Equitable Access and Opportunity Resources

On Friday, November 6, 2015, in Washington, DC, the Learning Policy Institute and Jobs for the Future held a timely discussion of how U.S. schools can provide a more equitable and empowering education for all young people. The event featured a discussion of two reports recently released by Jobs for the Future.

California is in the midst of a historic drive to further educational equity and promote school success—but will the outcomes match the state’s ambitions? In its 2016 Symposium, Making it Work: Implementing California's New Vision for School Success, EdSource will offer a timely, in-depth look at these reforms. Attendees will leave with need-to-know information about the changes and the extent to which new ways of assessing success can translate into improved education outcomes.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) contains a number of new provisions that can be used to advance equity and excellence throughout our nation’s schools for students of color, students from low-income families, English learners, students with disabilities, and those who are homeless or in foster care. The Learning Policy Institute will convene a briefing on Capitol Hill to discuss these provisions and share information from a new report that outlines the equity implications of ESSA and offers recommendations on how states, districts, and schools can leverage key provisions in the new law to improve educational opportunities, especially for our most vulnerable students.

The Alliance for Excellent Education and the Learning Policy Institute held a webinar on using the Every Student Succeeds Act and its accompanying regulations to advance equity and educational opportunity. Designed for state policymakers and education stakeholders, the webinar focused on how states can effectively design multiple-measure accountability systems to assess overall school performance and progress—including gaps in student performance—and drive evidence-based interventions and continuous improvement across all schools and for all students.

Of the major population groups in the United States, African Americans face the greatest educational assessment challenges. On April 3rd and 4th ETS, ACT®, the Center for Assessment, the College Board®, the Learning Policy Institute, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine sponsored a conference entitled, "A Focus on Educational Assessment: Advancing African-American Education Excellence," to address these challenges in both the K–12 and college admissions arenas.

On February 15, LPI held the first webinar in a series that explores why deeper learning is crucial for students in today’s innovation economy and how we can achieve greater equity in access to deeper learning. This webinar addressed ways schools and school districts can improve academic achievement—particularly among students who are farthest from opportunity—through engaging students in learning that focuses on meaningful mastery of subjects, critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and other skills necessary for college, career, and civic participation in the 21st Century.

Fifty years ago this March, the Kerner Commission issued a seminal report on racial division and disparities in the United States. On February 27, LPI, the Eisenhower Foundation, and the Economic Policy Institute co-hosted a full-day forum in Washington, D.C., to release and discuss the findings from the 50-year update to the commission report. At the forum some of our nation's leading policymakers, journalists, researchers, civil rights activists, and educators discussed the status of civil rights today.

Fifty years ago this March, the Kerner Commission issued a seminal report on racial division and disparities in the United States. On February 28, the findings regarding education from the 50-year update to the commission report were released and discussed at a Washington, D.C. At the event, some of the nation's leading policymakers, journalists, researchers, civil rights activists, and educators discussed the state of public education in the United States, and what policy levers are needed to eradicate racial inequities that have persisted in historically marginalized communities and that can improve educational opportunities for all students.

On March 20, LPI held the second webinar in a series that explores why deeper learning is crucial for students in today’s innovation economy and how we can achieve greater equity in access to deeper learning. This webinar explored how performance assessments are providing all students, including those who are farthest from opportunity, a vehicle to show what they know in a way that matters.

As states, districts, and schools are expanding instruction to include the competencies associated with college, career, and civic readiness, they are also developing ways to measure mastery of higher-order thinking skills. These measures include performance assessments that show what students know and can do through demonstrations of their thinking, writing, research, and products. During this briefing, speakers shared information on how performance assessments can inform teaching and learning, advance educational equity, and be used to inform the postsecondary admission, placement, and advisement process in ways that increase access.