Many educators comfortably embrace the myth that the military will enlist any and all high school graduates who are interested. However, a new analysis from The Education Trust reports that too many of the nation's high school graduates have not been adequately prepared to serve in the U.S. Army. In "Shut Out of the Military," the first-ever…

The United States' lack of purposefulness in providing high-quality education to all young Americans, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, is literally wasting the future of many young people, including members of the fastest growing group. Poised by 2050 to constitute nearly one-third of the workforce, Latinos currently are the least…

As Secretary of Education from 1993 to 2001, Richard Riley had serious concerns about out-of-field teaching. The practice--which places in core academic classes instructors who have neither certification nor a major in the subject field taught--just didn't make sense to him. Both when he considered what children were getting in the classroom or…

As with the collapse of the subprime lending industry, the showdown between for-profit colleges and the government shows how the aspirations of the underserved, when combined with lax regulation, make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer. For-profit colleges provide high-cost degree programs that have little chance of leading to high-paying…

Nearly all high school seniors today aspire to pursue higher education because they know that a college degree offers them the best opportunity to realize the American Dream. Indeed, college-going rates are up considerably for all students over the last 30 years. At the same time, however, racial gaps in degree attainment actually have grown, even…

In this brief, the authors share what they are learning from looking beneath the averages. They identify public and private four-year institutions that appear to serve their black and white students equally well--that is, where both groups graduate at similar rates. They also identify public and private institutions that have a lot of work to do…

Each year, nearly 400,000 minority students enroll as freshmen in a four-year college, hoping to realize all of the opportunities that earning a bachelor's degree affords. Many arrive on campus having overcome underfunded high schools, an intimidating college-admissions process, and daunting financial circumstances. Yet despite their persistence…

With the focus of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on struggling schools and reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) on the horizon, now is the time to have an honest conversation about what people know--and don't know--about school-level trends. To spur this conversation and to help state and local…

Leaders in schools, districts, and states, along with policymakers in Washington, D.C., are focusing new energy on closing long-standing gaps in performance that separate low-income students and students of color from others. It's critically important that their efforts succeed--for students, their families, their communities, and for their…

Everyone knows that low-income and minority students often face steep hurdles. Although these challenges sometimes have roots outside of school, compelling evidence shows that great teachers and well-run schools can have powerful effects on student learning and help close achievement gaps. Yet in most parts of the country, people do exactly the…

Today, the national conversation about educational equity and reform offers an extraordinary opportunity to transform the teaching career. Educators and policymakers understand that solutions lie not in tinkering around the edges but in a concerted effort to create systemic change. To succeed, states must make rapid progress in four areas: (1)…

Researchers demonstrated a quarter century ago that schools could effectively employ value-added statistical methods. At the time, only a few states and districts had accumulated the necessary annual assessment data to take advantage of the breakthrough. Today, every state has the capacity to provide educators with value-added data. Yet most…

In 2007, the presidents and chancellors of nearly two dozen public postsecondary systems created the Access to Success Initiative to pursue two goals: (1) increase the number of college-educated adults in their respective states; and (2) ensure that their institutions' graduates included more young people from low-income and minority families by…

If state leaders invest resources and energy wisely, they don't have to choose between excellence and equity. They can improve overall teacher quality and remedy the shameful inequities in access to the single most valuable resource in education--effective teachers. This paper outlines ten steps state policymakers and school district leaders can…

Given lingering racism in this country, you won't be surprised to learn this: Hispanic students are much less likely than white students to have the most qualified teachers--the ones with the most experience and greatest expertise in the subject matter. And many Hispanic students go to schools that do not even offer some of the high-level courses…