NAEP Scores Up, But a Big Achievement Gap Remains
The 2013 NAEP results—to some, “the nation’s report card”— came out earlier this month. These state-by-state test scores signal good news: student performance nationally and in most states continues to...
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On PISA, U.S. Shows Few High Performers
Just hours ago, the latest round of data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was released to great fanfare. Under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and...
View ArticlePresident Obama’s Speech on Inequality
Fairness is a core American value. Last week, President Obama spoke eloquently about fairness and why it matters if all Americans are to realize their dreams of decent lives for themselves and their...
View ArticleReview: The Smartest Kids in the World
Compared to students from other industrialized countries, American students are, at best, average. Last week the US Department of Education published “First Look at PISA 2012,” sounding the alarm...
View ArticleThe New First Grade: Kindergarten
Remember kindergarten? Remember the sand table where you poured and measured? The dress-up corner where you pretended to be a “community helper?” The science center where you explored with magnets and...
View ArticleTonight’s State of the Union – A Focus on Equity?
Look for President Obama to emphasize inequality’s effects on Americans in his State of the Union address tonight. In his candid interview with David Remnick in the latest edition of New Yorker...
View ArticleHow Does the Quality of Your Preschool Compare to Other Providers in Your State?
Parents should know that their state may be rating the quality of their preschool or child care provider. Systems to rate the quality of child care and preschool programs (QRIS, or Quality Rating and...
View ArticleEducation in the State of the Union
AIR experts have conducted in-depth research and analysis on many of the issues President Obama discussed in his State of the Union address. Links to that research, blogs by subject experts, and other...
View ArticleThe Long War on Poverty Will Be Won With Vision and Grit
Americans are drawn to those moments in history when they stood up for something big and important. The 50th anniversary of the Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty is one of those moments. In his 1964...
View ArticleDon’t Stress about the Class Sizes. Focus on the Teachers
Many schools across America must take the budget bull by the horns and decide whether cutting class size is the right way to do it. Take the Fairfax County Public Schools, for example. Class size is...
View ArticleA Stopwatch Shows the President’s Priorities
The Washington Post conducted a fascinating analysis last week of how much time President Obama devoted in his State of the Union Address to each of his main policy concerns– equality of opportunity,...
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Career and Technical Education Month: Developing and Supporting Great Teachers
More than 7 million high school and middle school students in Career and Technical Education programs—and their 140,000 teachers—are celebrating Career Technology Education Month in February. A recent...
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CTE Teacher Evaluation: One Size Does Not Fit All
One size does not fit all when it comes to Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher evaluation. CTE teachers instruct in a number of fields (from health sciences and engineering to design and...
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Who Are Today’s Career and Technical Education Teachers?
Career and technical education teachers (labeled Vocational/Technical in the charts below) make up about 11 percent of all public high school teachers across the country, according to 2011-2012 data...
View ArticleLeveraging CTE to Improve College and Career Readiness for All
Career and technical education (CTE) programs are doing something right – just look at the data. The graduation rate for CTE students is more than 90 percent, nearly 15 percentage points higher than...
View ArticleThe Disconnect Between Minority Students and STEM Careers
A recent ACT report, The Condition of STEM 2013, offers new perspectives on the achievement gap between White and Asian students and their African-American, Hispanic, and Native American peers. The...
View ArticleBillions of Dollars Later – Are Our School (Buildings) Any Better?
The National Center for Education Statistics’ release last week of a survey of the condition of America’s school facilities in the 2012 Academic Year opens up a critical issue that too few understand–...
View ArticleMy Brother’s Keeper: The Urgency of Now
President Obama is calling his new initiative to help every young man of color get on the path to success, “My Brother’s Keeper.” The reference is to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. After Cain...
View ArticleCAP/AIR Event Pushes for More Comprehensive Policies to Improve Equity in...
Twelve years after federal policy first tried to chip away at the problem of unequal access to teacher quality through No Child Left Behind, the field continues to grapple with this complex issue....
View ArticleMoving Schools from Toxic to Transformative
“We are real people living real lives . . .” “We’re not dangerous . . .“ “All we want is for people to see us . . .” Morehouse, a historically black, all male college in Atlanta, provided a...
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