Think Twice Weekly Report
JANUARY 11 - JANUARY 17, 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
Digital Technologies and Artificial Intelligence in Education
Source: Manhattan Institute
Date: 1/17/2025
Model Legislation to Restrict Smartphone Use in K-12 Public Schools
This issue brief and accompanying model legislation aims to provide states with a broadly implementable smartphone restriction policy in public schools, along with clear, straightforward enforcement provisions to help state and local elected leaders and school officials limit smartphone use in public schools across the United States.
Education and the Workplace
Source: Bellwether
Date:1/15/2025
Pathways to Implementation: Building and Sustaining Effective Career Pathways
As the needs of the U.S. workforce change, states have sought to improve educational and career outcomes for students by investing in the development of career pathways. Career pathways programs allow high school students to access postsecondary education and employment opportunities, work-based learning experiences, skill-building in alignment with academic content and high-demand occupations, and opportunities to earn credentials before graduation. To effectively change students' experiences and outcomes, strong policy must be coupled with robust implementation. In Pathways to Implementation, Bellwether draws on nearly 40 interviews with leaders and experts across 14 states to highlight innovative strategies and effective models in career pathways policy, implementation, and programming, as well as challenges states encounter in this work. The series is organized thematically into seven briefs, each addressing one of the key elements of Bellwether's framework for career pathways policy implementation.
School Reform and Restructuring
Source: Urban Institute
Date:1/13/2025
Opening a New School in Allentown, Pennsylvania
This report, which focuses on a completed school project in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is one of two case studies focused on new public schools. In partnership with Enterprise Community Partners and their partners in these communities, we explored how two school openings affected access to opportunities for children. The case studies aim to understand the decisionmaking behind new school openings-why a new school is planned, where it is sited, how its facilities are designed, and where its boundaries are drawn-and the implications for racial and socioeconomic equity.
School Reform and Restructuring
Source:Urban Institute
Date:1/13/2025
Planning a New School in Memphis, Tennessee
This report, which focuses on plans for a new school in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of two case studies focused on new public schools. In partnership with Enterprise Community Partners and their partners in these communities, we explored how two school openings affected access to opportunities for children. The case studies aim to understand the decisionmaking behind new school openings-why a new school is planned, where it is sited, how its facilities are designed, and where its boundaries are drawn-and the implications for racial and socioeconomic equity.
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:
Unpaid school meal debt continues nearly decade-long rise
By: Anna Merod, K-12Dive
School Nutrition Association data shows the median unpaid meal debt hit $6,900 per district in 2024, up 26% from the previous year.
How Religious Schools Became a Billion-Dollar Drain on Public Education
By: Alec MacGillis, The New Yorker
A nationwide movement has funnelled taxpayer money to private institutions, eroding the separation between church and state.
'Students are scared': Border Patrol raids fuel fear in schools
By: Emma Gellegos, EdSource
Advocates call on school leaders and elected officials to assure families of schools' safety
Private School Demographics
By: Sergio Hernandez, Nat Lash and Brandon Roberts, ProPublica
Look up the demographics of private schools across the country and see how they compare to the public schools nearby.
Florida Private Education Vouchers Cost $4 Billion This School Year
By: Education Law Center
In 2023, the state of Florida greatly expanded family eligibility for private education vouchers. At that time, Education Law Center (ELC) and Florida Policy Institute (FPI) estimated that the universal voucher program would cost the state $4 billion. In the current school year, the total estimated cost to the state of private education vouchers is $3.9 billion. In the 2023-24 school year, the total cost was $3.2 billion. Costs are expected to continue to increase
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.
