I grew up on free school meals and now work as a school improvement adviser. In this article, I address discontinuities within my 'support and challenge' role, a role that can be constrained by educational policy enacted within a performative and panoptic culture of fear. Successive governments have concerned themselves with promoting equity…

Despite often being associated with anti-establishment, irreverent, and a do-it yourself (DIY) rejection of dominant culture, less considered may the collaborative, communal and curative threads of punk thinking, being and doing. From the outset, punk offered critiques and alternative ways of conceptualizing a world and ways of worlding, that…

"Assessing the Nation's Report Card" examines the history of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and outlines plans for improving and modernizing the organization. Educational policy analyst Chester E. Finn, Jr. imparts a rare inside analysis of the evolution of the NAEP program at key moments in its history, and…

In 1993, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts dramatically overhauled its K-12 education system and created a new school finance formula, building an educational accountability structure to ensure every child has access to a high-quality education. The Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) established academic standards in core subjects, mandated…

This article examines French and English average performances and educational inequality in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) between 2000 and 2018. It asks why English average scores in 2018 are much higher than those of France when they were fairly similar in previous PISA assessments. It questions why the impact of…

The Pupil Premium Grant was introduced in 2011 with the aim to 'close' the attainment gap within education between children classified as disadvantaged and their peers. However, recent research has shown that this gap appears to be widening across the education sector. This article explores the reasons why the Pupil Premium Grant was introduced,…

One of the goals of education systems is to equip all students, irrespective of their individual characteristics, with market-relevant skills. Poor or inadequate skills limit access to better-paying and more rewarding jobs and, ultimately, to better living and health conditions, and higher social and political participation. Yet, inequalities in…

Policymakers have long sought to raise expectations for students through standards-based reform. I examine the extent to which the Common Core State Content Standards (CC) affected student achievement and the size of achievement gaps. I merge together data on preparation for and implementation of the CC with the National Assessment of Educational…

California educates more than 6 million children in its K-12 public schools. More than half of these students are economically disadvantaged. Almost a quarter are English Learners (ELs), compared with fewer than one in ten nationwide. In order to better serve its student population, the state has enacted several reforms in recent years--and state…

While scholars develop research with clear implications for policy and practice, this work has been largely ineffective in influencing thought beyond the academy. In this article, we explore challenges researchers face in designing public scholarship to influence policy. To illustrate, we profile one such effort, the "Opportunity to Learn…

For the past three academic years, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning and the relationships between teachers, students, families, and communities that are at the heart of education. Even as school buildings reopened to in-person instruction, periodic quarantines, social distancing, and canceled events had a profound impact on students'…

This paper synthesizes recent research on formative assessment to elucidate its core components, then examines some new approaches currently being tried in schools. It considers the evidence for them, as well as the questions and issues they continue to raise, and takes a look at the challenges schools and school systems face in implementing both…

Throughout history, a disproportionate number of learners have been tracked into terminal vocational programs based on their race, income, gender and disability, leading to jobs with uncertain promise of economic growth and prosperity. While the quality of Career Technical Education (CTE) programs has significantly improved since then, many…

This paper examines and critiques the accountability movement, high-stakes testing, and their relationship to the achievement gap. Analyzing the issues in the context of Texas, the paper discusses dropout rates that were incorrectly identified and reported, the role of courts and specific court cases in high-stakes testing, ethical considerations,…

Our 2022-23 Fordham Sponsorship Annual Report shares our work during the last school year, overseeing thirteen schools that served approximately 6,000 students in Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati and Portsmouth, Ohio. We value this opportunity to keep stakeholders and the public informed about our efforts, provide information on each of the schools we…