School Leadership

Navigating the Math Wars: A Practical Guide to the Divides and Debates Influencing Math Instruction

Publication Date

July 28, 2026

Authors

Deborah Loewenberg Ball, University of Michigan

Research Areas

Curriculum & Instruction; Teacher Workforce; Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The review examines current debates over math instruction and argues that a report intended to clarify them instead reinforces polarization and lacks sufficient nuance about classroom practice.

Avoiding the Supreme Court's Religious Charter-School Trap: Governance Change for the New Legal Era

Publication Date

May 28, 2026

Authors

Kevin G. Welner, Carol C. Burris, and Preston C. Green III

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

In a new policy brief, Avoiding the Supreme Court's Religious Charter-School Trap: Governance Change for the New Legal Era, authors Kevin G. Welner (University of Colorado Boulder), Carol C. Burris (Network for Public Education), and Preston C. Green III (University of Connecticut) warn that, without proactive legislative action, this radical transformation of states' charter sectors could be fully imposed within two years. Appendix

Studying the First Year of Trump's Second Term: The Renewed Importance of Participatory Governance

Publication Date

April 21, 2026

Authors

Derek Gottlieb

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

The first year of the second Trump administration has seen a radical break from six decades of federal education policy, discarding the longstanding vision of equal access and human capital development in favor of a new, and as yet undefined, approach to American educational governance. In a new policy brief, Studying the First Year of Trump's Second Term: The Renewed Importance of Participatory Governance, Dr. Derek Gottlieb, a leading scholar of education policy, examines the educational purposes that administration officials have publicly articulated across a variety of platforms, along with the actions that the federal government has taken over the past year to achieve its goals.

Review of NEPC Review: Estimating the LongRun Impact of a Universal ESA Program in Mississippi

Publication Date

February 24, 2026

Authors

Martin Lueken and Michael Q. McShan; David S. Knight, University of Washington

Research Areas

School Funding; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from EdChoice estimates the long-term economic returns of a universal education savings account (ESA) policy in Mississippi. ESA policies provide taxpayer dollars to households that decline to send their children to public schools, allowing those funds to be used for private school tuition or other educational expenses. As ESAs and similar school choice programs expand rapidly across the country, rigorous research is essential to inform sound, evidence-based policymaking.

Review of Redrawing the Lines: How Purposeful School System Redistricting Can Increase Funding Fairness and Decrease Segregation

Publication Date

January 29, 2026

Authors

Christopher Cleveland, Brown University; Joshua Almes, Brown University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent New America report argues that states can advance educational equity by redrawing school district boundaries to reduce within-state fiscal and demographic disparities. While the analysis has some methodological limitations, it offers policymakers a useful framework for understanding how existing district lines shape unequal access to resources.

Review of Outmatched: Special Education Can't Solve Problems Rooted in the Education Delivery System

Publication Date

January 22, 2026

Authors

Ashley Jochim and Alexander Kurz; Federico Waitoller, University of Illinois Chicago

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

While special education in the United States has advanced civil rights and educational equity, persistent concerns about inequity, labeling, and segregation remain. A recent Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) report proposes a dramatic restructuring of special education, arguing that rising identification rates and persistent achievement gaps stem from a general education system built for uniformity rather than diversity.

Christian Nationalism and Educational Policy in the United States

Publication Date

November 4, 2025

Authors

Kevin Burke, University of Georgia; Heidi Hadley, Auburn University

Research Areas

Curriculum & Instruction; Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

American public education faces an escalating challenge: the rise of Christian nationalism. This movement entwines politics and religion, insisting the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation and should be governed by rigid hierarchies under the Christian God. A new policy brief explores the political and ideological effects this movement has on education policy.

Fit for Purpose? How Today’s Commercial Digital Platforms Subvert Key Goals of Public Education

Publication Date

September 25, 2025

Authors

Faith Boninger, University of Colorado Boulder; T. Philip Nichols, Baylor University

Research Areas

Technology & AI; Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

A new policy brief, Fit for Purpose? How Today's Commercial Digital Platforms Subvert Key Goals of Public Education, by Faith Boninger of the University of Colorado Boulder and T. Philip Nichols of Baylor University, reviews research examining key pedagogical, logistical, and ethical implications of ed tech platforms for schools. The brief's analysis of these implications leads to recommendations for teachers, school leaders, and policymakers on how to govern its use.

Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place? Disentangling the Intersections of Student Behavior, School Discipline, and School Safety in the Post-COVID Era

Publication Date

May 20, 2025

Authors

Richard O. Welsh, Vanderbilt University; Kathryn James McGraw, Vanderbilt University

Research Areas

School Climate & Student Support; Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

A new policy brief addresses growing concerns about student behavior, educators' perceptions of that behavior, and the management of perceived misbehavior in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. These issues, already urgent before the pandemic, have intensified as schools contend with increased need, trauma, and behavioral challenges.

Review of Testing Theories of Why: Four Keys to Interpreting US Student Achievement Trends

Publication Date

April 24, 2025

Authors

Nat Malkus; Chris Domaleski, National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education; School Funding

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent American Enterprise Institute report does a good job of identifying and describing long-term trends in student performance using national and international assessment data. However, a review finds that the report then falls short in its attempts to analyze and understand the factors driving these trends.

Let's Stop Asking Whether Teachers Are Professionals. Let's Ask What Kinds of Professionals We Want Teachers to Be

Publication Date

March 11, 2025

Authors

Emilie Mitescu Reagan, Claremont Graduate University; A. Lin Goodwin, Boston College

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education; Teacher Workforce

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

A professionalized teaching workforce is key to strong educational opportunities, improved student outcomes, and broader societal benefits. However, recent policies aimed at improving teacher quality have had unintended consequences-eroding teacher autonomy, increasing workload, standardizing curriculum and assessment, and fostering public distrust. In NEPC's new policy brief, Let's Stop Asking Whether Teachers Are Professionals. Let's Ask What Kinds of Professionals We Want Teachers to Be, authors Emilie Mitescu Reagan of Claremont Graduate University and A. Lin Goodwin of Boston College examine the ongoing evolution of teachers' professional status. The brief explores how educators can navigate the constantly shifting societal perceptions of their profession.

Review of Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era

Publication Date

January 28, 2025

Authors

Sofoklis Goulas; Sally A. Nuamah, Northwestern University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Funding; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent Fordham Institute report argues that post-pandemic enrollment declines will inevitably force districts to make the controversial decision to close some schools. Embracing this possibility, it provides dual criteria of substantial declines in enrollment and chronic low performance as indicators of which schools should be closed first, naming nearly 500 specific schools that meet the criteria.

