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Advancing Educational Excellence

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About Our Research

We conduct research on the education policies, interventions, supports, and conditions that advance educational excellence for all young Americans. We distill sometimes complex research findings into user-friendly, actionable reports to educate and equip policymakers, practitioners, parents, students, and communities to take action to improve K–12 education.

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Imperfect Attendance: Toward a fairer measure of student absenteeism

The need to understand how schools can improve student attendance has never been greater. This study breaks new ground by examining high schools’ contributions to attendance—that is, their “attendance value-added.”

Jing Liu, Ph.D. 4.13.2022
NationalReport
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Assessing the Nation’s Report Card: Challenges and Choices for NAEP

How do we see whether achievement gaps between groups of students are widening or narrowing? How can we tell whether eighth graders in Missouri do better or worse in math than their peers in Michigan and Maine? We wouldn’t know these things or much else about K–12 achievement in America without a little-known but vital test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a.k.a. “NAEP” or the “Nation’s Report Card.” Assessing the Nation’s Report Card: Challenges and Choices for NAEP, authored by veteran education participant/analyst Chester E. Finn, Jr., examines the history of NAEP, the issues and challenges that it faces today, and ways to strengthen and modernize it for the future.

Chester E. Finn, Jr. 5.10.2022
NationalBook
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Imperfect Attendance: Toward a fairer measure of student absenteeism

The need to understand how schools can improve student attendance has never been greater. This study breaks new ground by examining high schools’ contributions to attendance—that is, their “attendance value-added.”

Jing Liu, Ph.D. 4.13.2022
NationalReport
view

Follow the Science to School: Evidence-based Practices for Elementary Education

Follow the Science to School: Evidence-based Practices for Elementary Education is published by John Catt Educational Press and is available for purchase from the John Catt Bookshop and Amazon.

Michael J. Petrilli, Kathleen Carroll, Barbara Davidson 3.21.2022
NationalBook
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Still Rising: Charter School Enrollment and Student Achievement at the Metropolitan Level

In the wake of the biggest education crisis in living memory, the need for transformational change is palpable and urgent. This report asks: Can a rising tide of charter schools carry students in America's largest metro areas—including those in traditional public schools?

David Griffith 1.26.2022
NationalReport
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America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality

"America’s Best and Worst Metro Areas for School Quality" is the first analysis to use nationally comparative data to evaluate the effectiveness of large and mid-size metro areas on school quality. Use our interactive data tool to see how your metro area stacks up.

Thomas B. Fordham Institute 12.8.2021
NationalReport
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How to Sell SEL: Parents and the Politics of Social-Emotional Learning

This report examines parents’ opinions on SEL and pitfalls in communicating about it. It finds overwhelming support for the essence of SEL and its place in schools, but differences by political party and challenges in getting the terminology right.

Adam Tyner, Ph.D. 8.11.2021
NationalReport
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The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History in 2021

Is America a racist country? Or the greatest nation on earth? Such a divisive question leaves little room for the complexity, richness, and nuance of our country’s past and present. But it’s the sort of question that often seems to get asked in today’s polarized environment. Small wonder, then, that the tattered condition of civics and U.S. history education constitutes a national crisis.

Jeremy A. Stern, Ph.D., Alison E. Brody, José A. Gregory, Stephen Griffith 6.23.2021
NationalReport
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The Acceleration Imperative: A Plan to Address Elementary Students’ Unfinished Learning in the Wake of Covid-19

In school districts and charter school networks nationwide, instructional leaders are developing plans to address the enormous challenges faced by their students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year. To help kick-start their planning process, we are proud to present The Acceleration Imperative, an open-source, evidence-based document created with input from dozens of current and former chief academic officers, scholars, and others with deep expertise and experience in high-performing, high-poverty elementary schools.

3.23.2021
NationalReport
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The narrow path to do it right: Lessons from vaccine making for high-dosage tutoring

High-dosage tutoring is receiving a lot of buzz as a promising tool to address learning loss in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. But unlike vaccines, successful tutoring programs are challenging to scale with fidelity. In this paper, long-time educators Michael Goldstein and Bowen Paulle explain how leaders can smartly scale promising tutoring programs that can boost student outcomes.

Michael Goldstein, Bowen Paulle 3.10.2021
NationalReport
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Robbers or Victims? Charter Schools and District Finances

Opponents of charters contend that they drain district coffers, while proponents argue that it is charters that are denied essential funding. Yet too often, the claims made by both sides of this debate have been based on assumptions rather than hard evidence.

Mark Weber 2.9.2021
NationalReport
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Bridging the Covid Divide: How States Can Measure Student Achievement Growth in the Absence of 2020 Test Scores

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. last spring, schools nationwide shut their doors and states cancelled annual standardized tests. Now federal and state policymakers are debating whether to cancel testing again in 2021. One factor they should consider is whether a two-year gap in testing will make it impossible to measure student-level achievement growth during this historic period.

1.13.2021
NationalReport
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Teacher Effectiveness and Improvement in Charter and Traditional Public Schools

Study after study has found that new teachers tend to be less effective than educators with more experience. But despite having more junior staff, charter networks (referred to as CMOs) often outperform their district peers. So what’s their secret? To find out, this study explores how teacher effectiveness varies and evolves across traditional and charter public schools, as well as within the sector’s CMOs and standalone schools.

Matthew P. Steinberg 12.14.2020
NationalReport

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