Hot Topics in Education
As an extension of our research advocacy, each month NCEA gathers and shares the latest research and data from across the country on issues affecting K-12 students on the path to college and career readiness (CCR). To examine Hot Topics resources organized by NCEA focus area, use navigation keys provided to the right on this page.
General Archive
6th Annual “Advanced Placement” Report to the Nation
The College Board produced this report on the national results of Advanced Placement course-taking and assessments. According to the report, the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses has doubled in the past decade, with rising numbers of poor and minority students taking the college-readiness courses. The College Board notes that schools nationwide have expanded the number of AP courses they offer and have reduced the prerequisites for students to participate in the courses, but officials also note that more students are failing Advanced Placement exams. Read More…
A New Diverse Majority: Students of Color in the South’s Public Schools
This study, released by the Southern Education Foundation, finds that for the first time in history children “of color” constitute a new diverse majority of those enrolled in the South’s public schools. This shift is largely due to a dramatic increase of Latinos, Asian Pacific Islanders, and other population groups in the region. Most students in this new majority are also low income. The South is home to 40 percent of the nation’s low income people and has among the lowest educational achievement and attainment levels in the nation. The report suggests that there will be catastrophic economic consequences if the education needs of the new majority are not met. Read More…
America’s Private Public Schools
This analysis by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute finds that more than 1.7 million American children attend what they dubbed "private public schools" -- public schools that serve virtually no poor students. In some metropolitan areas, as many as one in six public-school students -- and one in four white students -- attends such schools, of which the U.S. has about 2,800. Read More…
Crisis Data Management: A Forum Guide to Collecting and Managing Data About Displaced Students
This report from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics provides guidelines that can be used by elementary and secondary education agencies to establish policies and procedures for collecting and managing education data before, during, and after a crisis. Read More…
Don’t Leave Accountability Behind: A Call for ESEA Reauthorization
Aspen Institute’s No Child Left Behind Commission and the Alliance for Excellent Education issued this report arguing that, despite the promise of education reform efforts such as Race to the Top and the state-led common standards movement, improvement can only be sustained if Congress and the Administration update and improve the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The report outlines the reasons ESEA reauthorization is necessary to support long-term reform and ensure strong accountability for student outcomes and improvement. Read More…
Education Research: Past, Present, and Future
This paper from WestEd by Grover (Russ) Whitehurst, former Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, describes the historical challenges and opportunities for the Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs). Created in 1966, the RELs were originally designed to be the brokers and translators of education research to practice and policy. However, according to Whitehurst, they could not fulfill that role absent a strong research base, effective mechanisms for quality control of their products, and an activist stance by the federal government in education reform. Read More…
Performance Counts: Assessment Systems that Support High-Quality Learning
This paper by Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University was released at an event sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers, an organization also involved in developing the Common Core State Standards Initiative and promoting consortia to develop common assessments. The paper describes what a student assessment system could look like if built from the principles and best practices found in effective systems in the U.S. and high-achieving nations around the world. Read More…
Principles for a Comprehensive Assessment System
This policy brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education outlines basic criteria for new assessment systems that support instruction and are aligned to standards for college and career readiness. The paper was designed to inform federal policy activities, such as the $350 million competitive grant investment in new state assessments, states forming consortia to build new systems, and the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which will likely set guidelines for assessments and their use. Read More…
Research to Practice: The Future of the Regional Education Labs
The federal government has historically placed substantial responsibility for translational research in the hands of the Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs). Grover "Russ" Whitehurst at the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center on Education Policy argues that there are three possibilities for the type of activity that the RELs can most usefully carry out within the practical limits of their funding and their broad missions of regional assistance. Read More…
This report, from the Retaining Teacher Talent study conducted by Learning Point Associates and Public Agenda, suggests that what teachers think are good indicators of effectiveness—and what they think will make them more effective—are not always aligned with what policymakers or researchers think. The report highlights the teacher perspective on policy issues of assessing, rewarding, and improving teacher effectiveness, with the goal of keeping teachers at the heart of debates about the profession. Read More…
Science and Engineering Indicators, 2010
The National Science Board published this report which suggests that the U.S. position of influence in these fields is slipping as other nations make long-term investments to boost higher education access and quality. The report brings together some major developments in international and U.S. science, technology, engineering, and math fields and provides a close look at emerging trends. The U.S. standing among selected nations dropped below its 2000 rank in both math and science. One chapter is specifically devoted to elementary and secondary mathematics and science education. Read More…
The Alliance for Excellent Education released this report calling it a “game-changing” analysis of the economic costs of high school dropouts. It calculates the costs of a single-year’s cohort of dropouts to each of 40 U.S. cities using local economic data, and calculates the economic assets that would accrue to each locality if they could cut the dropout rate in half. Read More…
The Educational Crisis Facing Young Men of Color
In this report, the College Board gathered the insights and experiences of 60 scholars, practitioners, and activists from minority communities and addressed the education needs of minority males. Experts found that destructive pressures undermine the educational aspirations of minority males, and they identify promising programs to accelerate achievement. The report highlights some of the challenges among minority students, including a lack of role models, search for respect outside of education, loss of cultural memory, poverty challenges, language barriers, community pressures, and a sense of a failing education system. Read More…
The High Cost of Low Educational Performance
This report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) uses recent economic modeling to relate cognitive skills – as measured by PISA and other international instruments – to economic growth, demonstrating that relatively small improvements to labor force skills can largely impact the future well-being of a nation. The report also shows that it is the quality of learning outcomes, not the length of schooling, which makes the difference. Read More…
The High School Senior Class of 2003-04: Steps Toward Postsecondary Enrollment
The National Center for Education Statistics, in this report, examines the extent to which students in the senior class of 2003-04 took various steps toward postsecondary enrollment. These steps include preparing for and taking college entrance tests, seeking information about college entrance requirements, and applying for college admission. The tables present estimates for all students and by a wide range of student, family, and high school characteristics. Read More…
Who Are America’s Poor Children: The Official Story
This new report from the National Center for Children in Poverty indicates 19% of children live in families that are officially poor and 8% of children live in extreme poverty; and nationwide 13 million US children live in poverty. Findings also show the impact quality education can provide in closing the achievement gap between students at opposite ends of the income spectrum. Read More…