Review of School Segregation on School Report Cards: Who Are We Grading Anyway?

Publication Date

December 10, 2024

Authors

Jay Carter and Leonardo Restrepo; James Noonan, Salem State University

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent Urban Institute report examines proposed legislation in North Carolina that would add a "proportionality score" to the state accountability system, measuring how closely a school’s racial demographics match those of the surrounding county. James Noonan of Salem State University reviewed School Segregation on School Report Cards: Who Are We Grading Anyway? and found it to be logical but somewhat under-explained.

Review of Learning Systems: Shaping the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Education

Publication Date

November 26, 2024

Authors

Amy Chen Kulesa, Michelle Croft, Brian Robinson, Mary K. Wells, Andrew J. Rotherham, and John Bailey; T. Philip Nichols, Baylor University

Research Areas

Technology & AI; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent three-part report from Bellwether explores the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in K-12 education and offers recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to navigate this emerging landscape.

The Fiscal Impacts of Expanded Voucher Programs and Charter-School Growth on Public Schools: Recommendations for Sustaining Adequate and Equitable School Finance Systems

Publication Date

November 21, 2024

Authors

David S. Knight, University of Washington; David DeMatthews, University of Texas at Austin

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; School Funding

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

NEPC’s new policy brief, The Fiscal Impacts of Expanded Voucher Programs and Charter-School Growth on Public Schools: Recommendations for Sustaining Adequate and Equitable School Finance Systems, synthesizes research on the fiscal impacts of charter and voucher school policies on public school systems. Authors David S. Knight of the University of Washington and David DeMatthews of the University of Texas at Austin also discuss recent developments, including the influx of voucher policies, often promoted by large philanthropic donations and messaging campaigns.

Review of Systemwide and Intervention-Specific Effects of Denver Public Schools' Portfolio District Strategy on Individual Student Achievement

Publication Date

November 7, 2024

Authors

Parker Baxter, Anna Nicotera, David Stuit, Margot Plotz, Todd Ely, and Paul Teske; Robert Shand, American University

Research Areas

School Choice & Vouchers; Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado Denver attempts to assess the effect of a "portfolio district strategy" on student performance in the Denver Public Schools. As was the case with its 2022 predecessor (reviewed here), advocates for portfolio reforms have trumpeted the new study as showing that this "portfolio" package of reforms has a positive and large impact on student outcomes. The review, however, concludes that the study lacks the ability to so definitively link Denver's improved outcomes to these particular reforms.

Review of Ohio Charter Schools After the Pandemic: Are Their Students Still Learning More Than They Would in District Schools?

Publication Date

September 24, 2024

Authors

Stephane Lavertu; Bryan Mann, University of Kansas

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent Fordham Institute report contends that the state's charter schools have outperformed traditional public schools and implies that they merit continued or expanded state investment.

Review of The Broken Pipeline: Advanced Education Policies at the Local Level

Publication Date

July 18, 2024

Authors

Adam Tyner; Eunice S. Han, University of Utah

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent Thomas B. Fordham Institute report describes current policies and practices at the district level across the U.S. that are designed to provide what the report calls advanced and gifted education. A review of the report determines, however, that its conclusions and policy suggestions lack validity.

Review of 'So Hard, but So Rewarding:' How School System Leaders are Scaling up Strategic School Staffing Models

Publication Date

July 11, 2024

Authors

Lisa Chu, Lydia Rainey, & Steven Weiner; Elizabeth Stringer Keefe, Stonehill College

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Teacher Workforce

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

Following the pandemic, pervasive challenges have plagued the teaching profession, including teacher shortages, burnout, job dissatisfaction, and attrition. A new report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education proposes what it calls "strategic school staffing models" as a solution, though its evidence for this conclusion is lacking.

Review of Spark & Sustain: How All the World's School Systems Can Improve Learning at Scale

Publication Date

June 13, 2024

Authors

Jake Bryant, Felipe Child, Ezgi Demirdag, Emma Dorn, Stephen Hall, Kartik Jayaram, Charag Krishnan, Cheryl Lim, Emmy Liss, Kemi Onabanjo, Frédéric Panier, Juan Rebolledo, Jimmy Sarakatsannis, Doug; Clara Fontdevila, University of Glasgow; Antoni Verger, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; and Adrián Zancajo, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Technology & AI; School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

McKinsey & Company released a new global report on education that provides guidelines for policy reforms and governance strategies offered as promoting significant and sustained improvement in students’ learning outcomes. A review of the report, however, identified weaknesses likely to compromise the robustness of its conclusions.

The Potential for Land Use and Housing Reform to Address School Segregation and Educational Opportunity

Publication Date

February 13, 2024

Authors

Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Virginia Commonwealth University

Research Areas

Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Housing, land use, and zoning policies are often siloed in such a way that they are considered and addressed separately from school segregation and students' opportunities to learn. But these policy areas can interact in powerful ways. Professor Genevieve Siegel-Hawley of Virginia Commonwealth University explores how in a new NEPC policy brief, The Potential for Land Use and Housing Reform to Address School Segregation and Educational Opportunity, in which she examines the potential of housing and land use policy reform to address school segregation. Professor Siegel-Hawley describes the key role that has been played by discriminatory land use planning and zoning regulations. These laws contributed to the unequal wealth distribution currently afflicting the nation, and those inequities-as well as those laws themselves-now shape access to an array of public goods, including schools. Neighborhood-based school assignment creates a direct link between segregated housing and segregated schools. More positively, zoning initiatives in recent years have proliferated to roll back the use of land for exclusionary purposes, with important implications for schools.

The Conflict Over Parents' Rights

Publication Date

January 16, 2024

Authors

Vivian Hamilton, William & Mary Law School

Research Areas

Technology & AI; Equity & Civil Rights; Curriculum & Instruction; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

A vocal minority of parents has, over the past couple years, invoked the idea of "parents rights" to demand curricular and policy changes that affect not only their own children, but all children within reach of those changes. These parents have, for example, sought to alter history curricula on slavery and race, to dictate how (and whether) schools teach about sexual orientation and gender identity, to remove books in school library collections, and to set school policies relating to transgender students. Interestingly, the most vocal parents taking part in campaigns for parents’ rights tend to see themselves as standing against the state and its schools, instead of standing inside a democratic community that strives for inclusive participation, informed inquiry, and respectful deliberation among the members of the community. In a new NEPC policy brief, The Conflict Over Parents' Rights, Professor Vivian Hamilton of William & Mary Law School details the politicization of parents’ rights and specific rights and responsibilities of various stakeholders, and she explains how competing rights of parents and schools can be reasonably aligned in practice.

