President Joe Biden has made reopening a majority of K-8 schools for in-person instruction a priority for his administration's first 100 days, with the goal of getting more American students safely back into the classroom. Yet neither information gathered so far by researchers, nor data reported by the federal government and the states, can say…

Research demonstrates that student-centered teaching strategies (tutoring, small-group learning, mastery-based learning, and individualized instruction) can help students excel. Many schools have turned to blended learning--integrating online learning into brick-and-mortar schools--to help implement these strategies sustainably and effectively.…

Over the past 25 years, charter schools have offered an increasing number of families an alternative to their local district schools. The charter option has proven particularly popular in large cities, but charter-school growth is often constrained by state laws that limit the number of students the sector can serve. The charter sector is the most…

With the introduction of school choice as a viable option of school reform, researchers have begun to look beyond academic achievement to the effects of choice on alternative outcomes. Recently, non-cognitive skills and behavior stand at the front of those alternative outcomes. From the most up to date relevant literature it appears that school…

Despite a 100-year-old history and the existence of schools in nearly every country in the world, Waldorf education is a little known and poorly understood educational model that was developed in Europe by Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner. For many years it existed in the United States in the form of private schools. Few of their teachers or…

In Texas, local taxpayers fund the majority of educational facilities construction and maintenance costs, with local wealth influencing facilities outcomes. The traditional school districts that comprise the predominantly Latino and segregated San Antonio area vary considerably in property wealth as well as district capacity and expertise. We…

By law, a student's admission to one of New York City's eight elite high schools is determined by his or her score on the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT). Only a very small number of black and Hispanic students make the cut, a fact that has led Mayor Bill de Blasio to engineer what he regards as a more equitable racial distribution…

School choice reforms are increasingly common across the U.S. This symposium summarizes and presents the most recent research on the social effects of private school choice programs and public charter schools. All three papers consider heterogeneity in effects that can and should inform policymaking. The first paper, "Charter School Entry and…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "School District Health." Contents include: (1) Habits of a Healthy School…

A safe school environment is essential for effective learning and the inculcation of civic values. The article presents a comparative analysis of school climate and safety in private and public schools using nationally representative data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) 2011-2012. Ordinal logistic regressions are used to study…

Over the last decades, the term 'literacy' has extended far beyond its original reference to learning to read and write. However, few data are available about its actual application in schools across Europe. This article, which is part of a larger project, tries to identify the common trends and difficulties teachers face when dealing with…

School choice is a popular and controversial topic across the nation. School choice options include both public schools such as charter schools and magnet schools, as well as private school options. In North Carolina, the cap was lifted on the number of charter schools in 2011 and since that time additional charter schools have opened each year.…

Proponents of market-driven education reform view vouchers and charters as superior to local-board-run, community-based public schools. However, the author of this timely volume argues that there is no clear research supporting this view. In fact, Schneider claims there is increasing evidence of charter mismanagement--with public funding…

Educational choice programs--defined broadly as programs that provide parents with financial aid to help their children opt out of the traditional public school system--are a hallmark of meaningful educational reform. Yet despite widespread news coverage of such programs, polls show most Americans are unfamiliar with how educational choice…

This ninth annual High School Benchmarks Report provides the updated data on high school graduates' college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. This report was designed with several features particularly tailored to secondary education practitioners and policymakers. First, results presented in this report update last years' findings on…