A Manhattan Institute report presents results of a survey of U.S.
BOULDER, CO (May 1, 2023)—A new report by more than 20 education experts from across the U.S. describes the policy changes that will be needed for testing and accountability policies in K-12 schools to serve the long-stated goals of excellence and equity. Educational Accountability 3.0: Beyond the Every Student Succeeds Act is a guide for improving federal legislation, as well as state and local polices.
This joint report from NEPC and the Beyond Test Scores Project seeks to outline what a more effective and equitable approach to assessment of student learning and accountability for schools and districts might look like. Drawing together roughly two dozen leading scholars, it sets forth a policy agenda for the next reauthorization of ESEA. At the same time—in light of the lengthy delay in reauthorization that is likely to occur—it considers how local and state leaders might leverage some of the underutilized flexibility available under ESSA.
The concept of “DefectCraft” may help explain why students of color are disproportionately identified for special education.
The number of laws targeting students who are LGBTQ+ is on the rise, complicating efforts to create safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments in schools.
A report analyzes equity patterns of school capital investment, relying primarily on school district annual capital outlay data reported in the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data. It also examines which state policies may promote more progressive investment patterns. Confirming other studies, it finds that school district capital expenditures vary from year to year and from state to state, each state has a unique approach and mix of policies governing state support for local capital outlay, and capital outlay is rarely equal or progressive.
BOULDER, CO (April 18, 2023) – In this month’s episode of NEPC Talks Education, Christopher Saldaña interviews Linda Molner Kelley and Derek Pierce about creating and sustaining professional and healthy school cultures that support teachers.
University of Wisconsin‑Madison Assistant Professor Christopher Saldaña interviews Linda Molner Kelley and Derek Pierce about creating and sustaining professional and healthy school cultures.
BOULDER, CO (April 13, 2023) – School ratings are a ubiquitous feature of the U.S. educational system. Following the federal requirements for states to report school performance with a standardized measure of accountability, non-state organizations such as GreatSchools.org and Niche have drawn on states’ publicly available information to create their own consumer-oriented rating systems.
School ratings are a ubiquitous feature of the U.S. educational system. Alongside state-mandated measures of school performance, non-state organizations such as GreatSchools.org and Niche have created consumer-oriented systems of school ratings that draw on publicly available information about schools. Claiming the purpose of their rating systems is to help families navigate increasingly complex school choice options, these organizations present their ratings as authoritative sources of information.
BOULDER, CO (April 6, 2023)—The Reason Foundation, a vigorous advocate for choice policies such as vouchers and charter schools, recently published a report advocating for the increased “portability” of school revenues, allowing for “money to follow the students” and, therefore, the expansion of interdistrict choice programs.
The report advocates for the increased “portability” of school revenues, allowing for “money to follow the students” and, therefore, the expansion of interdistrict choice programs. It attempts to show that many current features of state-level school funding formulas inhibit such portability.
A new book examines how sectors ranging from housing to health can pull together to help make educational outcomes more equitable.
On April Fools' Day, let’s pretend this is not realistic at all.
A recent proposal aims to make school funding fairer by funneling new federal funds into districts and states where smaller economies and/or high expense rates make it difficult for them to adequately fund education. The new funding would also incentivize areas with the ability to do so to increase state and local funding to adequate levels.
A Diane Ravitch conversation online this evening dives into the question of how public high schools can use research-based approaches to close opportunity gaps.
University of Wisconsin‑Madison Assistant Professor Christopher Saldaña interviews Professor Huriya Jabbar about K-12 school choice policy and its impacts on educational stakeholders.
BOULDER, CO (March 16, 2023) – In this month’s episode of NEPC Talks Education, Christopher Saldaña discusses school choice policy and its impacts on student outcomes, teacher recruitment and retention, and leadership practices with Huriya Jabbar, professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin.
A study looked at Teach for America (TFA) teacher turnover and contributions to fourth through eighth grade student achievement in New York City public schools between 2012 and 2019. The study finds that, after six years of teaching, TFA teachers continue to improve their contributions to students’ standardized test scores at higher rates than their non-TFA colleagues. The report’s broader conclusions overreach, however.
BOULDER, CO (March 14, 2023)—A recent paper published by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University presents findings from a study examining Teach for America (TFA) teacher turnover and teachers’ contributions to fourth through eighth grade student achievement. A close look finds that the paper’s narrow focus and selective interpretation of the research literature leads to a misrepresentation of TFA’s broader outcomes.
A new report demonstrates how the use of public funds for private schools has coincided with reductions in resources for public education.
