In March 2020, COVID-19 appeared in the State of Maryland, resulting in strict stay-at-home orders and the shutting down of physical business operations. These restrictions directly impacted College Park Academy (CPA), a public charter middle and high school in Prince George's County, MD that typically follows a hybrid approach to in-person and…

Federal law defines English learner (EL) eligibility differently for Indigenous, compared to non-Indigenous, students, allowing for broader entry into the EL category, along with its accompanying resources and services. We interviewed EL leaders from 25 state departments of education to learn about their level of understanding of the…

Distributed leadership practices were used by principals to engage teacher leaders in instructional leadership responsibilities to create an innovative learning culture in Title I elementary schools. It was not known how teachers described the influence of principal-distributed leadership practices on organizational learning and innovativeness in…

The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that passed in 2015 changed many aspects of school accountability across the United States. Under ESSA states had to interpret new requirements and create accountability plans. As part of Maryland's ESSA plan, a new school report, the Maryland Report Card, was developed to evaluate school performance…

For the last 50 years, social, educational, and behavioral scientists investigating the relationships among school socioeconomic (SES) composition and educational outcomes have demonstrated time and again that schools with higher concentrations of students living in poverty provide less than optimal teaching and learning conditions, and they are…

Recent governmental education reform measures have emphasized school improvement by requiring schools and districts to improve school performance, including student achievement, through many avenues including professional development. Professional development is no longer concentrated solely on teachers; it now includes administrators the…

At a time when voters are keenly focused on the cost of living, housing affordability has become a hot political issue in many parts of the country, including New York State. Policymakers, grappling with what they can do to make housing more affordable, are actively seeking to reform longstanding local exclusionary zoning laws, policies that…

Housing choice vouchers provide low-income households with additional income to spend on rental housing in the private market. The assistance vouchers provide is substantial, offering the potential to dramatically expand the neighborhood--and associated public schools--that low-income households can reach. However, existing research on the program…

The Magnet Program at Montgomery Blair High School is an application-based magnet program utilizing a curriculum focused on science, mathematics, and computer science catering to interested, talented, and eager to learn students in Montgomery County, Maryland. This article identifies and discusses some of the unique aspects of the Magnet Program…

This article tells the story of MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough Schools. The program's goals are to identify, recognize, and showcase the leadership and successful practices of middle level and high schools that serve large numbers of students living in poverty and that have high levels of student achievement or show evidence of dramatically…

This article profiles William Hite, Jr., a longtime educator and administrator, who began his career more than two decades ago as a high school athletic coach. Hite says his biggest passion is educating young people. And one of the best ways to serve students, he says, is by listening. Hite, 51, assumed his duties as Philadelphia's new…

Mayoral control and accountability is one of very few major education reforms that aim at governance coherence in this nation's highly fragmented urban school systems. A primary feature of mayoral governance is that it holds the office of the mayor accountable for school performance. As an institutional redesign, mayoral governance integrates…

A new data analysis, based on data collected as part of The Broad Prize process, provides insights into which large urban school districts in the United States are doing the best job of educating traditionally disadvantaged groups: African-American, Hispanics, and low-income students. Since 2002, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has awarded The…

An analysis of data from the second year of The After-School Corporation's (TASC's) national demonstration of an expanded school day for elementary and middle school students shows that ExpandED Schools improved school culture, decreased rates of students' chronic absenteeism and helped students develop positive learning habits and attitudes.…

"Stuck Schools Revisited: Beneath the Averages" shows why a national focus on turning around the lowest performing schools, while needed, is not enough to raise achievement and close gaps. The report analyzes student achievement data from Maryland and Indiana, which reflect the outcomes seen in other states. The results confirm a…