Evaluating Research That Alleges Funding Disparities Between Charter and District Schools

Publication Date

September 12, 2023

Authors

Mark Weber, Rutgers University

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Funding

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Over the past decade, pro-charter organizations have published a series of reports claiming that funding disparities put charter schools at a disadvantage compared to public schools run by school districts. However, those conclusions are invariably incorrect due to flawed research methods. In a policy memo released today by NEPC, Evaluating Research That Alleges Funding Disparities Between Charter and District Schools, Mark Weber of Rutgers University and the New Jersey Policy Perspective uses the latest "charter school funding inequity" report to illustrate these fundamental research flaws, thus providing a guide for stakeholders to evaluate the accuracy and transparency of related research.

Section 504 Plans: Examining Inequitable Access and Misuse

Publication Date

June 8, 2023

Authors

Maria M. Lewis, Pennsylvania State University; Raquel Muñiz, Boston College

Research Areas

Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

In a policy brief released today by NEPC, Section 504 Plans: Examining Inequitable Access and Misuse, Maria M. Lewis of Penn State University and Raquel Muñiz of Boston College present research and emerging trends that should inform policymaking around Section 504.

Review of The Economic Cost of the Pandemic: State by State

Publication Date

March 7, 2023

Authors

Eric A. Hanushek; Clive Belfield, Queens College, City University of New York

Research Areas

School Funding; Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability; Technology & AI

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

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.

Review of The System-Level Effects of Denver's Portfolio District Strategy: Technical Report

Publication Date

February 7, 2023

Authors

Parker Baxter, Anna Nicotera, Erik Fuller, Jakob Panzer, Todd Ely, and Paul Teske; Robert Shand, American University

Research Areas

School Choice & Vouchers; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

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. As the report’s lead author told the Denver Post, "This study makes clear that the reforms helped students and strengthened the district." A review of the report concludes, however, that claims attributing those gains specifically to the portfolio reforms are not valid. The report analyzes changes in academic performance as measured by test scores and graduation rates versus comparable schools in Colorado over 11 years of the district’s experimenting with the “portfolio” approach to school district management. The portfolio 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. The model looks to choice, competition, and accountability to drive gains in student performance.

Improving Trauma-Informed Education: Responding to Student Adversity With Equity-Centered, Systemic Support

Publication Date

November 15, 2022

Authors

Stacy Gherardi, New Mexico State University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Talking about education in the United States without talking about trauma has become increasingly difficult. Today’s youth suffer through challenges on multiple fronts, going far beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and its related social and educational fallout. Children experience trauma because of social conditions such as poverty, homelessness, family separation related to immigration, and increasingly frequent school shootings and community violence.

Review of Equity Elementary: “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” Staff in Public Schools

Publication Date

January 25, 2022

Authors

Jay P. Greene and James D. Paul; Edward García Fierros, Villanova University

Research Areas

Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent Heritage Foundation report objects to the increasing number of Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) emerging on public school districts’ administrative teams, but it appears to be supporting a conservative agenda rather than guiding policy related to student achievement gaps.

Review of Suspended Reality: The Impact of Suspension Policy on Student Safety

Publication Date

December 7, 2021

Authors

Will Flanders and Ameillia Wedward; Kathryn E. Wiley, University of Colorado Boulder; Kate Somerville, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights; School Climate & Student Support

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) report suggests a relationship between school suspension rates and some students' perceptions of safety in Milwaukee schools. Its conclusion-which was examined in a new review-claims a causal chain that begins with unpunished misconduct in schools and ends with disruptive classroom environments that harm primarily African American students.

Education Freedom and Student Achievement: Is More School Choice Associated with Higher State-Level Performance on the NAEP?

Publication Date

June 15, 2021

Authors

Patrick J. Wolf, Jay P. Greene, Matthew Ladner, and James D. Paul; T. Jameson Brewer, University of North Georgia; Joel Malin, Miami University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent brief from the School Choice Demonstration Project at the University of Arkansas is being used by voucher advocates to argue that increasing school choice can spur broad test score improvements.

Youth Engagement in Collective Impact Initiatives: Lessons from Promise Neighborhoods

Publication Date

March 30, 2021

Authors

Jessica Shakesprere, Mica O'Brien, and Eona Harison; Dana Mitra, Penn State University

Research Areas

Community Schools; Governance & Public Education; General / Needs Review

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

When youth engage in collective-impact strategies, they have the potential to strengthen the design, implementation, and outcomes of school decision-making. A recent Urban Institute report takes up this important topic, examining what youth engagement initiatives look like within a broader reform structure. It presents a continuum of youth involvement-focused on issues of support, input, and leadership.

Review of Capitalism in the 1619 Project

Publication Date

March 23, 2021

Authors

Samuel Gregg; Seth Rockman, Brown University

Research Areas

School Funding; Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

Recently, the Heritage Foundation published a report, Capitalism in the 1619 Project, seeking to disqualify the 1619 Project curricular materials as insufficiently celebratory of American capitalism. The report primarily asserts that the 1619 Project overstates slavery’s importance to U.S. economic history.

Review of School Accountability-Past, Present, and Future: Findings and Recommendations for State and District Policymakers

Publication Date

February 9, 2021

Authors

Chester E. Finn, Jr.; Gail L. Sunderman, Maryland Equity Project

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the Hoover Institution's Education Success Initiative argues that state and federal officials should retain what it calls "results-based" accountability systems that use standardized assessments of students followed by consequences for not meeting performance goals. But it does not provide the evidence needed to support that contention.

Review of Religious Charter Schools: Legally Permissible? Constitutionally Required?

Publication Date

January 26, 2021

Authors

Nicole Stelle Garnett; Derek Black, University of South Carolina School of Law

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The Manhattan Institute recently published a report concluding that the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue requires states to grant charters to religious organizations, including those that intend to deliver an explicitly religious curriculum that teaches religion as truth.

Review of The Third Way: A Guide to Implementing Innovation Schools

Publication Date

January 21, 2021

Authors

Tressa Pankovits, David Osbourne; Carrie Sampson, Arizona State University; Sarah Diem, University of Missouri

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; Technology & AI; School Funding

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The Progressive Policy Institute recently published a "how-to" guide for entities such as charter management companies that seek to develop innovation schools in urban communities.

