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2022-01-18
Center for the Study of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Virginia Union University;
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were established primarily in the post-Civil War era to meet the educational needs of Black Americans. They provide pathways to upward social mobility and have a long-standing commitment to promoting both academic success and students' health and well-being. But persistent funding inequities at both the state and federal levels actively undermine those commitments and leave the sector particularly vulnerable during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.This report, a collaboration between The Hope Center and the Center for the Study of HBCUs, uses data from the #RealCollege Survey to examine the overlapping challenges affecting students attending HBCUs during fall 2020. In total, nearly 5,000 students from 14 public and private four-year HBCUs responded to the survey.Topics covered include:Impacts of the pandemic on students' health and employmentStudents' basic needs securityUtilization of public and campus supports, including emergency aid and SNAPRecommendations for federal and state policymakers
2022-02-22
American Association for State and Local History (AASLH);
A report from the American Association for State and Local History, FrameWorks Institute, National Council on Public History, and Organization of American Historians offers a framing strategy for building a broader understanding of what inclusive history looks like and why it is important for all of us. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon foundation, the report, Making History Matter: From Abstract Truth to Critical Engagement, provides historians, educators, museum professionals, and history advocates with evidence-backed recommendations for more cohesively and convincingly communicate about history. To enable productive public dialog about history, which in recent years has become the subject of divisive political discourse, the report's authors call for shifting the focus in three ways: from truth to critical thinking, from abstract debate to concrete engagement, and from winning the debate to progress toward justice. For each recommendation, the report suggests concrete steps to shift current patterns of thinking, for example: explain how the practice of history requires using critical thinking to evaluate different sources and perspectives about the past and different understandings, focus on the process of historical interpretation rather than the goal of interpretation, and connect progress to the idea of learning from past wrongs.
2022-03-23
Lincoln Policy;
The United States faces unprecedented challenges in elementary and secondary education. Prolonged school closures caused widespread learning losses and other negative effects that threaten the future of a generation of American children. Today's students will grow up in a future where emerging technologies have the potential to change society and the workforce in unforeseen ways. Renewed great power competition with the People's Republic of China and Russia are creating new national security and economic risks for the United States that once again highlight the need to improve learning in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and other key sectors to maintain a competitive advantage.Since the 1950s, the United States has authorized and funded federal K-12 education research and development (R&D) programs aimed at improving STEM education and learning opportunities for American children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.This report reviews and analyzes the history of federal K-12 research and development. This history includes several missed opportunities, including a national evaluation that was broadly ignored despite identifying an instructional method that delivered superior results in improving student outcomes. It also reveals that the longstanding strategy of K-12 R&D activities has been to fund academic and empirical research about K-12 education rather than to develop new tools for improving students' learning opportunities. Despite a longstanding, bipartisan commitment to identify "what works" in education, federally funded education research activities appear to have a limited impact in changing K-12 education policy and governance.In 2022, the United States will spend less than $1 billion on K-12 education R&D initiatives through the Department of Education and National Science Foundation, an amount largely unchanged over the past decade. As a nation, the United States spent $864 billion on elementary and secondary education in 2019, or about 4 percent of Gross Domestic Product.A review of the broad history of federal education R&D provides insights that should inform future congressional and executive branch action.
2022-06-09
Urban Institute;
More than a quarter of US children have at least one immigrant parent, but researchers and policymakers often do not have adequate data on these children's experiences in school. Information on the languages students speak at home can provide perspective on students' experiences and takes communities' unique strengths and challenges into account. States must report data on languages spoken at home to the federal government each year, yet district-level data are rarely published.Home language data have untapped value, with far-reaching implications for instruction, student support services, and policy. Better and more public data on student background can enhance our understanding of students' experiences and provide nuanced information to educators, researchers, and policymakers to better serve distinct student subgroups. Publishing district-level home language data could inform education policy decisions, providing much-needed nuance to public education data systems.
2022-05-04
Gates Cambridge Trust;
The Gates Cambridge Trust's Annual Report 2021 includes a summary of the Trust's work during the year and the impact of our scholars and alumni in Cambridge and across the world. You can also read about our 20th anniversary celebrations, the many activities of our scholars and alumni, our impact in numbers and our financial position.
