Think Twice Weekly Report
DECEMBER 14, 2024 - JANUARY 3, 2025
The Think Twice Weekly Report compiles public education-related policy reports, research and articles of interest to policymakers, educators and stakeholders. This list is not exhaustive but is meant to highlight recent reports that may be used to support or undermine the work of our subscribers in supporting public schools. We encourage you to take a moment to scan these reports and determine if they may be used by policy makers to assist or erode your mission.
Policy Reports
Education Savings Accounts
Source: Heritage Foundation
Date: 12/19/2024
Education Choice at a Crossroads: A Survey of Arizona Families Who Use Empowerment Scholarship Accounts
This interim evaluation report presents findings and insights regarding Oakland's school violence intervention and prevention (VIP) teams. Each school VIP team consists of one life coach, one violence interrupter, and one gender-based violence specialist. Though still in its early implementation stage, the school VIP program shows promise in its work to meet the safety and security needs of Oakland high school students.
Gender Issues
Source: Heritage Foundation
Date: 12/18/2024
Gender Ideology as State Education Policy
This interim evaluation report presents findings and insights regarding Oakland's school violence intervention and prevention (VIP) teams. Each school VIP team consists of one life coach, one violence interrupter, and one gender-based violence specialist. Though still in its early implementation stage, the school VIP program shows promise in its work to meet the safety and security needs of Oakland high school students.
School Finance and Funding
Source: Heritage Foundation
Date: 12/19/2024
Congress Need Not Panic: Debunking Fears of a "Fiscal Cliff" as School Districts Face ESSER Spending Deadline
This interim evaluation report presents findings and insights regarding Oakland's school violence intervention and prevention (VIP) teams. Each school VIP team consists of one life coach, one violence interrupter, and one gender-based violence specialist. Though still in its early implementation stage, the school VIP program shows promise in its work to meet the safety and security needs of Oakland high school students.
Teacher Employment / Diversity
Source: NCTQ
Date: 12/20/2024
A New Roadmap for Strengthening Teacher Diversity
This interim evaluation report presents findings and insights regarding Oakland's school violence intervention and prevention (VIP) teams. Each school VIP team consists of one life coach, one violence interrupter, and one gender-based violence specialist. Though still in its early implementation stage, the school VIP program shows promise in its work to meet the safety and security needs of Oakland high school students.
Discipline Policy
Source: Urban Institute
Date: 12/11/2024
An Interim Process and Outcome Evaluation of Oakland's Measure Z–Funded Services
This interim evaluation report presents findings and insights regarding Oakland's school violence intervention and prevention (VIP) teams. Each school VIP team consists of one life coach, one violence interrupter, and one gender-based violence specialist. Though still in its early implementation stage, the school VIP program shows promise in its work to meet the safety and security needs of Oakland high school students.
Higher Education
Source: Brookings Institute
Date: 12/11/2024
Supporting students to and through college: What does the evidence say?
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of evidence from over two decades of research on interventions designed to increase college access and completion. Drawing on rigorous evaluations of diverse programs and approaches, we examine what is effective to help students successfully navigate the path to and through college.
Higher Education
Source: Progressive Policy Institute
Date: 12/10/2024
Diminishing Credit II: How Colleges and Universities Restrict the Use of AP and IB Towards Earning a Degree in Less Than Four Years
In 2016, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released an analysis of school policies regarding Advanced Placement (AP) credit. Despite being one of the few ways students could seek to graduate in fewer than four years, we discovered that the vast majority of the nation's top schools restricted students from applying AP coursework toward degree credits. Unfortunately, despite strong evidence that successfully completed AP courses meet the standards of achievement expected by colleges and universities, the situation has deteriorated significantly as more schools seek to protect their revenue streams.
School Choice
Source: CRPE
Date: 12/12/2024
In Search of Opportunity: Can Families Use Education Choice to Secure More of What They Want?
As education choice programs expand, the promise of securing better educational opportunities remains unevenly realized for many families. This report examines the challenges families face and offers practical solutions to help education choice programs deliver on their potential. The report reveals that while some families benefit from education choice, many-particularly those in rural areas, low-income communities, and families of color or with children who have disabilities-encounter significant obstacles. Information gaps, competitive admissions processes, and a shortage of desirable educational options limit families' ability to secure the education they need.
School Reform and Restructuring
Source: CRPE
Date: 12/10/2024
Promising progress, fragile foundations: A five-year analysis of school innovation, 2019-2024
Over the past five years, the Canopy Project has documented innovations in K-12 education, uncovering how schools are addressing systemic challenges and envisioning the future of learning. This report highlights the progress and persistence of these trailblazing schools and offers actionable recommendations for sustaining and spreading innovation.
Reports Reviewed
GLC seeks to ensure that policy briefs impacting education reform are based on sound, credible academic research. Below are reviews conducted with GLC support.
Review of School Segregation on School Report Cards: Who Are We Grading Anyway?
Source: Urban Institute
Reviewed by: James Noonan, Salem State University
A recent Urban Institute report examines proposed legislation in North Carolina that would add a "proportionality score" to the state accountability system, measuring how closely a school's racial demographics match those of the surrounding county. James Noonan of Salem State University reviewed School Segregation on School Report Cards: Who Are We Grading Anyway? and found it to be logical but somewhat under-explained.
Using publicly available data, the report examines how scores would vary depending on the population to which schools are compared. This "what if" exercise highlights the control policymakers have over what is measured and how, showing how small changes to formulas can shift the story data tell about schools. While the report does not recommend the best formulas, it raises important questions for policymakers to consider when evaluating trade-offs.
What We're Reading
Research and articles that we want to highlight for subscribers as potential resources:
Updated: Fired teacher Hawn wins appeal against Sullivan County Schools
By: Rick Wagner, TimesNews
Mr. Hawn was the Social Studies/Contemporary Issues high school teacher who was removed from his class in the spring of 2021 and subsequently terminated after playing for his class Kyla Lacee Jenning's spoken word poem titled, "White Privilege. Hawn was dismissed based on alleged grounds of insubordination and conduct unbecoming a teacher, as two grounds for firing outlined in Tennessee law, but the judge reversed that decision and ordered that he be reinstated.
Apprenticeships are a trending alternative to college - but there's a hitch
By: Jon Marcus, The Hechinger Report
More people are lining up for apprenticeships than there are employers to provide them
PPI 2024 Election Review And the Way Ahead for Democrats
By: Will Marshall, Claire Ainsley, & Deborah Mattinson, PPI
Democrats must face a hard truth: their coalition is inexorably shrinking as non-college voters continue to defect. It's time for honest answers to three vexing questions: How did they lose again to the deeply flawed Trump? Does their loss signal a U.S. political realignment? And why are Democrats - and indeed center-left parties across Europe - alienating the working-class voters they once championed?
About the Think Twice think tank review project
The goal of the Think Twice project is to provide the public, policymakers and the press with timely academically sound reviews of selected think tank publications. The Think Twice project is funded by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. The reviews that are part of this project are expert third-party reviews produced by the National Education Policy Center.
About the Great Lakes Center for Education Research & Practice
The Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice is an independent nonprofit organization supported by education stakeholders across the country. The mission of the Great Lakes Center is to support and disseminate high quality research and review of research for the purpose of informing education policy and to develop research-based resources for us by those who advocate for education reform.
