This page is a curated list of links to stories in the media which features Ed Trust and its work on education equity.
June 2024
P-12
Parent Support for Assessments Grows When K-12 Leaders Show How Data Helps Schools and Students, AP News (also featured in 182 other outlets), 06/25/24
“Parents and caregivers want to understand the information provided from statewide assessments to know how their schools are faring and how this data is being used to guide school leaders’ decisions that support their children’s academic growth, but unfortunately, too many parents are left in the dark about how these decisions are made,” said EdTrust’s president and CEO, Denise Forte. “This research shows why it is important that school and district leaders actively and authentically engage with parents and caregivers. When they do so, communities can better understand what’s most effective in accelerating student learning, where there’s room for improvement, and how to work in partnership with schools.”
To Avoid Bias, Schools Must Use Good Judgment With AI Tools, Government Technology, 06/24/24
Number one on districts’ to-do lists should be training teachers carefully on how to use these tools, including a strong “messaging campaign” about bias, Kriha said. “I’m worried that teachers might not even know that these biases exist in the first place,” Kriha said. “Hopefully, [the messaging campaign] would make teachers a bit more conscious about over relying on these tools in classroom settings.”
AI and Equity, Explained: A Guide for K-12 Schools, EdWeek, 06/20/24
And putting products that are untested for bias into classrooms could come at a high cost for schools and ed-tech developers, warned Nathan Kriha, a P-12 policy analyst for The Education Trust, a civil rights organization. It could mean “we will have some potentially incredibly problematic tools embedded into school systems” across the country, Kriha said. Historically, the nation has a “horrendous track record of providing equitable access to new technologies for students of color, and students from low-income backgrounds,” said The Education Trust’s Kriha. “And if we as a society are living under this assumption that these tools are going to be important for professional life, there needs to be open conversation about this equity of access.”
Chicago’s Opportunity Index takes center stage in school budget drama, Chalkbeat Chicago, 06/17/24
A number of other large urban districts, such as Boston and Los Angeles, have introduced their own indexes for capturing schools’ needs in recent years, though often used more narrowly, said Qubilah Huddleston, an expert on equitable school funding at the think tank Education Trust. “Districts are really hamstrung in pursuing multiple goals,” said Huddleston. “These formulas are designed to improve equity. The challenge is when you don’t have enough kids in the building.” Huddleston said she also has concerns about private fundraising playing a larger part in closing budget gaps — traditionally, a symbol of funding inequities nationally. Chicago district officials have said campuses can lean on their “Friends of” groups and other fundraising to supplement budgets.
Classroom Tech Outpaces Research. Why That’s a Problem, EdWeek, 06/13/24
“What works in terms of effective [education] interventions, programs, and services has always been accessible and available to more affluent communities,” said Augustus Mays, the vice president of partnerships and engagement at the Education Trust, a nonprofit focused on educational equity. “But for those who haven’t had the same opportunities or the same resources, that hasn’t always been available to them. Evidence-based policy making, to me, has always been the difference maker.”
State aid should focus on helping low-income students obtain college degrees, The Boston Globe (also featured in Philanthropy Digest), 06/12/24
The advocacy organizations put forth an alternate proposal that focuses on the neediest. Instead of paying tuition and fees for everyone, their plan would increase aid to lower-income students by doubling the size of their Pell grant and letting them use the aid at any public college.
A ‘perfect storm’ could change America’s public schools for years to come, The Christian Science Monitor, 06/05/24
“We’re about to enter another period where we’re going to be reimagining education again because of cuts and the losses that we’re about to see,” says Qubilah Huddleston, policy lead on equitable school funding for The Education Trust. As the saying goes, necessity often breeds ingenuity. When it comes to balancing school budgets, tough decisions – however forward-thinking they may be – impact the very people schools serve.
Louisiana Pilot Program Tests New Kind of Reading Exam That Could Be a Model, The 74, 06/06/24
Worse, the feds mandated that the new model produce results that could be compared to the old one’s. A group of civil rights organizations led by Education Trust pushed back and suggested the rules allow for “an alternative method for demonstrating comparability that … will provide for an equally rigorous and statistically valid comparison.” The Biden administration has signaled its willingness to help states be more innovative with their tests, but tethering too closely to an old system is a great way to stifle innovation.
Higher Education
Taking the Sad Measure Of the ‘Better FAFSA’ Fiasco, Caribbean American Weekly, 06/26/24
Federal Student Aid may have miscalculated the size and demand from this group. A terrific analysis published by EdTrust notes that there are 22 million people living in mixed-status families in America. About a quarter are under 18, many undoubtedly with college aspirations. That’s orders of magnitude greater than the roughly 3,500 families the Education Department had estimated would be affected by the identity verification system.
Universities and colleges that need to fill seats start offering a helping hand to student-parents, The Hechinger Report (also featured in 20 other outlets), 06/14/24
The out-of-pocket cost of attending a public university or college for a low-income parent can be two to five times higher than for a low-income student without children, according to the advocacy group The Education Trust. A student-parent would have to work 52 hours a week, on average, to cover both child care and tuition at a public university or college, EdTrust says.
Inside the dueling visions for the future of Pennsylvania’s higher education, Higher Ed Dive, 06/14/24
Wil Del Pilar, who served as Pennsylvania deputy secretary of postsecondary and higher education from 2015 to 2017, said parts of the Republican plan sound like good ideas, such as the federal financial aid application requirement and investments in dual enrollment. But he has concerns about other provisions, including the residency requirement for scholarships. “If you want an equitable plan, don’t do this,” said Del Pilar, who now works at The Education Trust. “If there isn’t employment where the student is living then the graduate should go where there is employment.” And when these types of grants do become loans, they can be difficult for states to collect on.
Penn. Lawmakers Propose Dueling Plans to Overhaul Higher Ed, Inside Higher Ed, 06/13/24
“I’m hopeful that if you have two parties that agree that we need reforms to higher ed, you actually could get something done, ” added Del Pilar, now senior vice president of The Education Trust, a nonprofit focused on academic equity. “These are clearly ‘marker’ bills. So it’s the beginning of a conversation, not the end.”
Thought Leaders and Experts Push for Equity-Focused Solutions at U.S. News Forum, U.S. News and World Report, 06/06/24
The forum featured two panels that touched on education, one that focused on the 21st-century fight for equal opportunities and another that explored how colleges are prioritizing mental health and neurodiversity on campus. In the first panel, Denise Forte, the president and CEO of The Education Trust, said an equitable system looks like a well-resourced system – one that “really centers students first” and provides individualized learning as well as things like good technology, great teachers and secure buildings.