Absenteeism

Source: AEI

Date: 10/14/25

Need Not Be a Surprise: Early-Warning Systems for Chronic Absenteeism

This report takes a deeper look at student attendance patterns after COVID-19 and compares these trends with those observed before and during the pandemic. Using statewide longitudinal student-level data from North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia, I examine not only how attendance and chronic absenteeism rates have changed but also how the distribution of absences has shifted within and across schools. In doing so, I aim to answer a pressing question for school leaders and policymakers: Are the students who are missing school today the same ones who missed before, or has absenteeism become a broader, more systemic issue?

Absenteeism

Source: AEI

Date: 10/15/25

Who's Absent from School? A Two-State Examination of Trends in Absenteeism Before and After COVID-19

This report examines descriptive patterns in student absenteeism before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia and North Carolina. We ask four questions:

 

How do absence rates vary across student demographic groups and years?

 

What student characteristics (grade, achievement, race, poverty, status as an English language learner, limited English proficiency, etc.) and school or district characteristics (level, student demographics, etc.) most strongly predict student absenteeism?

 

To what extent have the demographic predictors of absenteeism changed from before to after COVID?

 

How sensitive are the results to the chosen measure of absenteeism?

 

To answer these questions, we examine descriptive statistics and conduct a series of ordinary least squares and logistic regressions.

Absenteeism

Source: AEI

Date: 10/16/25

What Would Happen If We Returned to Pre-COVID Attendance Levels?

Students across the country suffered varying amounts of learning loss during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic. While recent gains have been made, the recovery has been slower than many would like and remains incomplete. Chronic absenteeism increased during this period, raising questions about its role in driving learning loss and hampering the subsequent recovery. In this report, we investigate these questions using administrative data from North Carolina and a large urban school district.

Charter Schools

Source:CREDO

Date: 10/16/25

The Impact of Rhode Island's Charter School Performance Review System on the Education Landscape

The Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University undertook this work at the request of the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to review the changes in the charter school landscape following the adoption of the 2017 updated Charter School Performance Review System.

 

The primary questions we considered were: 1. How was the new performance framework developed and implemented? 2. How has the adoption of the new performance framework changed the charter school authorization process and quality standards in Rhode Island? 3. What impact has the new performance framework had on the performance and quality of charter schools in Rhode Island?

Charter Schools

Source: Maine Policy Institute

Date: 10/13/25

Accountability Gap: Applying Charter Standards to Maine's Public Schools

Accountability Gap: Applying Charter Standards to Maine's Public Schools, assesses the success and performance of Maine's traditional public schools using the criteria the state applies to public charter schools. The analysis determines how many traditional public schools would be at risk of closure if held to the same levels of accountability as public charter schools.

Graduation / Student Achievement

Source: Fordham Institute

Date: 10/15/25

Ohio's High School Diploma: Gateway to success or door to nowhere?

Ohio's high school graduation requirements have long been subject to intense policy debate. Some argue that standards should align to the expectations of colleges and employers, while others argue for more relaxed standards that make diplomas easier to attain.

 

This report examines Ohio's current requirements as well as recent trends in high school graduation and student achievement. It uncovers large discrepancies in graduation and proficiency rates, indicating that many students leave high school without a strong academic preparation. The report concludes by calling on state leaders to ensure that all students graduate well-prepared for their next steps.

Teacher Evaluation

Source: Brookings Insitute

Date: 10/16/25

Learning from teacher evaluations that work

Analyses of D.C. Public Schools' high-stakes teacher evaluation system, IMPACT, show that while it improved overall performance, it also produced inequitable outcomes across teachers by race and experience.Over time, DCPS adjusted its evaluation system to make incentives more equitable, particularly for teachers in high-poverty schools, which reduced-but did not eliminate-racial disparities.The study finds that replicating DCPS's success requires not only strong incentives but also an emphasis on equity in their design and a willingness to revise them when outcomes fall short.

Review of Let's Get Ready! Educating All Americans for Success

Source: National Governors Association

Reviewed by: Ryan Pfleger

In late July, the National Governors Association released a report urging states to transform schools into stronger drivers of economic competitiveness. The report recommends that governors build public dashboards to track outcomes, align schools with workforce needs, and evaluate programs based on graduates' earnings potential.

Education policy researcher Ryan Pfleger reviewed Let's Get Ready! Educating All Americans for Success and found the report's usefulness to be undermined by its unsupported focus on economic competitiveness as the central measure of educational endeavors.

Charter expansions jeopardize Sarasota's Wilkinson Elementary. Others could be next.

By: Josh Salman, The Daily Sun

"In the most clandestine way possible, through proviso language buried in the budget instructions, our legislature essentially granted large, out-of-state entities squatters' rights in our schools," said Holly Bullard, chief strategy and development officer with the Florida Policy Institute, who has a child at Wilkinson. "This creates chaos, forces districts to divert resources to fund charter operations and puts thousands of schools across Florida at risk of forced co-location, including more than a dozen right here in Sarasota County."

AI Use in Schools Is Quickly Increasing but Guidance Lags Behind

By: Christopher Joseph Doss, Robert Bozick, Heather L. Schwartz, Lisa Chu, Lydia R. Rainey, Ashley Woo, Justin Reich, Jesse Dukes, RAND

"Artificial intelligence (AI) use by students and teachers has rapidly increased, but AI-related training and policies lag. The authors provide a first-of-its-kind update on AI in kindergarten through grade 12 education, drawing on surveys of nationally representative samples of teachers, school leaders, district leaders, students, and their parents. They recommend steps to address the lack of AI guidance to promote AI as a complement to learning."

Did A Cyber School Giant Try To Hide Its Troubles By Attacking A Public School?

By: Peter Greene, Forbes

"Stride, a giant in the cyber charter school industry, was accused by a New Mexico school district of violating rules and regulations. Now a lawsuit alleges that Stride responded by mounting a coordinated attack on the district and its superintendent."

Alaska education department publishes guidelines on developing AI policies in schools

By: Jamie Diep, Alaska Public Media

"The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development presented a set of guidelines on using AI in school districts last week. It includes recommendations and considerations on topics like cultural responsiveness and security when making AI policies."

Teacher turnover contributes to suspensions and referrals, study finds

By: Ed Finkel, K-12Dive

"Midyear departures have a negative impact on discipline, with Black and underrepresented students hit hardest, an NYU Steinhardt study finds."

GreatLakesCenter.org