A well-designed summer program can help low-income students read and do math better. In fact, attending a summer program regularly for as little as five weeks for two years in a row could result in about a quarter of a year’s gain in both reading and math…

This op-ed first appeared at Inside Higher Ed. Around this time every year, as colleges and universities begin to spring back to life, I am reminded of my years working within central administration and the excitement in watching the sea of people full of promise come spilling back onto…

This piece was originally published in New America’s digital magazine, The New America Weekly.  Sunday marked the 53rd anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Parts of that speech — specifically, the part that asks for judgement based not…

Last school year, our principal invited me to take part in instructional rounds — an observation-based approach to better understand the learning occurring in our Title I elementary school. The reason? To determine why our school was having difficulty meeting various benchmarks on the end-of-year assessments. The goal…

“The simple fact is, every child in this country needs and deserves access to the subjects that go into being a well-rounded, well-educated person. Music and art; world language; physics, chemistry, and biology; social studies, civics, geography and government; physical education and health; coding and computer science…

In the online comment section under news articles on recent shootings of and by police are missives from pained, well-intentioned Americans, crying various themes of “love is ALL we need” to end racism and bridge the gap of a deeply divided America. And while these pleas to simply love…

A new report we’ve released today shows that just 3.6 percent of colleges and universities — 138 in all — held a whopping 75 percent of all postsecondary endowment wealth in 2013. Because these institutions, which we dub the “$500 million club,” benefit tremendously from their endowments (e.g., no…

“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation…

Curious about what’s in the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, the new education law that replaced No Child Left Behind? Check out our new video that highlights six key components of ESSA that are intended to increase opportunities for learning and improve outcomes for all groups of…

The data on chronic student absenteeism released earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights are jaw-dropping. In one school year alone, more than 6 million students — 13 percent of the student population — were considered chronically absent, missing 15 or more school…

Do you know how well students are performing in your state? Are they faring better or worse than students across the country? Are there other states that you can learn from because they’re either higher performing or faster improving for a particular group of students than your state is…

Last week, PBS NewsHour profiled Georgia State University’s efforts to boost success among students of color, those from low-income families, and students who are the first in their families to attend college. Those efforts include early identification systems (which look for red flags that a student is…

The following story is adapted from our Equity in Motion convening, when Sonja Brookins Santelises — our outgoing vice president for K-12 policy and practice, who will become CEO of Baltimore Public Schools this summer — shared the starkly contrasting experiences of two students in Baltimore.      “The powerful play goes on…

Our latest analysis of classroom assignments found a troubling mismatch in the level of rigor demanded by high standards and the level asked for in day-to-day assignments given to students. Among the problems we found? Instead of a clear progression in the level of cognitive challenge, too many…

The room was buzzing with the energy of September, although it was late spring. For two days, more than 100 educators came together in Baltimore at our Equity In Motion convening to dig deep into the anatomy of challenging, engaging assignments, to re-energize their practice, and to take their…

Our College Results Online web tool has been updated with new data and a few new, important variables that can help students and families weigh the investment in a college degree against the return expected down the road. The new variables are: Ten-year post-enrollment earnings. In the past…

An offshoot of Ed Trust’s Echoes From the Gap series, drawing stories of students from behind the statistics, this blog series shares shorter narratives — brief glimpses into classrooms and hallways — that give readers an opportunity to examine educator practices and policies through the intimate lens of student experience. All…

When our children were in high school, my husband and I dutifully attended each of the schools’ open houses. We traipsed through our children’s schedules, spending a few minutes getting a glimpse of the teachers and hearing about their grading and homework policies. It gave us an understanding of…

Congress is faced with a unique opportunity — an opportunity to make college more affordable for millions of college students by re-investing in Pell Grants. How is this possible given tight budget constraints? In short, as the economy improved, college enrollments declined, bringing the cost of the Pell Grant program…

Too often, principal supervisors — those working in central offices to manage principals across a district — are limited to managing crises and ensuring compliance. They juggle a lot of principals and a lot of policies, which leaves little time or energy for developing strong school leaders through proper coaching and support…