BOULDER, CO (March 7, 2023)—A recent Hoover Institution report by Eric Hanushek presents a calculation of the future learning-related economic burden resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It projects a large and persistent economic loss by using a set of assumptions about the link between reduced student achievement levels and earnings, but in doing so fails to consider several factors.
A report calculates the future economic burden that the pandemic has imposed through reduced student achievement levels. Under a set of assumptions about the link between achievement and earnings, this economic burden is projected to be very large, persistent, and variable across states. From there, the report contends that—to offset this achievement gap—schools need to be “made better” even as the report is silent on how schools can improve or if more funding is needed.
BOULDER, CO (March 2, 2023)—A recent report from the directors of EdChoice, published by the Manhattan Institute, oversimplifies important equity issues as problems of school zone boundaries.
A report oversimplifies important equity issues as problems of school zone boundaries. Despite noting mixed research results on how school choice affects housing patterns, the report assumes that eliminating school zone boundaries will necessarily result in wealthy families voluntarily relocating into poorer neighborhoods—ignoring the documented reality that many parents work to ensure that school district boundaries replicate segregation and inequity.
A case study suggests ways teachers can introduce students to civic engagement by involving them in meaningful projects they design and carry out.
A new working paper finds that, because Black and Hispanic students attend schools with higher levels of poverty and poverty-related needs, per-pupil funding would have to increase substantially in order to provide students of color with educational opportunities equivalent to those enjoyed by White students.
BOULDER, CO (February 21, 2023)—A recent report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute considers the impacts of vouchers as related to competition in Ohio public schools, increased racial segregation, and local district financial resources. It presents these three issues as the chief concerns of voucher critics and finds few harmful impacts.
A report considers the chief concerns associated with Ohio’s voucher program: the harm to public school student outcomes through competition, the affect on district financial resources, and increased racial segregation. Finding that Ohio vouchers have had few such harmful impacts, the report concludes that it has effectively dismissed the primary concerns of voucher critics.
University of Wisconsin‑Madison Assistant Professor Christopher Saldaña interviews Professor Carrie Sampson about the role of school boards in K-12 educational policymaking.
BOULDER, CO (February 16, 2023) – In this month’s episode of NEPC Talks Education, Christopher Saldaña discusses the role of school boards in K-12 educational policymaking with Carrie Sampson, professor of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University.
BOULDER, CO (February 14, 2023)—Recent reports from the Education Trust and Bellwether discuss the fair and adequate funding of schools. A review of both concludes that they have varying degrees of merit and value for policymakers.
The fair and adequate funding of schools is at the center of reports from Education Trust and Bellwether. The Education Trust reports focus on the extent to which states and local districts target sufficient resources fairly to students by race, language status and poverty. Policymakers can use these publications to understand which states (and which districts within those states) have the most work to do to improve racial inequality in education funding.
A new approach called Systemic Functional Linguistics helps emerging bilinguals learn to write by incorporating lessons on language use and grammar into instruction on authentic genres.
BOULDER, CO (February 7, 2023)—A recent report from the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado Denver claimed that portfolio reforms in the Denver Public Schools led to substantial academic gains for students.
This report analyzes changes in academic performance as measured by test scores and graduation rates in the Denver Public Schools versus comparable schools in Colorado over 11 years of the district’s experimenting with the “portfolio” approach to school district management. This approach includes central-office oversight of different school types (such as charter schools, innovation schools, and district-run schools), with widespread parental choice under a single enrollment system.
NEPC’s latest book demonstrates how schools throughout the nation are implementing equity-based approaches, even when broader systemic forces do not support their reforms. The book focuses on Schools of Opportunity honored for their focus on equity and excellence.
BOULDER, CO (January 31, 2023)—A recent Badger Institute report reviews the current early care and education (ECE) landscape and offers a profile of the childcare system in Wisconsin. Yet despite drawing valuable attention to the policy issues of ECE, the report ultimately fails to support its recommendations.
A report presents data on early care and education trends in Wisconsin and concludes that government regulations have had the effects of limiting supply, decreasing parental choice in providers, and increasing costs. The report recommends increasing regulatory freedom, consolidating state agencies, and increasing parental rights over use of government childcare subsidies. The report should be applauded for continuing to spotlight the need for quality childcare and education.
NEPC mailings concerning the mischaracterization of school choice research, troubling findings about school finance and high school education, and a popular teaching approach caught in the crossfire of efforts to undermine Critical Race Theory are among the topics that resonated most with our audience in 2022.