Performance and Progress Determine “Stuck Schools,” Ed Trust Study Shows

A new Ed Trust report shows that schools often lumped together as “low performing” are not all alike. Data from reading and math assessments for elementary and middle schools in ten states show some low-performing schools remain “stuck” year after year. Yet others that started as low performers are among the fastest improvers in their states.

     Amid conflicting claims about school turnarounds and growing federal investment in struggling schools, “Stuck Schools: A Framework for Identifying Schools Where Students Need Change—Now!” sheds light on gains, or their absence, in low-performing schools.

     The study aims to help state and local educators and policymakers better target their interventions. It also seeks to illuminate discussions on struggling schools in the run-up to reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

     The report is the first of a four-part “Stuck Schools Series” on trends in school improvement. Focusing on low-performing schools in Maryland and Indiana, the report illustrates contrasting improvement patterns that also emerge in the eight other states the authors examined. For more details, visit the Press Room.