2022-04-18
American Academy of Arts and Sciences;
Given the recent decline in students earning bachelor's degrees in the humanities, a great deal of concern is focused on undergraduate education. But many of the questions received by the Humanities Indicators staff have to do with outcomes for those who earn a graduate degree in the field. This report explores several key topics related to graduate education, including degree trends, the demographics of degree recipients, the extent to which programs engage students in career preparation activities, and graduates' career outcomes. The report relies heavily on the high-quality data collected by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, and also the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, several of whose surveys yield valuable information about graduate degree holders in the humanities.The findings include a few surprises: 1) while most of the attention in the disciplines seems to focus on PhDs, the field conferred almost five times as many master's as doctoral degrees in recent years; 2) even so, the number of master's degrees conferred annually in the humanities has been in decline over the past several years and their share of all master's and professional degrees reached a historic low in 2020; 3) the number of humanities PhDs awarded each year was at a near-record high in 2020, but as a share of all doctoral degrees, they fell to a historic low; 4) while the academic job market for humanities PhDs has been depressed since 2008, there is no evidence that this is due to the substitution of adjunct for tenure-track positions; and 5) regardless of where they end up—either in academia or out—the large majority of graduate degree recipients in the humanities are satisfied with their jobs, despite earnings that are considerably lower than those of their counterparts from other fields.This report reflects the ongoing mission of the Humanities Indicators, a nationally recognized source of nonpartisan information about the field. The Indicators website covers 121 topics and includes more than 340 graphs detailing the state of the humanities in schools, higher education, and the workforce; levels of support for research and other key activities; and the role of the humanities in the day-to-day life of the nation. The project draws on data sources that meet the highest standards of social scientific rigor, relying heavily on the products of the U.S. federal statistical system.
2022-06-15
Tiny Beam Fund;
¿Qué cuestiones prácticas hay que tener en cuenta si se desea que los comedores de las universidades públicas de Argentina sirvan comida vegetariana, o mejor aún, basada en plantas? ¿Qué medidas prácticas se pueden tomar para que esto ocurra y se mantenga a largo plazo? ¿Servir comidas vegetarianas puede ahorrar dinero a las universidades, reducir el impacto medioambiental y ayudar a los estudiantes a adoptar una dieta vegetariana?Los temas clave que se tratan en este informe son (1) Funcionamiento de los comedores universitarios. (2) Presupuestos de los comedores universitarios, con un análisis del presupuesto de la Universidad de La Plata. (3) Reglamentos de los comedores (por ejemplo, quiénes los integran y cómo se toman decisiones). (4) Usuarios de los comedores (por ejemplo, si están interesados en las comidas vegetarianas/basadas en plantas). (5) Relevancia para otras comunidades (por ejemplo, el programa "Argentina contra el hambre"). (6) La necesidad de tener en cuenta la cocción, la calidad y el sabor de la comida. (7) Estrategias de comunicación para que la oferta de comida vegetariana en los comedores universitarios sea un éxito (por ejemplo, hacer que la elección de la comida vegetariana sea sencilla y visible para los usuarios de los comedores, que no sientan que tienen que revisar información compleja, o haya una motivación específica para cambiar sus hábitos; hacer que la comida vegetariana sea la opción por defecto y no una opción). (9) Estrategias para mantener el interés por la comida vegetariana en los comedores universitarios y reducir el consumo de carne a lo largo del tiempo (por ejemplo, presentar la comida basada en plantas como una forma de mitigar el cambio climático, contribuir a la soberanía alimentaria, reducir el desperdicio de alimentos, apoyar a las minorías culturales y religiosas). (10) Infografía sobre el impacto medioambiental si los comedores universitarios ofrecen menús basados en plantas.
2022-06-15
Tiny Beam Fund;
What practical issues should one consider if one wants canteens in public universities in Argentina to serve vegetarian food? What practical steps can one take to make this happen and to sustain it for the long term? Can serving vegetarian meals save universities money, reduce environmental impacts, and help students adopt a vegetarian diet?Key topics covered in this report include: (1) Operations of university canteens. (2) Budgets of university canteens, with an analysis of the budget of the University of La Plata. (3) Canteen regulations (e.g. who make them). (4) Users of canteens (e.g. are they interested in vegetarian /plant-based meals). (5) Relevance for other communities (e.g. "Argentina against Hunger"). (6) The need to consider the cooking, quality, and taste of the food. (7) Communication strategies to make offering vegetarian food in university canteens a success (e.g. make the choice of vegetarian food simple and easily visible to canteen users so they do not feel that they have to review complex information or change their habit; make vegetarian food the default rather than an option). (9) Strategies to sustain interest in vegetarian foods in university canteens and reduce meat consumption over time (e.g. present plant-based food as a way to mitigate climate change, contribute to food sovereignty, reduce food waste, support cultural and religious minorities). (10) Infographics of environmental impacts if university canteens offer plant-based menus.