Rethinking 'Innovation Schools': Strengths and Limitations of AutonomyBased School Improvement Plans in Contexts of Widening Racial Inequality

Publication Date

October 27, 2020

Authors

Terrenda White and Anna Noble, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

School districts around the country have launched new reform strategies that are designed to expand autonomy for public schools. Often called "Innovation Schools," these state- and local-level plans create more autonomous schools, granting school leaders greater amounts of authority over school operations such as curriculum, budgeting, and hiring, while districts continue to manage services related to teacher payroll and benefits.

Review of Are Charter Schools Safer Than District-Run Schools? Evidence from Pennsylvania | Review of Effects of Charter School Competition on District School Budgeting Decisions: Experimental Evidence from Texas

Publication Date

June 9, 2020

Authors

Corey A. DeAngelis | Corey A. DeAngelis and Christian Barnard; Bruce Fuller, University of California, Berkeley

Research Areas

Charter Schools; School Funding; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The first study describes how rates of reported low-incidence student infractions are lower in charters, on average. Analyses that include some statistical controls continue to yield results favorable to charters. The author concludes, “The public charter school sector advantages suggest that increasing access to public charter schools in Pennsylvania could improve school climate outcomes for students.” The second report aims to show that competition from the opening of an imagined nearby charter school can increase principals’ preference for budget autonomy and change how they allocate campus budgets to differing positions and instructional resources. The authors assert that their study offers “experimental evidence” that “anticipated charter school competition has large negative effects on school leaders’ reported spending on certain categories of support staff.”

Review of Comparing Ed Reforms: Assessing the Experimental Research on Nine K-12 Education Reforms

Publication Date

May 26, 2020

Authors

Paul DiPerna; Bruce D. Baker, Rutgers University

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Equity & Civil Rights; Assessment & Accountability; Early Childhood; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from EdChoice, working with Hanover Research, identifies and reviews studies that use Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) to determine student achievement or educational attainment outcomes of nine broad "education reform" areas.

Investing for “Impact” or Investing for Profit? Social Impact Bonds, Pay for Success, and the Next Wave of Privatization of Social Services

Publication Date

February 4, 2020

Authors

Martin Carnoy, Stanford University; Roxana Marachi, San José State University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; School Climate & Student Support; School Funding

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Is there a role for private investors in public social policy? In the past decade, we have seen the rise of new financial structures entering the social services arena, with corresponding legislation now poised to change how social services are delivered and who delivers them. While different programs use different terms—including, for example, Pay for Success or Results-Based Financing—the umbrella term encompassing these new financing models is the "Social Impact Bond" (SIB).

Report on Academic Progress Is a Worthwhile Conversation Starter

Publication Date

November 26, 2019

Authors

Michael J. Petrilli; Jaekyung Lee, University at Buffalo, SUNY

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education; Equity & Civil Rights

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The Fordham Institute recently released a report highlighting the academic progress of Black and Hispanic groups over the past two decades at the elementary school level on the NAEP exam. From this, the report offers the major claim, based on its author’s eyeball test, that the academic progress of students of color is attributable “mostly” to poverty reduction. The report, however, also acknowledges that correlation is not causation and calls for systematic statistical analysis to test the author’s proposition.

Report Advocates Privatizing Schools Overseas, but Without Convincing Evidence

Publication Date

October 31, 2019

Authors

Katelyn Donnelly, Arvind Nagarajan, and Ross Lescano Lipstein; Frank Adamson, California State University, Sacramento

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A new report, Beyond the Mirage: How Pragmatic Stewardship Could Transform Learning Outcomes in International Education Systems, prescribes a shift in the leadership role of education ministers - from providers and guarantors of education to pragmatic stewards of education systems. Focusing on the organization of education sectors in the Global South, the report contends that this shift from "provider" to "steward" will address the need for higher quality education, rather than simply providing access to education. The "pragmatic stewardship" advocated in the report involves strategies that increasingly incorporate private actors. Accordingly, the report draws on four case studies of different types of private-sector involvement in education as examples of a recommended broader shift by education ministers.

Despite Serious Problems and a Lack of Research Support, Virtual Schools Continue to Spread as Policymakers Remain AWOL

Publication Date

May 29, 2019

Authors

Alex Molnar, Series Editor University of Colorado, Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Technology & AI

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

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Multiple Shortcomings Mar Report Ranking Michigan High Schools

Publication Date

April 30, 2019

Authors

Faith Boninger, Alex Molnar, and Christopher M. Saldaña, of the University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

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The Michigan Context and Performance Report Card: High Schools 2018

Publication Date

April 18, 2019

Authors

Ben DeGrow and Ronald Klinger; John T. Yun of Michigan State University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from Mackinac Center for Public Policy seeks to measure and publicize high school performance by ranking schools according to their test scores after attempting controlling for students’ “economic status.”

Education System Alignment for 21st Century Skills: Focus on Assessment

Publication Date

April 2, 2019

Authors

Lorrie Shepard, of the University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Curriculum & Instruction; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A report from the Brookings Institution uses international examples to make the case for the importance of “21st century skills” as goals for education systems. It focuses specifically on the development of new assessment methods as a primary means to help countries integrate these 21st century skills – such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and communication – into curricular reforms.

The Opportunity Myth: What Students Can Show Us About How School Is Letting Them Down—and How to Fix It

Publication Date

January 24, 2019

Authors

Amanda Datnow of the University of California, San Diego

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Teacher Workforce

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from TNTP, formerly The New Teacher Project, aims to expose what it labels the “opportunity myth” in American education: that while schools purport to prepare students well, they don’t deliver.

Our Next Assignment: Where Americans Stand on Public K-12 Education: A Review of Recent Opinion Research

Publication Date

January 15, 2019

Authors

Rebecca Silliman and David Schleifer; Gustavo E. Fischman, Arizona State University Kevin Winn, Arizona State University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from Public Agenda compiled public opinion surveys to show where the American public stands on education issues. The report notes the importance of gauging current public understandings about education, particularly given three major policy changes in the past 10 years: Race to the Top, the Common Core State Standards, and the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Everything You Know About State Education Rankings Is Wrong/Fixing the Currently Biased State K-12 Education Rankings

Publication Date

November 27, 2018

Authors

Stan J. Liebowitz and Matthew L. Kelly; Bruce D. Baker, Rutgers University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; School Funding; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

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Unlocking Potential: How Political Skill Can Maximize Superintendent Effectiveness

Publication Date

March 6, 2018

Authors

Paul Hill and Ashley Jochim; William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) sought to provide an overview on how school district superintendents could be more effective at influencing others, harnessing the political power of the position, and exercising real power to accomplish agendas. The report attempts to describe the work of a superintendent as a series of interactions with internal groups (working in a school district) and external stakeholders (business and foundation leaders, and policymakers).

