Education Trust | Closing the achievement gap

NCLB Waiver Summaries

The ESEA Flexibility plan lets states apply for waivers from NCLB requirements. Click here for our state-by-state analyses of accountability systems, educator evaluation plans, and standards implementation plans in the first 11 approved state applications.

Principal Leadership Webinar Series: Download Here

The Ed Trust 2011-12 Leadership Webinar Series, Great Principals Talk About Getting It Done, is downloadable here. The 2013 series, Building a Profession: Helping Principals Become the Lever of Change, begins in February.

Blogs and Commentary

What Does It Mean to Be a Good Instructional Leader? Karin Chenoweth, School Leadership Briefing

Part 3: Using Educator Evaluation Systems to Identify and Develop Great Teaching, Melissa Tooley, Chalk Bloggers

Ed Trust Conference Offers Real-World Lessons for Closing Gaps, Daria Hall, The Connecticut Council for Education Reform Blog

The Professional Educator: Leading for Learning, Karin Chenoweth and Christina Theokas, American Educator

Testing Isn't the Problem, Amy Wilkins, District Administration

Message from Kati

Kati Haycock presents the Ed Trust at the Arnold Giving Library. Watch. Connect. Give.

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Post-Election We Must Keep the Focus on Equity

On Nov. 6, the country re-elected Barack Obama to a second term as president of the United States. With Florida’s 29 electoral college votes yet to be applied to either candidate, President Obama had clinched 303 electoral college votes to Governor Romney’s 206.

Election Day Brings Lots of State Ballot Measures on Education

Despite little discussion of education issues in the presidential campaign, education was actually quite a hot topic in a number of states, with ballot measures in 38 states. The results were a mixed bag for education reform. It will likely take time to decipher what it all means for low-income students and students of color.

Sec. Duncan to Speak at Ed Trust Conference

Some schools that are doing the vital work of educating the nation’s children are successfully producing strong academic achievement for large numbers of low-income students and students of color. On Thursday, Nov. 8, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will join The Education Trust as it honors several such schools at its annual Dispelling the Myth Awards ceremony and dinner. The event is part of the organization’s 2012 national conference, held Nov. 8-9 in Washington, D.C.

‘New Majority’ Teachers Value Student Data for Professional Improvement

As baby boomer educators retire and new teachers take their place, students across the country are more likely than ever to have a teacher with fewer than 10 years of experience. The difference between the opinions of these newer teachers — whom Teach Plus calls the “New Majority” — and their more seasoned peers emerged in a recent online survey by Teach Plus of more than 1,000 teachers. The results show surprising alignment of attitudes about the practices and standards that boost student learning. But opinions diverge sharply between the two groups on issues of evaluation and tenure, offering encouraging insights about the direction the teaching profession may be heading.

Better Principal Prep Vital to School Improvement

Just as teachers are the most important in-school factor influencing whether students achieve at high levels, so are principals pivotal to the way teachers practice and the level at which they perform their duty to their students. As the nation celebrates National Principals Month this October, it is important to recognize the relationship between effective school leadership and elevating student performance. A new report from The Wallace Foundation considers this relationship and offers suggestions for how best to prepare principals to provide the leadership schools need. The Wallace Foundation is sponsoring several sessions on school leadership at this year’s Ed Trust National Conference, Nov. 8-9, in Washington, D.C.