Seven elements for effective community-school partnerships
The phrase "It takes a village" is at the heart of a school reform movement called partnerships for learning, which aims to integrate community resources with local schools…
School Reform Research
Gates Foundation: Test scores not enough for teacher evaluation
After three years of research on measuring teacher effectiveness, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Jan. 8 that it takes multiple measures to most accurately evaluate teachers.
States nervous about new Common Core school standards
In Kentucky this year, the percentage of elementary and middle-school students who rated "proficient" or better on statewide math and reading tests declined by about a third. Kentucky…
Quality of Texas teachers dropping with low pay
The quality of Texas' teachers is dropping largely because of low pay in a competitive market, an expert economist testified Tuesday in the public school finance trial, the…
Fla. teachers score well in new state eval system
Nearly 97 percent of Florida teachers were rated as "effective" or "highly effective" under a controversial new evaluation system released by state officials Wednesday, but within hours they…
Young teachers drawn to kids, career starts tricky
Jordan McNeil offered skills in high demand by public schools when she graduated from college with a dual major in special education and elementary education in 2011, the…
How effective are student surveys in teacher evaluations?
Student surveys about their classroom teachers have merit and could be useful, but school leaders should take care to not be too influenced by student feedback, according to…
More training is key to better school data use
Schools and districts have come a long way in gathering and analyzing data to help boost student achievement, but according to a new report from the Data Quality…
Traditional or charter schools? Actually, they help each other, study says
Charter schools are not a silver bullet for education reform, a new report says, but applying the best practices from some charter schools to low-performing public schools may…
Charters draw students from private schools, study finds
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Math education: What’s the problem?
A new report from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) tackles the U.S. algebra and mathematics dilemma and is the latest to suggest that not all students should be…
New online community shares ed-tech best practices
Project RED, an ed-tech research and advocacy group that has been studying how technology can help re-engineer the education system, has created a new online community for school…
Report: Where do the ‘irreplaceable’ teachers go?
The high rate of teachers cycling in and out of schools is detrimental to the education profession and worse for students, decades of policy and research asserts. But…
Culture change needed to attract, keep teachers in struggling schools
A new report released by The Education Trust emphasizes the need for policy and culture changes in the public education sector, and not just updated teacher evaluation systems,…
How can schools better motivate students?
It might seem like common sense: To achieve better results, students have to be motivated. But what can schools do about this? A new report from the Center…
Universal Design for Learning: The next big thing in school reform?
As educators brace for new reforms, what will these changes look like? How will assessments and curriculum differ from previous versions? How can all students get the best…
Breakfast in the classroom changing student performance
In the first month of a new experiment inside a Dixwell school, the number of kids eating breakfast shot up by 75 percent—a swift change that officials hope…
Parents, educators want more from assessment
Thanks to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, K-12 educators are spending more time than ever before on testing their students' skills—but is all this testing doing…
Study: Preparing to fail helps students succeed
Every day for the last four years, Leah Alcala has greeted her Berkeley, California, middle-school students with an exercise she calls "my favorite no," the Huffington Post reports.
Education gap grows between rich and poor, studies say
Education historically was considered a great equalizer in American society, capable of lifting less advantaged children and improving their chances for success as adults. But a body of…
MLK’s prescient thinking on education reform
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote repeatedly on the subject of education and some of his thinking on the subject, while decades old, is still relevant, the Washington Post…
What research exposed about market-based ed reform in 2011
If 2010 was the year of the bombshell in research in the three “major areas” of market-based education reform–charter schools, performance pay, and value-added in evaluations–then 2011 was…
HISD reform effort nets math gains, but reading falls flat
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‘Principal pipeline’ project targets six major districts
Six school districts will receive funding from a $75 million initiative that will help them develop a much larger corps of effective school principals and determine whether this…
States face challenges when it comes to school reform
With a renewed focus on student achievement and school reform, many state education agencies (SEAs) find themselves under pressure to change operations and show positive results, and a…
What makes an effective school principal?
Recent research shows that good principals in K-12 schools can create dramatic improvement, particularly in the lowest performing schools—but the consistency, fairness, and value of current principal evaluation…
Report highlights importance of early childhood education
Children who attend high-quality pre-kindergarten programs are more likely to graduate from high school, says a new report that calls on states and communities to build an aligned…
Report shows education options expanding across U.S.
When it comes to education options—from kindergarten up through college—the decision is no longer simple for students and their parents, a new federal report suggests.
What the U.S. can learn about improving teacher effectiveness
U.S. policy makers and educators should look to high-performing global education systems for valuable lessons as they seek to develop systems that improve teacher and school leader effectiveness,…
Stakeholders differ on college and career readiness
A new report reveals that while teachers, parents, students, and executives believe that college- and career-readiness is essential to students’ post-high school success, the groups rate this differently…
Report: Blended learning could hit or miss
Blended learning has the ability to transform education, according to a new report—but if certain guidelines and practices aren’t ensured, blended learning could become just another add-on to…
Study: Students need more paths to career success
The current U.S. education system is failing to prepare millions of young adults for successful careers by providing a one-size-fits-all approach, and it should take a cue from…
Readers sound off on value-added model, district efficiency
In recent eSchool News stories, we asked readers if teachers should be evaluated using the value-added model, and whether school districts should be judged based on their efficiency.…
If education were a business…
A controversial new study published by the Center for American Progress analyzes K-12 school districts based on their productivity: the academic achievement a district produces relative to its…
U.S. public wants an easier way to fire bad teachers
An overwhelming majority of Americans are frustrated that it's too difficult to get rid of bad teachers, while most also believe that teachers aren't paid enough, a new…
Report: Only one percent of ‘bad’ schools turn around
A study out Tuesday underlines just how hard it is to actually turn around a failing school, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
Have stimulus funds helped spur educational technology gains?
Nearly two years after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed, two new reports offer varying perspectives on how successful the billions of dollars in federal…
High school graduation rate is increasing, report shows
Higher standards, better data use, and more parent engagement are among the strategies responsible for the first significant improvement in America's high school graduation rate in 40 years,…
Growth of online instruction continues, though unevenly
Online instruction continues to grow quickly overall, according to the latest snapshot of online education programs in grades K-12. But the shape and pace of this growth remains…
Study: Teacher bonuses failed to boost test scores
Offering big bonuses to teachers failed to raise students' test scores in a three-year study released Sept. 21 that calls into question the Obama administration's push for merit…