Student-Centered State Funding: A How-to Guide for State Policymakers

Publication Date

January 9, 2018

Authors

Bruce D. Baker, Rutgers University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Teacher Workforce; School Funding

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A report from Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) attempted to illustrate and explain how state policymakers could design fairer and more transparent state funding systems where monies ‘follow the child’ through parental choice. The school finance systems promoted in the report allow for all state and local tax dollars to flow freely to local district, charter, or private and religious schools. The central premise of the report is: “that adopting ‘student-centered’ funding to enable parental choice of schools necessarily leads to a fairer and more transparent system for financing children’s schooling.”

Community Schools: An Evidence-Based Strategy for Equitable School Improvement

Publication Date

June 5, 2017

Authors

Jeannie Oakes, National Education Policy Center and the Learning Policy Institute; Anna Maier, LPI; and Julia Daniel, NEPC.

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Community Schools; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

A new policy brief, co-produced by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) and the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), explores the research on community schools. Community schools represent a partnership and school improvement strategy to integrate resources provided by community agencies and local government for improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities. According to the authors, community schools are strongly supported by research, and can be a particularly important strategy for transforming high-poverty schools. Further research on community schools and the conditions required for successful implementation is needed.

School Closure as a Strategy to Remedy Low Performance

Publication Date

May 18, 2017

Authors

Gail L. Sunderman, University of Maryland; Erin Coghlan, University of California Berkeley; and Rick Mintrop, University of California Berkeley.

Research Areas

General / Needs Review; Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Closing a “low-performing” school and sending students to a “better-performing” one has been offered as a school improvement strategy, which the logic suggests will motivate schools to improve. A new policy brief released today investigates whether closing schools is an option that policymakers should pursue. According to the brief, the limited evidence base suggests that school closures are not a promising strategy for remedying low performance. The authors write, “School closures have at best weak and decidedly mixed benefits; at worst they have detrimental repercussions for students if districts do not ensure that seats at higher-performing schools are available for transfer students.”

Reimagining Learning: A Big Bet on the Future of American Education

Publication Date

March 7, 2017

Authors

Stacey Childress and Meghan Amrofell; Jeffrey W. Snyder, Cleveland State University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Technology & AI

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the NewSchools Venture Fund offered a thought experiment on how philanthropists can help accelerate efforts to reimagine school. It suggested that philanthropic investment should make a “big bet” on innovative models. It called for a total investment of $4 billion over 10 years through three key areas: (1) creating new schools and redesigning existing ones; (2) supporting targeted technology innovation; and (3) launching a campaign to foster understanding and demand for innovative education models.

Measures of Last Resort: Assessing Strategies for State-Initiated Turnarounds

Publication Date

February 14, 2017

Authors

Ashley Jochim; Betty Malen and Jennifer King Rice, University of Maryland

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) attempted to provide evidence for states seeking to better support state-initiated turnaround strategies. The report sought to identify effective mechanisms states can use to improve school performance. It provides a broad-brush profile of the various forms of state initiated turnarounds.

Better Evidence, Better Choices, Better Schools: State Supports for Evidence-Based School Improvement

Publication Date

January 12, 2017

Authors

Steve Fleischman, Caitlin Scott, and Scott Sargrad; Terri S. Wilson, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The Center for American Progress (CAP) and Knowledge Alliance released a report on the evidence-based provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The report called for a shift away from federal mandates toward greater state and local autonomy. It sought to provide guidance for school districts seeking to make decisions based on evidence to improve their lowest performing schools. And lastly, the report offered eight key recommendations for implementing evidence-based strategies.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – Regulating Charter Schools

Publication Date

August 23, 2016

Authors

William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

As part of Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking, a multipart brief that takes up a number of important policy issues, William J. Mathis examines charter school accountability. Mathis finds that despite the premise of market-based accountability, charter schools are not sufficiently being held accountable or regulated.

Review of A 21st Century School System in the Mile-High City

Publication Date

July 26, 2016

Authors

David Osborne; Terrenda White, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Curriculum & Instruction

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the Progressive Policy Institute advocated for expanded use of the “portfolio model” of school governance. The report drew on contemporary reforms adopted by the Denver Public Schools. It claimed that reforms enacted by the Denver Public Schools (viz., portfolio model, school closings, and charter expansion) positively impacted student test scores. The goal was to highlight Denver as a success story that should be copied elsewhere.

Measuring School Turnaround Success

Publication Date

July 20, 2016

Authors

Cassie Lutterloh, Jeanette P. Cornier, & Bryan C. Hassel; Tina Trujillo, University of California Berkeley; and Marialena Rivera, Texas State University

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A report produced by Public Impact for WestEd’s Center on School Turnaround asserted that because there is a lack of a shared definition of school turnaround success for states and districts, it is difficult for school districts to learn from one another. The report claimed to provide a model for defining school turnaround success. The report bases its model framework for determining turnaround success on three school-level measures: (1) proficiency in reading and math on state assessments; (2) growth in reading and math on state assessments; and (3) graduate rate (for high schools).

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – The Effectiveness of Class Size Reduction

Publication Date

June 21, 2016

Authors

William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Equity & Civil Rights; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

In The Effectiveness of Class Size Reduction, William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder, addresses why class size matters. According to Mathis, smaller class sizes improve student outcomes, especially for low-income and minority children.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – Does Money Matter?

Publication Date

June 16, 2016

Authors

William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

In Does Money Matter?, William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder, discusses why money matters in education. He concludes that despite claims to the contrary, adequate and equitable funding is necessary for schools to improve their performance – especially schools serving children living in poverty.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – The Purpose of Education: Truing the Balance Wheel

Publication Date

June 2, 2016

Authors

William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability; Equity & Civil Rights

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

In The Purpose of Education: Truing the Balance Wheel, William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder, discusses what it would take for Horace Mann’s ideal of education as the “great equalizer of the conditions of men” to become a reality. Mann proclaimed that education was the bedrock of democracy and that it had the potential to serve as a “balance wheel of social machinery.” Mathis recommends that in order to true the balance wheel (as Mann desired), both in-school and out-of-school factors need to be addressed.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – Housing Policy

Publication Date

May 24, 2016

Authors

Kevin G. Welner and William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Because educational opportunities and life chances are inextricably tied to family wealth and housing advantages, Kevin Welner and William Mathis call for a comprehensive, cohesive approach to address societal inequities. In Housing Policy, the authors recommend that multiple approaches can and should be implemented as a united set of mutually supportive initiatives. In their recommendations, the authors suggest that housing integration policies that address housing supply and affordability can be beneficial.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking - Reading Qualitative Educational Policy Research

Publication Date

May 4, 2016

Authors

William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

According to William J. Mathis, managing director of the National Education Policy Center, both quantitative and qualitative research methods have the ability to inform policymaking. In particular, qualitative research can fill in gaps in our understanding that quantitative methods cannot capture. Mathis says, “Regardless of the research method used, readers should insist on high-quality work.” This short, concise policy brief provides questions that readers can look for of quality qualitative research.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – Five Simple Steps to Reading Policy Research

Publication Date

April 28, 2016

Authors

Holly Yettick, Education Week Research Center

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Curriculum & Instruction

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

As part of Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking, a multipart brief that takes up a number of important policy issues, Holly Yettick, Ph.D., director of the Education Week Research Center, provides a single-page brief to identify tips for recognizing higher-quality research studies and making better use of education policy research.

