Equity Issues in Education


NWEA Study: Students Who Used MAP Accelerator 30 Minutes per Week Achieved Big Gains in Math

In a massive study conducted during the 2020–21 school year, education researchers at NWEA found that students using MAP Accelerator personalized math instruction for at least 30 minutes a week achieved surprisingly big gains across all grades and all demographic categories, according to the study results released today.

Promise Neighborhoods Program Accepting Applications for $18M in Grant Funds

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is now accepting applications for the Promise Neighborhoods program, which will award up to $18 million to four or five winning applicants later this year. The deadline to apply for the grants is Sept. 27, 2022.

ED Hosting Webinars This Week for Full-Service Community Schools Grant Applicants

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education will host several webinars this week to provide guidance to local and state education agencies and community-based organizations interested in applying for the Full-Service Community Schools grant program, which will award up to $68 million to approximately 40 applicants later this year.

How a Poor District in NY Leveled the Playing Field with Better Communications [and Lightened the Load for School Staff]

A district administrator explains how their new school-home communications platform gives them not just two-way communications with families, but also the ability to meet parents where they are — and how implementing the platform has solved numerous challenges for the district staff and teachers, for parents, and for students.

The Hustle-and-Grind Tech Entrepreneur Mindset is Not a Good Replacement for the Industrial Model of Education

The industrial model of education seems worth dismantling; but in the push to increase creativity and individual expression, Silicon Valley has replaced Detroit as the reference point for the workplace we are preparing students for: “move fast and break things,” “hustle and grind,” emphases on hyper-success, hyper-creativity, and hyper-performance. Neither model will suffice if we want to change the world for the better.

Nonprofit Groups Say ED Must Address Inequitable Harms of Student Online Activity Monitoring

In an open letter this week to U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon, 15 education, technology, and civil rights nonprofits called for the department to put schools and online activity monitoring providers on notice that such monitoring must not result in discrimination or violation of students’ civil rights and liberties.

PowerSchool Launches Connected Intelligence, First Fully Managed Data-as-a-Service Platform for K–12 Schools

K–12 cloud-based software provider PowerSchool today launched a new Data-as-a-Service platform called Connected Intelligence that aims to unify, integrate, protect, and analyze school districts’ data from all sources as well as external data that impacts educators' decision-making such as labor market information, according to a news release.

How One District Used Tech to Address Sinking Reading Scores & Overhaul Its Literacy PD

A literacy and intervention director at a California district with a serious literacy issue — only 16% of its 22,000 students in TK–12 were reading at or above grade level districtwide — explains how they used technology to overhaul the district's literacy professional development program and address access and equity problems.

Insurance Provider United Educators Offers Premium Credit To Schools Completing JED Mental Health Support Program

United Educators, a member-owned insurance and risk management provider for K–12 schools and higher ed institutions, has partnered with suicide prevention nonprofit The Jed Foundation to offer a premium credit to schools that successfully complete a JED program that helps schools better support students’ mental health and well-being.

How an Educator’s Persistence Led to a Student Leadership Initiative & the Most Popular Minecraft Edu Game of All Time

When Felisa Ford and her instructional tech colleagues in Atlanta had trouble getting the district's teachers on board with using Minecraft: Education Edition, she created a student ambassador program to empower young Minecraft experts to coach other students and teachers, and it was so successful that Microsoft started a learning path for educators to sponsor their own local student ambassador programs. Then came Good Trouble.

Whitepapers