Education in the 21st century increasingly relies on strong, reliable access to the internet at school and at home. However, millions of students throughout the United States are unable to connect to the internet outside of school to complete coursework and actively participate in a modern education. This issue exists throughout educational…

The Covid-19 pandemic has vividly illustrated the centrality of frontline workers to the everyday functioning of the American economy and daily life. But while some articles have mentioned the high proportion of immigrant workers in these roles, there has been much less attention paid to the high number of English learners in particular. The…

This brief report offers analysis of ACT and SAT results from 2008 to 2013 in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) region. The brief focuses on the increase in test participation rates and points to policies that SREB states initiated that affected these rates. Five SREB states currently require 100 percent student participation on the…

The purpose of this article is to examine the disproportionality among racial/ethnic groups and states for the disability category of "Autism" as reported to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Over the past decade, a variety of sources indicated a dramatic increase in the number of students…

This study examines trends in Black student achievement and in the Black-White achievement gap over the period 2000 to 2007, employing data from ten states drawn from the NAEP Grade 8 mathematics assessments. Results are obtained for three levels of aggregation: the state, school poverty stratum within the state, and schools within poverty…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in Virginia for 2010. In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Virginia showed across-the-board gains--improvements in reading and math at the proficient-and-above and advanced levels for all racial/ethnic subgroups, low-income…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a critical analysis of (1) the disparities between the SAT scores of Black and White students, and Hispanic and White students, for 2004 and 2005 and (2) what those disparities suggest about the effectiveness of the State of Virginia "SOL" program and the Federal "No Child Left Behind"…

The accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 place high-poverty schools and racially diverse schools at a disadvantage because they rely on mean proficiency scores and require all subgroups to meet the same goals for accountability. In this article, student achievement data from six states are used to highlight…

Six years after passage of No Child Left Behind and midway to the nation's goal of having students on grade level or better in reading and math by 2014, more data than ever before has been collected about the academic performance of American students and schools. Information in this brochure charts student demographics, achievement-to-date and…

A subcommittee report introduces the subject of these joint hearings--the problem of infant mortality in the United States; addresses the need for the legislation; summarizes the proposed legislation; and lists endorsing organizations. The hearings examine both the scope of the problem and S. 1209, legislation to create a national commission to…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) States Showing Some Reading Improvements: Early Grades Raise Scores, but Older Students Continue to Struggle; (2)…