OTHER STORIES

Advocates Alarmed as Trump Moves to Gut Special Education Office

Hechinger

Novels vs. Excerpts: What to Know About a Big Reading Debate

EdWeek

15 Tips to Align Teachers’ Practice With Brain Science

Edutopia

Judge Orders Trump Admin. to Restore School Mental Health Grants

WPost

What a School District Learned When Its State Banned Synthetic Dyes

EdWeek

Making Research Relevant

Much of today’s education research doesn’t reflect what teachers say they need. In a study of more than 25,000 presentations at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meetings, the dominant themes were equity, social justice, and identity. In contrast, a survey of classroom teachers found that their top concerns were more immediate and practical. They included student behavior and discipline, mental health and well-being, parental involvement, and teacher retention. This disconnect has consequences. Teachers often say that research feels irrelevant to their daily practice. And policymakers sometimes see this disconnect as a reason to cut funding for research altogether. Hill

Girls & STEM: Lost Progress

The latest results from the NAEP — known as the country’s “report card” — returned a poor grade, with more grim statistics about the postpandemic period. It also suggested that girls are once again performing markedly worse than boys in science. In prior years, the gender performance gap across some subjects had narrowed, thanks in part to the ways schools spent federal relief money, according to some experts. But lately, similar to results in math, the gap has reemerged. So now, with schools facing staffing shortages, enrollment declines, pinched budgets and a contested political future, this article explores what’s known about the unwelcome reappearance of the gender performance gap in STEM and whether schools can make it disappear again. EdSurge

3 Waves of School Vouchers

America is seeing a surge in private school voucher programs. In the last year, state legislatures in Texas and Tennessee passed voucher legislation, while the U.S. Congress passed a nationwide tax credit scholarship program. Vouchers are often framed as innovative, civil rights-oriented reforms that empower parents, but their origins and outcomes tell a different story. Past voucher reforms have been used to perpetuate exclusion and segregation, while recent waves have expanded the programs rapidly without much evidence of academic effectiveness. Policymakers should be aware of the problems of past voucher reforms and seek to avoid making the same mistakes. Brookings