Cpre Knowledge Hub

Following the widespread upheaval of 2020, educational leaders are now tasked with leading their districts, schools and teams through the frustration - and uncertainty - of 2021. A recent guide and companion video, created in partnership with experienced school leaders, offer a research-backed framework designed to help educators meet that challenge and drive school improvement in the months ahead. Coauthors and renowned educational leadership experts Jonathan Supovitz (Penn GSE, CPRE) and John D'Auria (William James College) join CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss the guide, and how leaders can use this opportunity to become "scientists of learning."

Many U.S. school districts report a significant and persistent gap in teacher evaluation ratings between Black and white educators. In a new study of Chicago Public Schools data, researchers Matthew Steinberg (George Mason University) and Lauren Sartain (UNC Chapel Hill) set out to understand the scope of that gap and the factors - including school and classroom contexts - that lead to it. Steinberg joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss their findings, and some important implications for policymakers, school leaders, educators and other stakeholders across the country.

When millions of students shifted to remote learning in the wake of COVID-19, millions of parents abruptly became "proxy educators." And when their children struggled, they struggled as well, according to a new research brief. A team of researchers including Cassandra Davis (UNC Chapel Hill) and Alberto Ortega (Indiana University Bloomington) found that parents with struggling students have experienced significantly elevated levels of mental distress during the pandemic, regardless of their socioeconomic status or the number of children in their home. Davis and Ortega join CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss their findings, and some important implications for policymakers, school leaders and other stakeholders as we move forward in 2021.

Following months of turbulence and widespread school closures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, how did students fare academically this fall? NWEA researchers examined the test scores of more than four million students in the fall of 2020, finding cause for both optimism and continued concern as we move forward in 2021. Megan Kuhfeld, senior research scientist with NWEA, joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss what her team learned - and didn't learn - from the data, and the prospect of student assessment in the post-COVID era.

Despite a new year and the promise of vaccines for the novel coronavirus, educators in America are still navigating one of the most uncertain eras in the nation's history. A new guide from the Project for Mental Health and Optimal Development at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) offers a research-backed framework and tools for those educators as we look ahead to the spring and beyond. The guide, created by a team of teachers, counselors, school leaders, psychologists, teacher educators and university faculty, advocates for the development of an "uncertainty mindset," and offers strategies for educators to recognize challenges, make plans and care for the wellness needs of themselves and their students. Penn GSE's Michael Nakkula and Andy Danilchick join CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss the guide, and its potential value to educators - and even parents - in the wake of the pandemic.

Students who reside in federally subsidized housing can face significantly higher levels of racial and economic isolation in school, according to a new study. The study, coauthored by Jennifer Holme (University of Texas at Austin) and Erica Frankenberg (Penn State University), examined attendance zones and school composition across four large counties in Texas. Their team found that public housing and Low Income Housing Tax Credit-financed housing were predominantly zoned to racially and economically isolated schools, and that developments were associated with especially high levels of economic and racial isolation for Black and Latinx students. Holme and Frankenberg join CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss those and other findings, and some important implications for stakeholders across the country.

Following abrupt school closures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of families turned to online resources to support their children's remote learning. A new, nationwide study of internet search data, however, finds that households in wealthier areas of the country were significantly more likely to access those resources than families in lower-income areas. Study coauthor and Boston University researcher Joshua Goodman joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss those and other findings, and some important implications for education policy, practice and future research.

The latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) - often called the nation’s report card - paint a troubling picture of academic stagnation and widening achievement gaps among American students. In a special episode, Harvard University professor and nationally recognized testing policy expert Daniel Koretz joins CPRE Executive Director Jonathan Supovitz to break down the latest NAEP data, and its implications for student outcomes, equity, and education policy. Koretz and Supovitz also discuss the potential value and the future of the assessment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

New analysis by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) finds that the benefits of a free college plan proposed by President-elect Joe Biden would outweigh its costs within a decade. The report, coauthored by CEW Director Anthony Carnevale, also examines how various approaches to free college would impact student equity and educational attainment in the years following implementation. Carnevale joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss the center's analysis and the implications of the Biden free college plan, whether it is ultimately adopted or not.

How, and under what conditions, can schools and out-of-school time programs partner to effectively foster social emotional learning (SEL) in students? In a new report, part of an ongoing, six-year initiative by The Wallace Foundation, researchers from the RAND Corporation share findings from dozens of sites across six large American communities, and offer research-backed lessons for implementing a successful SEL partnership. The RAND Corporation's Heather Schwartz joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss the report, and what her team has learned from one of most comprehensive SEL implementation studies ever performed.