2022-04-13
American Federation of Teachers - Texas;
Without significant statewide investment in public school funding, Texas is facing a retention crisis for certified teachers and qualified school staff.That's not just a disaster for those employees or for the administrators who must rehire the positions -- it's a crisis for students who stand to lose crucial care and support after three school years disrupted by a pandemic.
2022-05-25
Pew Research Center;
Americans know a great deal about certain global leaders and institutions. For example, nearly eight-in-ten U.S. adults can look at a photo of Kim Jong Un and correctly identify him as the leader of North Korea, and nearly two-thirds know that Boris Johnson is the current prime minister of the United Kingdom. A slim majority also know that Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).However, as a new Pew Research Center survey shows, Americans are less familiar with other topics. Despite the U.S. government labeling the events in Xinjiang, China, as genocide, only around one-in-five Americans are aware that it is the region in China with the most Muslims per capita. And only 41% can identify the flag of the second most populous country in the world, India.
2022-06-08
American Federation of Teachers - Texas;
In the wake of the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, we surveyed school employees and parents about their reactions and concerns:90% of Texas school employees have worried about a shooting happening at their school.42% of those employees said the Uvalde shooting may affect their decision to return.Still, 77% of Texas school employees reject the idea that teachers should be armed in the classroom.Instead, high majorities of both Texas school employees and parents support red-flag laws (87%), required background checks (87%), raising the minimum age for gun purchases to 21 (85%), and even a ban on assault weapons (75%).Additionally, 96% of survey respondents support the Texas Legislature increasing funding for public education to invest in mental health resources and make meaningful security upgrades. The emphasis here is on meaningful: Uvalde CISD received $69,000 from a one-time, $100 million state grant to enhance physical security in Texas public schools, according to TEA data.
2022-05-23
Learning Policy Institute;
Effective principals can generate better outcomes for the teachers, students and the schools they lead. But great principals don't grow on trees; they receive high-quality development and ongoing support.In this report, researchers synthesize two decades of research on principal pre-service preparation and professional development and describe results of their own additional studies. They find that high-quality learning programs for future and current principals are associated with improved outcomes such as principals' feelings of preparedness, teacher satisfaction and retention, and student achievement. Evidence also suggests that a focus on equity-oriented leadership has the potential to improve principals' ability to meet the needs of diverse learners.The research was led by Linda Darling-Hammond, who was also lead author of an influential report, released 15 years ago, describing the key characteristics of effective principal preparation and professional development. The report finds that high-quality pre-service preparation programs have common elements:Rigorous recruitment of candidates into the program;Close school district-university partnerships;Groupings of enrollees into cohorts;Experiences where candidates apply what they learn, guided by experienced mentors or coaches; andA focus on important content, with the five most important areas being leading instruction, managing change, developing people, shaping a positive school culture and meeting the needs of diverse learners.Mentoring and coaching were influential and valuable for current principals, along with collegial learning networks and applied learning, the report finds.Researchers found via a national survey that principals' access to high-quality learning opportunities appears to have improved over the last decade, with more than two-thirds of principals today reporting having had at least minimal access to learning across the five key content areas. At the same time, there are clearly gaps. One example: "Few principals have access to authentic, job-based learning opportunities during preparation, and high-quality internships are still relatively rare," the report says. In addition, access to learning opportunities varies greatly across states and by school poverty level, an indicator that also tends to reflect the racial demographics of a school. Principals in high-poverty schools were much less likely to report that they had professional development on important topics including redesigning schools for deeper learning and designing professional learning opportunities for teachers and other staff, for example. And only 10 percent of principals in high-poverty schools reported having had a mentor or coach in the last two years versus 24 percent in low-poverty schools.Across the country, most principals reported wanting more professional development in nearly all topics, but faced obstacles in pursuing learning opportunities, including lack of time and insufficient money.The authors emphasize that state policies can make a difference in the availability and quality of leadership preparation programs. In states and districts that overhauled standards and used them to inform principal preparation, learning opportunities, and assessment, there is evidence that the quality of principal learning has improved.To foster high-quality principal learning, the authors suggest that policymakers can:Develop and better use state principal licensing and program approval standards;Fund statewide efforts, such as leadership academies, paid internships and mentor training; andEncourage greater attention to equity by, for example, allocating professional development resources to schools that need them most or funding high-quality preparation for prospective principals of high-poverty schools.The report is the third of three research syntheses commissioned by Wallace. The first, released in February 2021, examined the critical role of principals in student learning and other outcomes. The second examined the increasingly important role of assistant principals and was released in April 2021.
