Racial Equity in Education 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.

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.

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.

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.

This forum was designed to spur dialogue among stakeholders—parents, education experts, community advocates, researchers, legal advocates, policymakers, and school leaders—in order to shift the public narrative on school choice from one that is politically polarizing to one that is focused on evidence-based solutions that can help ensure all children have access to quality educational opportunities, regardless of race, income, or ability.