Colleges and universities across the U.S. have seen significant enrollment declines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Incoming freshmen account for nearly 70 percent of the undergraduate enrollment losses this fall, according to the data, while community colleges are reporting enrollment drops approximately nine times higher than their pre-pandemic rate. Mikyung Ryu, research publications director for the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, joins us to discuss those and other trends, and their implications for both colleges and students as we look toward 2021 and beyond.

This year's widespread protests for racial justice have brought new attention the persistence and perniciousness of structural racism in America. In a new article in Phi Delta Kappan Magazine, USC Rossier School of Education Dean Pedro Noguera traces the history of structural racism as it relates to urban schooling, and its myriad impacts on students of color in cities like Chicago, New Orleans and Los Angeles. Noguera joins CPRE Executive Director Jonathan Supovitz to discuss the article, and the ways in which school leaders, teacher preparations programs, communities and even students themselves can work together to fight for change.

From global health crises to climate change, today's students and future generations will face a cascade of unprecedented challenges and threats, requiring new modes of thinking and problem-solving. In a new article in Phi Delta Kappan Magazine, renowned psychologist and Cornell University Professor Robert Sternberg questions our traditional approach to testing and intelligence assessment, and whether today's students are being adequately prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Sternberg joins Jonathan Supovitz, executive director of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) at Penn GSE, to discuss the concept of "adaptive intelligence," and how schools and educators can help students hone real-world problem-solving skills in the classroom. Sternberg also discusses his forthcoming book on adaptive intelligence, and how the concept has taken on a new level of importance following one of the most challenging years in living memory.

New research led by the University of Pittsburgh's Lindsay Page finds that nudging - through the use of artificially intelligent chatbots - can offer a significant boost to certain college outreach and engagement efforts. In their study of a unique chatbot system used by Georgia State University, researchers identified the conditions under which nudging was most effective, and the outreach efforts that benefitted most. Page joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss the study, and some implications for colleges and universities hoping to maintain engagement with students in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

School food programs can have a wide range of impacts on students, families and local workers, all of which were thrown into high relief by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a new article in the October 2020 issue of Phi Delta Kappan Magazine, University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Jennifer Gaddis discusses those impacts, and how they are influenced by a school's reliance on outsourcing and large-scale food service providers. Her article also traces the history and evolution of school food programs in the U.S., and the promise and viability of alternative, in-house approaches to food service. Gaddis joins CPRE Executive Director Jonathan Supovitz to discuss her article, her book "The Labor of Lunch" and the uphill climb many food programs face in the wake of the pandemic and a national recession.

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country in March, Congress allocated roughly $3 billion in direct education aid to U.S. governors under the the Governor Emergency Education Relief Fund . A new analysis by FutureEd and The Hunt Institute examines how states have allocated those funds, and what those spending decisions might say about the educational priorities for each governor. FutureEd Editorial Director Phyllis Jordan joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss the analysis and some implications for policymakers, schools and other stakeholders in the midst of a lingering national recession.

More than 125 community colleges in over 20 states now offer bachelor's degree programs to local students. In one of the first studies of its kind, Johns Hopkins University's Dennis Kramer II and the University of Florida's Justin Ortagus set out to examine how those programs impacted enrollment at nearby colleges and universities in Florida. Kramer and Ortagus join CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss their findings, and some key implications for policymakers, school leaders and families in the wake of a national economic recession.

A new national study offers some of the first large-scale evidence on the scope of implicit teacher bias in American classrooms, and the relationship between teacher attitudes and student outcomes like academic performance and discipline. Lead author and Harvard University researcher Mark Chin joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss the study, which found that counties with higher levels of teacher bias have larger adjusted inequalities between black and white students in areas like test scores and suspensions. Chin also discusses some implications and recommendations for policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders in the wake of sweeping protests for racial equity across the U.S.

Plans for reopening schools and businesses in the wake of COVID-19 all hinge, in part, on the availability of safe child care options for millions of American families. A recent impact study in Pennsylvania, however, found that hundreds of child care providers face permanent closure as a result of the pandemic. The study, led by Phil Sirinides, director of the Institute of State and Regional Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg, found that many providers spent all available cash to stay afloat during the prolonged shutdown, and are now struggling to reopen as a result of reduced enrollment and increased costs. Sirinides joins us to discuss the study, and his team's recommendations for state policymakers, providers and other stakeholders in the uncertain months ahead.

Smartphones may be linked to decreased knowledge retention and lower grades in college, according to a recently published study led by Rutgers University psychology Professor Arnold Glass. The study, conducted at Rutgers over 11 years, found that students who used smartphones to complete class assignments were significantly less likely to remember that material during closed-book exams. Glass joins CPRE Knowledge Hub managing editor Keith Heumiller to discuss his findings, their relation to K-12 education, and some important implications for policymakers, school leaders, and instructors across the U.S.