EdTrust in the News December 2023

December 2023

P12

Should Black parents worry about a 4-day school week?, AFRO News (also featured in 1 other outlet), 12/31/23

“These are students who rely on school supports and additional educational services, students that really need to build strong relationships with teachers,” Rodick says. “So taking an additional day of contact, we can imagine that’s going to have negative consequences on certain student groups.”

Building a diverse workforce in Kentucky starts with advanced STEM classes for our students, Kentucky Courier Journal, 12/28/23

In addition to enrollment, there’s a need for enhanced support for students from low-income backgrounds, students of color and those in rural areas to succeed in advanced courses. A recent report, Increasing Access to Advanced Coursework, by EdTrust, highlights a specific challenge in Kentucky: On average, 63% of students from each district come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. While there has been a slight increase in AP proficiency across most demographic groups, districts with a higher concentration of low-income students faced greater challenges in enrolling these students in AP classes, ensuring their completion of these courses and helping them achieve passing scores.

Black teachers are leaving. How can Maryland schools get them to stay?, Baltimore Banner (also featured in 1 other outlet), 12/28/23

“About 50% of white teachers are leaving for positive reasons, like retirement or going to another school or maybe even being promoted within their district,” said Eric Duncan, the director of P-12 policy for the nonprofit Education Trust, which studied Maryland teacher turnover in 2019. “But Black teachers, it’s about 37% of them that leave for this positive reason and close to 50% that are just leaving the classroom as a whole.”

BEST OF 2023: How CT’s college-readiness system leaves students of color behind, CT Mirror, 12/28/23

“Many Connecticut schools offer a diverse range of AP classes, but based on these numbers, Black and Latino students are being denied access to AP courses,” said Kristen Hengtgen, a senior policy analyst at The Education Trust.

Education report recommends Delaware increase spending and revamp funding policies, Delaware Public Media, 12/22/23

“Delaware is not making the same concerted effort” as other states, said Qubilah Huddleston, policy lead for equitable school funding at the Education Trust, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Maryland doubles its per-student allocation for English learners and economically disadvantaged students, while Pennsylvania and New Jersey provide 50 percent supplements, she said.

Opinion: Literacy is essential but can we afford to wait on math declines?, Atlanta Journal Constitution, 12/18/23

The performance drops in NAEP and PISA signal that the U.S. could see the loss of “future doctors, engineers, computer scientists — people we need to keep the country moving,” said Denise Forte, president and CEO of the Education Trust. Earlier this month, the Education Trust and Just Equations released a report, “Opportunities Denied: High-Achieving Black and Latino Students Lack Access to Advanced Math.” The report found that high-performing Black, Latino and low-income students aren’t afforded equal access to advanced math classes despite displaying the aptitude for them.

Advanced math course access is lacking for high-achieving underserved students, K-12 Dive, 12/13/23
There are stark gaps in access to advanced math courses among high-achieving students, according to a recent study by The Education Trust, a research and advocacy organization focused on removing racial and economic barriers in education, and Just Equations, a nonprofit that aims to advance educational equity in math.

Advanced High School Math Classes a Game Changer, But Not All High Achievers Have Access, The 74 (also featured in 1 other outlet), 12/10/23
“We know that it is so important for students to feel engaged and that their learning experiences are relevant,” said Ivy Smith Morgan, EdTrust’s director for P12 research and data analytics. “What this conjures for me is the anecdotes about students who are so smart but stop paying attention in class because they are not challenged. They are not getting the opportunities that align with their ability.”

How Schools Can Diversify Math Course-Taking, EdWeek, 12/07/23
“When schools have algebra or advanced math in middle school, they need to make sure students can access that equitably,” said Kristen Hengtgen, a senior P-12 policy analyst for EdTrust, a research and advocacy group. “Our bigger concern is, so often when students are identified for advanced math opportunities … inequities inevitably happen around what teachers and counselors think of which students can be successful in the class.

Study: Black, Latino and low-income students denied access to advanced math courses, The Highland County Press, 12/07/23
“Our findings and recommendations help further our understanding of how our systems have denied Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds access to advanced math courses, and ways that leaders at all levels of government can address those barriers.”

Report: High-Achieving Black, Latino, and Low-Income Students Lacking Equal Access to Advanced Math Classes, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 12/07/23
“Taking advanced math courses in high school was so important for opening up post-secondary opportunities for me in high school, but too many of my peers didn’t get those opportunities,” said report co-author Ivy Morgan, director for P-12 data and analytics at EdTrust.

How Absenteeism, Math Anxiety, and Other Factors Shaped the Troubling Results From PISA, EdWeek, 12/06/23
“Students of color as well as girls and students with disabilities are less likely to have a strong [science, technology, engineering, and math] identity, but that strong STEM identity is associated with more success in those classes,” said Kristen Hengtgen, a senior policy analyst and math equity researcher for the nonprofit Education Trust. “If you feel comfortable in the class, you feel like you belong, you feel like this is your thing, then you’re more likely to persist in the face of challenges and engage in the content.”

Higher Education

Student loan repayments put a damper on holiday spending — especially for Gen Z and millennials, The 19th (also featured in 4 other outlets), 12/19/23

“The Biden administration has done a number of things right to support borrower repayment, for example, the SAVE plan that could potentially cut payments in half,” Mays said. “For many Americans, that is helpful. But it’s not enough for those Black and Brown students who are already facing an unequal wealth distribution when they’re entering college but also when they come out of college in their careers and jobs that they have in comparison to their White peers. What they need is much more federal support in alleviating the cost of college tuition.”

Maine’s poorest students still face burdens, despite state’s free community college program, Portland Press Herald (also featured in 4 other outlets), 12/10/23
Free community college is great in theory, said Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president at the Education Trust, a national nonprofit working to improve equity in education from pre-K through college. But in reality, he said, not all free college programs in Maine and other states are increasing access for students from families living in or near poverty.

Some who took out parent PLUS loans to send their kids to college expect to die with debt, USA Today (also featured in 22 other outlets), 12/03/23
“It evolved into a space where you saw more Black borrowers and more middle-income borrowers using the parent PLUS loan as a resource,” said Brittani Williams, a scholar and advocate with the Education Trust who co-authored a report earlier this year on parent PLUS and Black borrowers. “And I use that term very loosely because I think that resources should be helpful.”