This page is a curated list of links to stories in the media which features Ed Trust and its work on education equity.
May 2024
P-12
Poll: Most Massachusetts parents think state should require the ‘science of reading’ in classrooms, Boston Globe, 05/14/24
The poll, conducted by the MassINC Polling Group between April 8 and May 2, found a combined 84 percent of parents believe schools definitely or probably should be required to use “evidence-based” reading curriculum, or teaching materials supported by a vast amount of scientific research. The results come as a bill to require evidence-based reading instruction sits idle in the Massachusetts Legislature, even as a growing number of states have passed similar laws. Currently, curriculum decisions in Massachusetts schools are left to local districts. A 2023 Globe investigation found nearly half of all districts in the state were using a curriculum the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education considers low quality for promoting discredited teaching practices.
Poll finds widespread concern about reading education among Massachusetts parents, WVCB 5, 05/14/24
“The sobering reality that a majority of Massachusetts children are going to school without learning basic literacy skills is deeply troubling, but also completely preventable,” said Jennie Williamson, state director for EdTrust in Massachusetts. EdTrust is pushing for Massachusetts to use an “evidence-based reading curriculum” and said their poll found that 84% of parents definitely or probably believe schools should be required to use such systems. Respondents were told that such programs mean “materials that are proven to work in teaching students how to read.”
FORMER TEACHER SAYS AMERICA ISN’T MAKING A ‘BIG ENOUGH’ DEAL ABOUT ITS CURRENT LITERACY CRISIS, Black Enterprise (also featured in 2 other outlets), 05/09/24
In January, The Education Trust shed light on the deeply rooted systemic issue of denying educational access to Black individuals, a troubling legacy woven into the fabric of the nation’s history. Oppressive anti-literacy laws once barred enslaved and even free Black Americans from acquiring reading and writing skills despite many courageously defying these unjust regulations at immense personal peril. In the aftermath of slavery’s abolition in 1865, when Black communities established freedpeople’s schools, white Southerners responded with violence, attacking or razing more than 600 schoolhouses, perpetuating the cycle of marginalization and suppression.
HISD will overhaul how students get into the hardest high school classes, Houston Chronicle, 5/02/24
In March, the Education Trust, a national education advocacy nonprofit, released a report that found racial and economic disparities in dual-credit enrollment across the state of Texas. That pattern holds true at HISD as well, where only about 25% of Black 11th grade students were on track to graduate with college credit, compared to the district average of about 36%, according to the February report. Judith Cruz, former HISD trustee and assistant director of the Houston region at the Education Trust, called HISD’s new policy a “step in the right direction” and predicted it will help more students make it to college or find gainful employment after graduation. “So many students are looked over for advanced coursework when it comes to strictly teacher recommendations and grades, but when you have an auto-admission policy… a lot more students of color and working backgrounds will be able to access advanced coursework,” Cruz said.
Higher Education
Student Debt Is Taxing Young People’s Mental Health, Teen Vogue, 05/16/24
The expense could also exacerbate existing disparities in access to mental health care and who is most profoundly impacted by the student debt crisis. As reported by The Education Trust, Black borrowers are among those most negatively impacted by student loans, and 64% of survey participants reported that student debt negatively impacted their mental health.
Colleges should keep prices down, The Boston Globe, 05/05/24
A fall 2023 poll done by the MassINC Polling Group for the Education Trust in Massachusetts found that only 57 percent of respondents think their child would be interested in starting a bachelor’s degree after high school graduation. When asked if the long-term benefits of a degree make the costs worthwhile, 13 percent said it would not be worthwhile for anyone or just for a few people and 43 percent said it would be worthwhile for just some people.