Given the evidence of positive effects on students of having at least one teacher who shares their race or ethnicity, state boards of education, other state policymakers, and school leaders need to recognize teachers' race and ethnicity as markers of teacher quality. Whether purposefully or not, education systems have long defined teacher quality…

In October 2014, the US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights issued a clarion call to school districts and states to review their policies and practices in order to ensure they are equitably providing educational resources to their schools. The quality of classroom instruction and the quality of the organizational systems supporting…

Strong school accountability systems can be a powerful tool for sending a clear message that achievement of all groups of students matters and that to be considered good, a school must serve all groups of students well. But in recent years, many states put in place accountability systems that mask disparities in opportunity and achievement rather…

This article makes a case for state boards of education to work with schools of education to ensure all teachers--even brand-new ones--are prepared to serve diverse learners effectively, including students with disabilities. This goal is within reach thanks to performance measures for new educators such as the "Performance Assessment for…

As numerous studies from 1906 on have confirmed, children lose ground in learning if they lack opportunities for building skills over the summer. Nonetheless, summer learning loss comes up but rarely in the national discussion of education reform. By the end of summer, students perform on average one month behind where they left off in the spring.…