School leaders across the state of California seek tools to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline and improve school climates. Research suggests that restorative practices (RPs) have the potential to achieve these ends, particularly when staff throughout the school implement, and students throughout the school experience, these practices.…

About one in five students in the US attends a rural school, and over half of all school districts are in rural areas. And yet very little is known about achievement, achievement gaps, and academic growth in rural schools, including how school-year and summer changes in achievement may differ in these schools. This lack of information is…

In 2019, the Louisiana Board of Regents issued its Master Plan for Higher Education establishing an audacious goal for the state--60% of working adults holding a degree or credential of value by the year 2030. At that time, Regents committed itself to "lead the way in developing and implementing key initiatives to eliminate performance gaps,…

We describe the online summer portion of a quantitative skills bridge program focused on helping students prepare socially and academically for the transition to college. College students are increasingly asked to employ quantitative skills across the curriculum, but students arrive at college with varied preparation. Further, those with the least…

The Student Success Center Network (SSCN) is dedicated to advancing racial justice and economic mobility by dramatically and equitably increasing the number of students earning postsecondary credentials with labor market value. Managed by Jobs for the Future, the SSCN has worked since 2012 to develop, implement, and scale student success…

Regions with a lengthy summer break can create negative outcomes for learners; this problem is referred to as summer learning loss, summer learning gap, or summer slide. Summer learning loss is loss of academic knowledge and skill that accumulates over the break from school. When students return to school after the summer break, teachers need to…

This report discusses the necessity of expanding school improvement policy and practice in order to meet the growing challenges related to reducing the achievement and opportunity gaps. Specifically, it highlights that student/learning supports are marginalized in current policy and that addressing the matter requires moving from a two to a three…

The current trend in improving student/learning supports involves tinkering in ways that make changes that don't make a dent in reducing the opportunity and achievement gaps. Schools need a unified, comprehensive, and equitable system of student/learning supports that embeds a focus on a full range of mental health and psychosocial and educational…

The last several years have been unpredictable for students, families, teachers and schools. During this time, Ohio's education community has responded by working diligently to identify and address the unique needs of their communities while ensuring their students continue to receive a quality education. Data on the 2021-2022 Ohio School Report…

In the US, undeniable evidence shows that socioeconomic inequities explain a high proportion of individual differences in school achievement. Although not all countries show this same effect due to socioeconomic status, it is consistently found that social inequities lead to achievement gaps. These achievement gaps then manifest into trajectories…

In 2021, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) made a monumental move to require postsecondary institutions to evaluate and document their actions to ensure fairness in admissions, an inclusive learning environment, and equitable student outcomes. Around the same time, a team comprising educational measurement experts, diversity…

Policymakers and educators have attempted to "reform" or fix schools in different ways. However studies suggest these reforms have produced, at best, mixed results (Fullan, 2011; Taylor & Tyler, 2012; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2015) and did little to close racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps…

Some prominent theorists and philosophers of education recently offered their reflections on the ongoing crisis. In this article, the authors want to address structural inequality in the Scottish context: the oft-decried attainment gap. Promises to deliver educational equity in Scotland by closing the attainment gap have seldom looked as hollow as…

Empirical results are consistent with the hypothesis that socioeconomic factors contribute to initial disparities in performance that are perpetuated by demoralizing grading, testing, and grouping practices throughout the K-12 years. The hypothesis may explain why the achievement gap increases after children enter the school system, why Black…

There is no shortage of documentation that racial inequality is coursing freely through every artery of higher education. We are endlessly studying data reports that show Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students stuck at the lowest percentile of representation and achievement, from admissions to elite institutions to low graduation rates at the…