Press Releases 2007

“It’s clear that doing what we’ve always done in our public schools simply isn’t good enough anymore,” said Kati Haycock, President of The Education Trust, in response to the release of international test data showing that American teenagers rank 21^st in science and 25^th in math among 30 industrialized nations.

WASHINGTON (November 5, 2007) – On Thursday, November 8 in Washington, D.C., The Education Trust will present the fifth annual Dispelling the Myth awards to four schools from throughout the U.S. that have achieved exceptional success in educating low-income students and students of color to high academic levels.

This year’s recipients are:

Today’s results from the 2007 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) released by the U.S. Department of Education continue a familiar trend: more progress in math than reading, and bigger gains in fourth grade than eighth—but not nearly enough progress, especially among low-income and minority students.

“While the gains are not big enough, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the increases reflect real improvements in teaching and learning in our nation’s public schools,” said Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust.

The provisions of the Title II discussion draft released yesterday by the Education and Labor Committee are a critical step forward for teaching and learning in classrooms throughout the country, especially the classrooms of low-income and minority students.

WASHINGTON (August 1, 2007) – Despite the national focus on reforming America’s high schools, most states are setting woefully low goals for improving graduation rates and are not setting goals for ensuring that more low-income, minority, disabled and English language learner students graduate, according to a report released today by The Education Trust. 

Graduation Matters: Improving Accountability for High School Graduation documents state-set goals for graduation rates under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, showing how improvement targets are often so l

The proposals released today by the Forum on Educational Accountability (FEA) represent a giant step backward in the effort to both raise achievement and close longstanding gaps. 

The FEA’s call for different tests for different groups of students should offend every American committed to fairness and equity in education. Their call for demographically-designed assessments—combined with classroom-, school-, and district-level tests—mocks the idea of a single high standard for all and would merely obscure achievement gaps from public view, not close them.

The results from the 2006 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in U.S. History and Civics are certainly mixed. While we’re seeing that the reform efforts targeted toward the early grades are paying off, these reports are yet another indication that our nation’s secondary schools are producing students who are neither college- nor career-ready.

The news for fourth-graders in both subjects is positive: across the boards, scores are on the rise, with the lowest performing students registering the biggest gains.

Washington, DC—The Education Trust today released its recommendations for the reauthorization of NCLB.

The results released today from the 2005 12^th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress are a sobering reminder of the need for increased focus on and support for the students and teachers in our nation’s high schools.

Over a quarter of the nation’s high school seniors lack even basic reading skills.  Over forty percent lack even basic mathematics skills.