Published Articles & Media
No More Free Lunch for Education Policymakers and Researchers
For many years, the identification of students who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches has doubled as a way for researchers and policymakers to identify students from low-income families.
School Choice as an Antipoverty Strategy
Even in a time of great political polarization, at least some school choice policies have the potential to foster bipartisan collaboration.
No Excuses for Stagnant Student Achievement in U.S. High Schools
With graduation rates at an all-time high, , but federal achievement data indicate that these students likely have no better math or reading skills than their parents did.
Does Gentrification Explain Rising Student Scores in Washington, DC?
Our new analysis shows that demographic change explains some, but by no means all, of the increase in scores.
How Do States Really Stack Up on the 2015 NAEP?
The declines in NAEP scores from 2013 to 2015 are unlikely to be explained by shifts in student demographics.
Evaluating the DC School Voucher Program
More high-quality evidence on the nation’s most prominent voucher program has the potential to inform education policymaking in the capital and across the country
Who Opts Out of State Tests?
District-level data from New York suggest that relatively affluent districts tend to have higher opt-out rates, and that districts with lower test scores have higher opt-out rates after taking socioeconomic status into account
Opt-Out Movement Likely Inconsequential for Teacher Evaluations
In the majority of classrooms, where opt-out appears likely to remain at low levels, the data strongly suggest that students sitting out of standardized testing will have only a trivial impact on the ratings received by their teachers.
Why Annual Statewide Testing Is Critical to Judging School Quality
Accountability based on grade-span testing judges schools based on the students they serve, not how well they serve them.
Testing Costs a Drop in the Bucket
The cost of standardized tests, long assailed by testing critics as too high, has resurfaced in the debate over reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act currently underway in Congress.
