English learners (EL) students are one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States. The academic performance of ELs has gone from being a concern for a handful of states to quickly becoming a national issue. As such, both state and federal governments have taken a more active policymaking role in efforts to… Read More »
Local school boards are traditionally at the center of this country’s public education system. Elections to these boards have typically featured low voter turnout and the issues have often been parochial in nature. However, recognizing that local districts are critical in implementing new state and national education reform policies, “outsiders with deep pockets” have been… Read More »
There is a growing body of research about the rise of the charter school movement within the American education system. However, little research has been done on why new charter schools open where they do and whether there are patterns to where those schools open. A new study by Michigan State University Associate Professor Rebecca… Read More »
In recent years, charitable foundations have taken an interest in national education initiatives and issues in unprecedented ways, transforming the educational policy landscape. For example, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edith Broad Foundation have exerted influence on national education policy decisions by offering substantial funding and research-based evidence to organizations… Read More »
Many home buyers use information about school quality to make decisions about where to live. In the past, school test score data has been shown to influence consumers to purchase homes in high-achieving school districts, thus driving up housing values. However, new measures of school and teacher quality such as value-added are also publicly available… Read More »
As they have throughout their history, schools continue to struggle to achieve equity and excellence for students of color. Qualitative research by Michigan State University Associate Professor Terah Venzant Chambers and Washington State University Assistant Professor Kristin Shawn Huggins examines the social interactions of students of color with their teachers, administrators and classmates at high… Read More »
School choice in the form of charter schools, or public school academies as they are commonly called in Michigan, is rapidly expanding. Simultaneously, so is the population of Latino students. However, Latino parents experience many linguistic, cultural, and economic barriers to accessing this quickly growing segment of the educational marketplace. Research by Michigan State University… Read More »
Study abroad can be a powerful, even life changing experience. Research by Michigan State University Assistant Professor Alyssa Hadley Dunn and colleagues examines the experiences of pre-service teachers who participated in two study abroad programs. Comparing Pre-Service Teacher Experiences The researchers wanted to explore the ways that study abroad programs can support and enhance understandings of… Read More »
In the era of teacher accountability, the book Assessing Teacher Quality: Understanding Teacher Effects on Instruction and Achievement edited by Sean Kelly examines the intricacies involved in measuring the effect that teachers have on their students. The social context of teachers is one important element to pay attention to when trying to understand teacher quality.… Read More »
Central to school reform efforts over the past 15 years is the issue of accountability. States often implement multiple accountability strategies that can interact to create perverse consequences. The collision of two particular accountability strategies was examined by a team of Michigan State University researchers including Associate Professor Rebecca Jacobsen and doctoral students Jeffery W.… Read More »
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