Better schools help make better communities and improve students’ chances of success. But what does research tell us about what works in school improvement? Explore what our researchers are learning about turning around struggling schools.
In this blog post, Zeyu Xu discusses findings from his study in Kentucky, the first state to implement the Common Core State Standards, from the encouraging findings about student achievement during the transition from the old standards to caveats about whether the achievement gains were caused by the new ones. ...
With Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s announcement of the Excellent Educators for All initiative earlier this month, putting excellent principals at the helm of high-need schools remains critical. To better prepare the new principals, Aaron Butler contends in this blog post, state- and district-level leaders should make leadership development and coaching ...
How does the civil rights movement of the 1960s continue to shape all aspects of society, including educational opportunities and outcomes for children? In November 2018, a group of AIR staff had the opportunity to better understand this legacy by participating in a civil rights learning journey across the South. ...
Contributing and working alongside Native Nations, AIR has a deep commitment to engaging communities, fostering shared vision and values, building capacity, and developing strategic alliances to achieve sustainable systems change in Indian Country.
In this blog post, published as part of the work of the Midwest Comprehensive Center, Marguerite Huber discusses an effort to create a centerpiece of support for teachers and districts implementing Minnesota state standards.
Teacher shortages may be the most acute problem in special education. In this blog post, Lynn Holdheide and Jenny DeMonte explore the issue and ask, "What drives special education teachers out of that role? And how can we keep them?"
The Obama administration took a step toward the President’s planned college ratings system on December 19, releasing a 24-page “Framework” for college ratings. In this blog post, Tom Weko asks, "Are the Department of Education's college ratings likely to become an enduring feature of the nation’s higher education landscape?" ...
Federal and state funding for infrastructure, workforce and economic development, and apprenticeship expansion are flowing into states and regional and local entities. Here we describe two of the primary challenges that come with this new funding and promising approaches to address them.
Career and Technical Education (CTE) advocates are still eagerly awaiting reauthorization of the Perkins Act. While we wait, two important events could change the face of CTE across the country: 1) the passage of ESSA and 2) a new vision for CTE released by Advance CTE. In this blog post, ...