Commentary

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.

How to Fix Higher Education’s Remedial-Education Problem

This piece originally appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Fifteen years ago, a broad coalition of foundations, nonprofits, and educators launched a…

2024 Election Impact on Education

There’s nothing but speculation just yet on the direction of federal education policy in the next Trump administration. We’ll be sharing insights on Trump’s…

A Cautionary Tale About School Closings

As commentators have warned, a perfect storm of financial trouble — declining enrollment, outdated buildings and the end of federal pandemic-relief funds — is…