With a Navigator to Make Sure Each Child Succeeds

Writing for The 74, Paul Reville and Geoffrey Canada recently made the case that it is time for truly personalized learning for students. Excerpts of the piece appear below:  We believe the time has come for every child to have a success plan and a navigator, a caring adult to act as their advocate for Read more about The Time Has Come for Truly Personalized Learning — With a Navigator to Make Sure Each Child Succeeds[…]

Data matters, but only if it leads to effective teaching action

Recently, The Hechinger Report published an article that reviewed research showing that data analysis has not significantly improved student outcomes since the No Child Left Behind Act ramped up national data collection. Data — even high quality data— is of no value if it isn’t used effectively. In a response piece, Chris Minnich explains that Read more about Data matters, but only if it leads to effective teaching action[…]

Continuous Improvement in Education Settings: A Literature Review

Over the last decade, educators have become increasingly interested in continuous improvement (CI) as a strategy for reform. CI requires practitioners to engage in iterative cycles of inquiry by defining local problems of practice, testing potential interventions, studying the results, and improving upon those interventions. This method of improvement stands in contrast to approaches focused Read more about Continuous Improvement in Education Settings: A Literature Review[…]

Still Rising: Charter School Enrollment and Student Achievement at the Metropolitan Level

In the wake of the biggest education crisis in living memory, the need for transformational change is palpable and urgent. Accordingly, a new report from the Fordham Institute takes a fresh look at a question that is fundamental to the goals of many education reformers: Can a rising tide of charter schools carry students in Read more about Still Rising: Charter School Enrollment and Student Achievement at the Metropolitan Level[…]

Youth Apprenticeship Quality Assessment Tool

As youth apprenticeship has gained traction across the United States, many programs have adopted the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) Definition & Principles for Youth Apprenticeship to guide program design and implementation. Building from those principles, PAYA has developed a new Youth Apprenticeship Quality Assessment Tool as a piece of a four-step protocol aimed Read more about Youth Apprenticeship Quality Assessment Tool[…]

The College Payoff: More Education Doesn’t Always Mean More Earnings

The College Payoff: More Education Doesn’t Always Mean More Earnings from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce explores how lifetime earnings vary by education level, field of study, occupation, industry, gender, race and ethnicity, and location. The lifetime earnings of a full-time full-year worker with a high school diploma are $1.6 million, Read more about The College Payoff: More Education Doesn’t Always Mean More Earnings[…]

How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research

Over the past two decades, the policy landscape and the research landscape of school leadership have experienced major shifts. High-stakes accountability, multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems, heightened policy attention to educational equity, and other changes have altered expectations for what leaders need to know, how they spend their time, and the outcomes—both what and for whom—they Read more about How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research[…]