Marshall Jean, University of Chicago

Publication Date

April 18, 2016

Authors

Rosa Pazhouh, Robin Lake, Larry Miller; Gary Miron, Western Michigan University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Technology & AI

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A study from the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), an organization that often advocates for charter schools, attempted to provide an in-depth analysis of policy features across the states that allow for online charter schools. The report concluded that online charter schools should use a separate regulatory framework than brick-and-mortar charter schools. The report is part of a series of three, which were sponsored by the Walton Foundation.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – Do Choice Policies Segregate Schools?

Publication Date

March 31, 2016

Authors

William Mathis and Kevin Welner, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability; Equity & Civil Rights; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Despite advocates advancing the notion that integration can be promoted by increased school choice, a new brief considers the research evidence of those policies. The concise brief concludes that while choice policies may be designed and implemented in ways intended to advance integration; the result has been increased stratification. The National Education Policy Center published the brief with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – The 'Portfolio' Approach to School District Governance

Publication Date

March 29, 2016

Authors

William Mathis and Kevin Welner, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

A new concise policy brief considers the research evidence of “portfolio” districts. According to the brief, the approach shifts decision-making away from local school district leaders. Despite concerns, the approach is now being used in several large urban districts across the country. The authors find that changing the governance structure creates a “false promise” for communities and could distract from larger efforts to address societal inequities.

SchoolGrades.org

Publication Date

March 10, 2016

Authors

Jacob L. Vigdor and Josh B. McGee; Jaime L. Del Razo, Annenberg Institute for School Reform & Brown University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research launched a website, SchoolGrades.org, which aimed to provide a means to compare how well America’s schools prepare students in core subjects. The website attempts to evaluate and assign letter grades to schools using reading and math test scores. The website claims that the school grades found on the site allow parents to compare local schools against schools in other countries using a four-step process.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking – Reversing the Deprofessionalization of Teaching

Publication Date

December 8, 2015

Authors

William Mathis and Kevin Welner, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Teacher Workforce

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

As part of a series of briefs being released by the National Education Policy Center with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice, William J. Mathis and Kevin Welner, University of Colorado Boulder, discuss three forces impacting teachers: (a) alternative (fast-track or no-track) teacher preparation and licensure; (b) teacher evaluation approaches that are largely focused on students’ test scores; and (c) scripted, narrow curriculum that can be constricting and demoralizing for high-quality teachers.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking - School Accountability, Multiple Measures and Inspectorates in a Post-NCLB World

Publication Date

October 25, 2015

Authors

William Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

First brief in a series of concise publications considers alternative accountability approaches: As a part of a new series of briefs being released beginning today by the National Education Policy Center with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice, William J. Mathis, University of Colorado Boulder, discusses the efficacy of three types of school evaluation approaches: (1) test based accountability; (2) multiple measures; and (3) school self-evaluations plus inspectorates.

Ten Years in New Orleans: Public School Resurgence and the Path Ahead

Publication Date

October 21, 2015

Authors

Christen Holly, Tim Field, Juli Kim, Bryan C. Hassel, Maggie Runyan-Shefa, Michael Stone, and Davis Zaunbrecher; Adrienne D. Dixson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A report published by Public Impact and New Schools for New Orleans attempted to review 10 years of education reforms in post-Katrina New Orleans, and the creation of a “portfolio model.” The report argued that the reform experiment has been an unquestioned success, and other cities should duplicate efforts. Overall, the report lays out a grand vision for the future of public education in New Orleans, which was described by the authors as “America’s first great urban public school system.” It is organized into six themes: governance, schools, talent, equity, community, and funders.

Increasing Education: What it Will and Will Not Do for Earnings and Earnings Inequality

Publication Date

May 18, 2015

Authors

Brad Hershbein, Melissa S. Kearney, and Lawrence H. Summers; Marvin Lazerson, Central European University and University of Pennsylvania; and Ryan Pfleger, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Technology & AI; Governance & Public Education; General / Needs Review

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the Hamilton Project sought to study how public investment in education will further long-term prosperity, economic growth, and individual economic security. The inquiry focused on whether or not a bachelor’s degree or higher education would increase economic prosperity and reduce economic inequality.

Dramatic Action, Dramatic Improvement: the Research on School Turnaround

Publication Date

May 11, 2015

Authors

The Center for American Progress (CAP) recently released a report advocating for implementation of evidence-based best practices for turning around low-performing schools through the federal School Im; Tina Trujillo, University of California Berkeley

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The Center for American Progress (CAP) recently released a report advocating for implementation of evidence-based best practices for turning around low-performing schools through the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. It concluded that five dramatic actions are necessary to bring about dramatic school improvement. An academic review finds the rationale for its assertions to be narrow, incoherent, and misleading.

Measuring and Understanding Education Advocacy

Publication Date

April 16, 2015

Authors

Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, David Stuit, Claire Graves, and Lauren Shaw; Robin Rogers, Queens College, CUNY Sara Goldrick-Rab, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The report looked at the causal influence of organizations for and against education reform in Louisiana, Tennessee, and North Carolina. According to the report, findings indicated that coordination of advocacy groups strengthens their impact on the introduction of policy into the legislative arena, content of legislation, and the votes of members of the legislature. The report also found that the groups’ perceived influence closely tracked outcomes. The report utilized two methodological innovations to measure the impact of advocacy groups on education reform policy: (1) Surveys with Placebo (SwP); and (2) Critical Path Analysis (CPA).

