California research project timed to elevate education in fall elections, inform next governor
We’ve had a lot of changes during the past 10 years so it’s good to know which are working and if they’re not working as well, are there barriers that we could take down to help them work better, said Susanna Loeb, a professor of education at Stanford University who is coordinating the project. This seems like a really good time to do it. A new administration can come in with some facts on the ground.
Stanford professor hopes to improve education policy by fostering value-based, data-informed decisions
In a new book, Stanford scholar Susanna Loeb encourages education policy-makers to consider the many different values of an education, beyond test scores, alongside available research evidence when crafting their decisions.
Loeb says both the supporters and opponents of charter schools – and the decision-makers who set educational policy – might not have the data they need to fully weigh the pros and cons, in part because most research has focused on test scores rather than other measures.
Text-based tips may help parents and preschoolers learn
The texts come from a team of researchers at Stanford University’s Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA) Labs. Each message goes out to parents or other caregivers and reminds them of the skills young children will eventually need for school and how to help kids build them. The approach is inspired in part by “nudge” techniques, that is, behavioral interventions that push a person during decision-making towards a certain goal. For example, many employers nudge you to save for retirement by contributing a portion of your paycheck to a 401k.
CEPA faculty and alumni score high marks on the 2018 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings
The 2018 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings were released this week and CEPA faculty and alumni* scores high marks on the list. Of the 200 education scholars ranked, 12 faculty and alumni* made the list: Eric Hanushek, Martin Carnoy, Michael W. Kirst , Sean Reardon, Susanna Loeb, Thomas Dee, Caroline Hoxby, Rob Reich, Jason Grissom*, Eric Bettinger, Daphna Bassok*, Katharine Strunk*
Texted tips help parents turn routine tasks into pre-K learning opportunities
The Think Small ParentPowered Texts program is modeled after a similar program that piloted in the San Francisco Unified School District during the 2012-14 school year. Encouraged by early signs of success, the folks at Think Small teamed up with Ben York, a Stanford University doctoral graduate who co-created the original texting program, to tailor the texting program to meet the needs of Minnesota families.
Education policy expert to lead Annenberg Institute for School Reform
“The Annenberg Institute intrigues me because of the strength of Brown’s faculty and students, because of Brown’s commitment to social goals, and because of the resources, flexibility and community connections available to undertake this shared mission,” Loeb said. “I couldn’t be more excited to join Brown and begin the work.”
Why principals lie to ineffective teachers: Honesty takes too long
Researchers Jason Grissom of Vanderbilt University and Susanna Loeb of Stanford University published a study in the journal Education Finance and Policy similar to the study by Kraft and Gilmour in Educational Researcher. Both reports compared the formal district evaluations principals submitted with how those principals assessed the same teachers in confidential surveys. The formal and confidential assessments were as different as your view of your company’s latest mission statement might be when talking to your boss or your spouse.
The Collateral Damage of Testing Pressure
“Evidence on the importance of early-grades learning for later-life outcomes suggests that a system that pushes schools to concentrate ineffective teachers in the earliest grades could have serious unintended consequences,” write Jason Grissom of Vanderbilt and Demetra Kalogrides and Susanna Loeb of Stanford, the authors of the study.
High-stakes testing may push struggling teachers to younger grades, hurting students
Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade are often free of the high-stakes testing common in later grades — but those years are still high-stakes for students’ learning and development.
That means it’s a big problem when schools encourage their least effective teachers to work with their youngest students. And a new study says that the pressure of school accountability systems may be encouraging exactly that.