On February 5th, the Learning Policy Institute and the National Urban League hosted a webinar entitled, “Using School Climate Data to Meet Student Needs" on how states are measuring, collecting, and reporting on a variety of school climate and social and emotional learning indicators under the Every Student Succeeds Act.
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In late December, 2018, the Trump administration rescinded Obama-era guidance on school discipline that has helped improve school safety and student achievement across the country. In advance of that decision, Linda Darling-Hammond and Chris Edley cautioned against this move in a commentary in The Hill. They explained that after states adopted the guidance, suspensions and expulsions—which are given at much higher rates to students of color—were reduced significantly as were school-based firearms incidents.
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A recent long-term study concluded that the effects of high-quality preschool programs last long into adulthood, and that because of higher projected income and diminished likelihood of incarceration, every dollar invested in quality preschool could generate a two-dollar return. Unfortunately, without a commitment by policymakers to invest in children’s education, this “powerful vaccine” won’t survive.
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School discipline can be a lose-lose proposition for both students and teachers but “empathic discipline,” a strategy combining discipline with rapport, can be used to good effect. Researchers are investigating how teachers can be supported in their use of this strategy and how it can be used to improve outcomes for "troubled" students.
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Historically, U.S. schools have been rated based largely on student performance on an annual summative test. With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), state accountability systems now feature additional measures of student and school success, including academic growth. These factors are critical if we are to create accountability systems that recognize the contributions that schools make to student progress, while reducing bias against educators and schools serving students in diverse, high-poverty communities.
Governor-elect Gavin Newsom has pledged to significantly expand early education in California. But with more than 3 million kids aged 5 and under in the state, what would it take? In partnership with EdSource and Policy Analysis for California Education, LPI participated in a discussion with leading early education experts on how to achieve this ambitious goal.
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Under the Every School Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are able to use 5-, 6-, and even 7-year graduation rates in their accountability systems. This expanded measure of student success creates new opportunities for students who need extra time to earn a diploma, often the most vulnerable in our schools, including English Learners, students with special needs, and homeless and transitional youth.
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Thanks to the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are beginning to develop accountability systems that are focused on multiple measures of student success, including one key driver of inequity—the overuse of suspension, particularly for students of color, as a discipline tactic.
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Grassroots organizing and movement building to combat the school-to-prison pipeline has focused on ending zero-tolerance and exclusionary discipline policies and implementing more humane alternatives, such as restorative justice. This movement is winning policy victories through the combination of research-based evidence and the personal stories of parents and students who are directly impacted by injustice, and by building broader alliances to bring more resources and clout to their efforts.
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In recent years, the country has been rocked by debates about school choice. For some, school choice, in and of itself, is viewed as a major goal of policy. For others, the term raises concerns about privatization of public schools. Often forgotten in the policy debates are the fundamental questions of whether and how choice influences access to high-quality schools for all students, and whether, in our diverse democracy that requires common ground, choices promote or undermine integration. Rather than debate school choice as an end, a new research report shifts the focus to choice as a means to an end.