Why School Report Cards Merit a Failing Grade

Publication Date

January 26, 2015

Authors

Kenneth R. Howe and Kevin Murray, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

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Better Data, Better Decisions: Informing School Choosers to Improve Education Markets and A Crisis We Can Solve: Connecticut’s Failing Schools and Their Impact

Publication Date

January 5, 2015

Authors

John Valant; Erin McNamara Horvat, Temple University; and David Everington Baugh, Bensalem Township School District, Pennsylvania

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

This report, published by AEI, asserts that choice is seen as a mechanism, and at times a panacea, for better educational quality. The report provides an overview of what families want from schools, where they get information on schools, and how they use information to make decisions. The report concludes that informed choice and the power of the market will produce better educational outcomes. The ConnCAN report makes a case that there is a desperate need to improve school quality in Connecticut’s neediest neighborhoods and promotes charter schools as the best and perhaps only method for increasing the number of high-quality educational seats in Connecticut.

The Efficiency Index

Publication Date

September 23, 2014

Authors

Peter Dolton, Oliver Marcenaro-Gutierrez, and Adam Still; Clive Belfield, Queens College, City University of New York

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

This report, supported by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), measured efficiency based on test scores, and resource use analyzed in terms of teachers wages and pupil-teacher ratios. It looked at costs for teachers and educational outcomes, and did not consider socioeconomic differences.

The State Education Agency: At the Helm, Not the Oar

Publication Date

June 7, 2014

Authors

Andrew Smarick & Juliet Squire; Peter W. Cookson, Jr., Georgetown University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

An academic review finds the report is well written, but reveals that the findings and recommendations are not based on original research. In his review, Peter W. Cookson, Jr. found the report fails to support its findings or recommendations with the in-depth research needed to support the sweeping claims in the report. "There is no real substantiation of their claims about the failings of SEAs or the efficacy of their solutions; it relies on the preponderance of secondary evidence as the authors' have collected it." Cookson further states: "The methods used in this report are more akin to advocacy journalism than scholarship."

New York City's Children First: Lessons in School Reform

Publication Date

June 3, 2014

Authors

Maureen Kelleher; Randal Reback, Barnard College

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; School Choice & Vouchers; Teacher Workforce

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the Center for American Progress summarizes and evaluates the public education reforms during the Bloomberg mayoral era in NYC. The report suggests that positive change resulted from the Children First reforms and makes several policy recommendations. The report describes four aspects of reform during the Bloomberg era, and makes recommendations for NYC and other urban districts. It focuses on top-down school reforms from the mayor's office, rather than on instructional changes inside classrooms.

The Effect of Co-locations on Student Achievement in NYC Public Schools

Publication Date

April 15, 2014

Authors

Marcus A. Winters; Tina Trujillo and Marialena Rivera, UC-Berkeley

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The report from the Manhattan Institute investigated the effect of colocations of charter schools and traditional public schools on a narrow range of standardized test scores. It focused on students' test scores and looked at fourth through eighth grade ELA and math standardized assessment gains. Colocation was not found to have a significant impact on students' test scores.

Review of The Economic Benefits of New York City’s Public School Reforms, 2002-2013

Publication Date

March 31, 2014

Authors

Robert J. Shapiro, Sonecon, Inc. & Kevin A. Hassett, American Enterprise Institute (AEI); Sean P. Corcoran, New York University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; School Funding

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

An estimated $74 billion impact was attributed to the reforms (based on earnings of students who graduated under the reforms – who might not have otherwise – and on property values). The report assumes that higher graduation rates and charter school availability increased residential property values in the city.

A Legal Lever for Enhancing Productivity

Publication Date

February 27, 2014

Authors

Elizabeth Ettema, Krishanu Sengupta, and Sandy Kress; Clive Belfield, Queens College, City University of New York

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

This report examines the extent to which the Texas education system is efficient. Using a five-factor definition of efficiency, the authors argue that in key areas – teacher training, teacher evaluation, teacher pay-setting, and use of instructional materials – the Texas education system is unlikely to be efficient or cannot demonstrate efficiency.

Model Legislative Language for Comprehensive Assessment and Accountability

Publication Date

October 22, 2013

Authors

Andy Hargreaves, Boston College Henry Braun, Boston College

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education; Teacher Workforce

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

In a report released today, Andy Hargreaves and Henry Braun of Boston College describe how data-driven accountability initiatives have created “perverse” incentives for educators. The legislative brief highlights the flawed use of DDIA in much, though not all, of the U.S. education system. To restore focus on improvement, schools should consider systematic reforms that capture the full range of learning and assess educational values holistically, instead of relying on narrow metrics to define success that punish teachers and students. The brief includes twelve recommendations for establishing more effective systems and processes of Data-Driven or Evidence-Informed Improvement and Accountability. Model legislation by attorney Kathy Gebhardt accompanies Data-Driven Improvement and Accountability.

Data-driven Improvement and Accountability

Publication Date

October 22, 2013

Authors

ndy Hargreaves, Boston College Henry Braun, Boston College

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

In a report released today, Andy Hargreaves and Henry Braun of Boston College describe how data-driven accountability initiatives have created “perverse” incentives for educators. The legislative brief highlights the flawed use of DDIA in much, though not all, of the U.S. education system. To restore focus on improvement, schools should consider systematic reforms that capture the full range of learning and assess educational values holistically, instead of relying on narrow metrics to define success that punish teachers and students. The brief includes twelve recommendations for establishing more effective systems and processes of Data-Driven or Evidence-Informed Improvement and Accountability. Model legislation by attorney Kathy Gebhardt accompanies Data-Driven Improvement and Accountability.

“Building the Possible: The Achievement School District’s Presentation in Milwaukee” & “The Recovery School District’s Presentation in Milwaukee”

Publication Date

October 8, 2013

Authors

Elliot Smalley, Chief of Staff for Achievement School District Patrick Dobard, Superintendent of the Recovery School District; Elizabeth DeBray, University of Georgia Huriya Jabbar, University of California Berkeley

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

Portfolio districts, such as the Recovery School District (RSD) and the Achievement School District (ASD), remove schools from the governance of locally elected school boards and superintendents and place them into districts that answer to a state authority. The presenters aimed to encourage other districts to adopt such governance structures although no rigorous research has yet examined their effectiveness.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking

Publication Date

June 13, 2013

Authors

William Mathis, University of Colorado-Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

The research behind such "hot button" educational issues as Common Core State Standards, teacher evaluations, ability grouping and LGBT safety in schools is examined in a compendium of ten short briefs written by Dr. William Mathis of the University of Colorado Boulder. Each section focuses on a different issue, and its recommendations to policymakers are based on the latest scholarship

Middle Class or Middle of the Pack: What can we learn when benchmarking U.S. schools against the world’s best

Publication Date

June 4, 2013

Authors

Martin Carnoy, Stanford University

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

America Achieves report calls for additional international testing. The authors of the report consider recent PISA results a "wake up call to America’s middle class" and contend in response that U.S. high schools should start taking part in a new international test that is to compare the academic knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds- around the world.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking — Moving Beyond Tracking

Publication Date

May 30, 2013

Authors

William Mathis, University of Colorado-Boulder

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education; Curriculum & Instruction

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Dr. William Mathis, managing director of the National Education Policy Center, summarizes current relevant findings in education policy research. Despite incontrovertible evidence demonstrating the harms of ability grouping, resistance to the elimination of tracking in schools remains strong. The latest in a series of two- and three-page briefs summarizing current relevant findings in education policy research reviews the evidence for and against “tracking” students through school – that is, assigning students to particular classes, curricula and courses of study by their perceived ability.

Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking - Twenty-first-Century Skills and Implications for Education

Publication Date

May 14, 2013

Authors

William Mathis, University of Colorado-Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Dr. William Mathis, managing director of the National Education Policy Center, summarizes current relevant findings in education policy research explores the idea of “21st Century skills.” The brief explains the sometimes-conflicting values and proposals for making schools relevant to meeting the needs of the 21st Century. This short brief is part of Research-Based Options for Education Policymaking, a multipart brief that takes up a number of important policy issues and identifies policies supported by research.

Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform (18th edition)

Publication Date

May 9, 2013

Authors

Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois T. Jameson Brewer, University of Illinois

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

The 18th edition of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) Report Card draws on ratings from market-orientated advocacy groups to grade states in areas such as allowances for charter schools, availability of vouchers, and permissiveness for homeschoolers.

Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2013: Politics, Performance, Policy, and Research Evidence

Publication Date

May 2, 2013

Authors

Alex Molnar, University of Colorado Boulder (editor) Gary Miron, Western Michigan University Luis Huerta, Teachers College, Columbia University Jennifer King Rice, University of Maryland Larry Cuban,

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Technology & AI

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Major virtual schools report uncovers underperforming schools: In the last decade, virtual schools have expanded rapidly although there is little data to support their growth. The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice, released the first of a planned series of annual reports on the performance of virtual schools, the policy issues that virtual schools raise, and the available research evidence on virtual education. Authors urge policymakers to slow or stop the growth of these schools until more research is done and accountability measures can be put into place.

Mayoral Governance and Student Achievement: How Mayor-Led Districts are Improving School and Student Performance

Publication Date

April 23, 2013

Authors

Katrina E. Bulkley, Montclair State University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; Assessment & Accountability

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

A recent report from the Center for American Progress claims that mayor-led districts may use resources more strategically and that mayor-controlled districts have seen increases in student achievement. The report also states that moving to a mayoral-controlled district can also help spur innovation and advancement.

Does Sorting Students Improve Scores? An Analysis of Class Composition

Publication Date

April 2, 2013

Authors

Dr. Carol Corbett Burris, South Side High School Katherine Allison, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

Despite the vast majority of research into tracking or ability grouping of students, a recently released report from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) purports that sorting students by ability improves outcomes for low-achieving and high-achieving students alike.

What Does It Take to Scale Up Innovations? An Examination of Teach For America, Harlem Children’s Zone, and the Knowledge is Power Program

Publication Date

March 14, 2013

Authors

Ben Levin, University of Toronto

Research Areas

Charter Schools; Governance & Public Education; General / Needs Review

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

What Does It Take to Scale Up Innovations? A new brief investigates whether innovations are scalable and able to make a difference widely, using three commonly proposed innovations as examples. Ben Levin, University of Toronto, analyzes Teach For America (TFA), KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program), and the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), which has already spawned the U.S. Department of Education’s Promise Neighborhoods program. Levin determined that there are barriers and opportunities to the scalability of these programs. The brief cautions policymakers to avoid the temptation of proclaiming small-scale innovative programs as solutions to large-scale problems in education.

Estimating the effect of leaders on public sector productivity: The case for school principals AND “School Leaders Matter”

Publication Date

March 5, 2013

Authors

Margaret Terry Orr, Bank Street College of Education

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

This report attempted to estimate how much “high” and “low” effective principals affect student achievement. The study also explored patterns of change in the composition of schools’ teaching staffs, as well as the movement of principal talent across schools.

State Policy Report Card

Publication Date

February 20, 2013

Authors

Sherman Dorn, University of South Florida Ken Libby, University of Colorado Boulder

Research Areas

Assessment & Accountability; Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

This report assigned letter grades to states based on its preferred policies regarding school choice, defined contribution pension programs, private vouchers, test-based accountability and centralized control of public schools.

Democracy Left Behind: How Recent Education Reforms Undermine Local School Governance and Democratic Education

Publication Date

October 16, 2012

Authors

Kenneth Howe, University of Colorado-Boulder David Meens, University of Colorado- Boulder

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

Kenneth Howe and David Meens, of the University of Colorado at Boulder, examine the suppression of local control by policymakers and what it means for our democracy. A new report presents a comprehensive review of research on two key elements—democratic policymaking and democratic education. The evidence surveyed in this report suggests that contemporary reforms “run afoul of democratic principles in several critical ways.”

Democratic School Turnarounds: Pursuing Equity and Learning from Evidence

Publication Date

October 1, 2012

Authors

Legislative Brief: Tina Trujillo, Michelle Renée Model Legislation: Tara Kini

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Policy Brief

Summary

School Improvement Grant program in need of reform. A new brief by Tina Truillo of the University of California at Berkeley and Michelle Renée of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University finds that standardized test scores are not a reliable measure for student growth and are even more problematic as a measure of whether a turnaround was successful or not, because test scores ignore social, civic and broader academic aspects of schooling. Model legislation accompanies this brief to create state-level school improvements that foster equitable, democratic, and sustainable school turnarounds in priority schools.

Parent Power: Grass-Roots Activism and K-12 Education Reform

Publication Date

September 6, 2012

Authors

Michelle Fine, CUNY Stan Karp, Education Law Center

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education; General / Needs Review

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

This report reviews a narrow selection of education reform advocacy organizations (ERAOs), which seek to organize parents around market-based school reforms.

The Louisiana Recovery School District: Lessons for the Buckeye State

Publication Date

March 20, 2012

Authors

Kristen Buras, Georgia State University

Research Areas

Governance & Public Education

Publication Type

Think Twice

Summary

This report claims that the charter school-driven Recovery School District in New Orleans can be replicated in other urban centers.