Press Releases and Statements

Statement from The Education Trust on U.S. Department of Education’s announcement of a growth-model pilot program

As we work toward getting all of our children to high standards, we need to learn more about which accountability systems provide the most constructive information to teachers, parents, and the public.

A limited, carefully developed pilot to test alternatives to the current approach could be enormously helpful in teaching us how to improve on No Child Left Behind in the next reauthorization.

  • Read more
  • Share this

Five schools honored at the the Annual Education Trust Dispelling the Myth Award ceremony

(Washington, DC) – The Education Trust today will honor five schools from around the country that have made extraordinary progress in educating poor and minority students to high academic levels. Their accomplishments will be celebrated at the Third Annual Dispelling the Myth Award ceremony held in Washington D.C. as part of the Education Trust’s 16th National Conference on closing the achievement gap.

Closing the achievement gap: 2005 NAEP Reading and Math results show some gains, but slowing progress

(Washington, D.C.) – Public school results for the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released today by the U.S.

Statement from The Education Trust on Gulf Coast Disaster

We at the Education Trust are deeply saddened by the images of devastation and desperation we are witnessing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Don’t count them out: Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, on Louisiana tragedy and the future of education in the state

Like so many other Americans, I watched in horror as the waters rose in Orleans Parish and other nearby communities. It’s been hard even to imagine the anguish felt by Louisianans as they lost their homes and their jobs, not to mention members of their families.

Statement from The Education Trust on the National Governors Association’s “Graduation Counts: A Compact on State High School Graduation Data”

(Washington, DC) – The Education Trust applauds the governors across the country who today pledged to develop more accurate measures of high school graduation and to build better data systems to collect, analyze, and report this information.

Graduation rates are a fundamental measure of whether high schools are doing their job.

2004 NAEP Long-Term Assessment shows tremendous gains at the elementary level and highlights remaining challenges at the secondary level

(Washington, D.C.) – Today’s results from the 2004 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend assessment offer tremendously hopeful news about the achievement of elementary school students:  Nine-year-olds have posted the highest scores in reading and math since these federal assessments began in the early 1970s.

At the same time, African-American and Latino achievement has soared, and, as a result, the achievement gaps among 9-year-olds are smaller than they have ever been in the history of the long-term NAEP.

“These gains at the elementary scho

Getting Honest About Grad Rates: Too many states hide behind false data

(Washington, DC) – The Education Trust released a report today that sharply criticizes the way states calculate and report graduation statistics. The analysis, entitled “Getting Honest About Grad Rates: How States Play the Numbers and Students Lose,” also rebukes the U.S. Department of Education for failing to exert leadership by demanding that states get honest about graduation rates.

The Ed Trust analysis reveals disturbing patterns: Some states rely on ludicrous definitions of graduation rates. Others make little effort to accurately account for students who drop out of school.

Statement from The Education Trust: Utah must confront inequities in public education

Last year less than 60 percent of elementary-school American Indian and Latino students in Utah passed year-end standardized tests in language arts, compared to 85 percent of white students. About a third of black students failed to pass. The gaps were similar in math test results.

Ross Wiener, policy director of The Education Trust, on the report by National Conference of State Legislatures’ Task Force on No Child Left Behind

The National Conference of State Legislatures’ Task Force on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) emerged today to urge an enormous step backwards in the nation’s efforts to close achievement gaps in public education.  While the report pays lip-service to the goal of closing achievement gaps, it fails to even acknowledge the deep-seated inequities in the public school systems for which these state legislators are responsible.

The historical record is too strong and the stakes are too high to turn back the clock on NCLB.  The law is not perfect, and it inevitably will be modified wh

Syndicate content