Commentary

Medicaid Cuts Would Put Students At Risk

This piece originally appeared in The Hill. The nation’s schools, already reeling from plunging test scores and culture war controversies…

The New Absenteeism: What Measuring Attendance Misses

The sharp rise in chronic student absenteeism in the wake of the pandemic has attracted national headlines, and rightly so. But research I’ve done with my…

A New Blueprint for State Standardized Testing

This piece originally appeared in Education Next. Statewide standardized testing has played a central role in education policy for decades…

The Important Connection Between Attendance and Student Achievement

Thirty-one states showed improvement in rates of chronic absenteeism, or the number of students missing 10% or more school days, in the 2023-24 school year…

Questions to Ask as Private School Choice Surges

This piece originally appeared in The Grade. The rapid expansion of private school choice has drawn a good deal of news coverage — as it should. We’ve never put…

How Schools Can Support Immigrant Students

When Alejandra and her son Diego first moved to San Francisco’s Mission District from El Salvador to escape gang-related violence…

How to Persuade Parents to Get Students Back in School Post-Pandemic

Prior to the pandemic, the Ad Council Research Institute developed a national messaging campaign to help lower chronic student absenteeism, a serious but not…

Why Many Top Colleges are Sticking with Test-Optional Admissions

This piece originally appeared on the New America website. At the start of 2024, we were told that, like it or not, the SAT was making a comeback.