Education Research Report: New Report Finds that Writing Can Be Powerful Driver for Improving Reading Skills

Education Research Report: New Report Finds that Writing Can Be Powerful Driver for Improving Reading Skills

New Report Finds that Writing Can Be Powerful Driver for Improving Reading Skills

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

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Although reading and writing have become essential skills for almost every job, the majority of students do not read or write well enough to meet grade-level demands. A new report from Carnegie Corporation of New York and published by the Alliance for Excellent Education (the Alliance) finds that while the two skills are closely connected, writing is an often-overlooked tool for improving reading skills and content learning. Writing to Read: Evidence for How Writing Can Improve Reading identifies three core instructional practices that have been shown to be effective in improving student reading.

“As the recent findings from the Nation’s Report Card in reading demonstrate, nearly 70 percent of the nation’s eighth graders fail to read at a proficient level,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance and former governor of

TEACHER PENSION FUNDING GAPS ARE THREE TIMES GREATER THAN STATES REPORTby Jonathan Kantrowitz

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Teacher pension liabilities for all 50 states now total almost $1 trillion, almost triple the cost of what state officials have on their balance sheets, an unfunded public burden that could bankrupt state budgets including education programs, according to a new study released on April 13, 2010 by the Manhattan Institute and the Foundation for Educational Choice.

In a new report entitled, “Underfunded Teacher Pension Plans: It’s Worse Than You Think,” authors Josh Barro and Stuart Buck reveal the major disparity between what states report and the true value of unfunded liabilities for teacher pensions. States put the price tag for teacher pension liabilities at $332 billion. The study shows that

More Assessments On-line?

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

A new report says so. It synthesizes findings from a study sponsored by the Educational Testing Service. The study included over 80 interviews with state assessment and education technology decision-makers (representing 27 states) along with national education opinion leaders.

Guidelines for Developing an Academic Acceleration Policy

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Guidelines for Developing an Academic Acceleration Policy provides guidance and encourages the systematic adoption and practice of acceleration in schools across the nation. The Guidelines document can assist schools in writing and modifying acceleration policy that is suited to local needs and adheres to research-based best 

How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

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A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students
Nicholas Colangelo, Susan G. Assouline, Miraca U. M. Gross

America's schools routinely avoid academic acceleration, the easiest and most effective way to help highly capable students. While the popular perception is that a child who skips a grade will be socially stunted, fifty years of research shows that moving bright students ahead often makes them happy.

Acceleration means moving through the traditional curriculum at rates faster than typical. The 18 forms of

U.S. Commitment to Gifted Students Severely Lacking
by Jonathan Kantrowitz

The U.S. education system neglects the needs of our gifted and talented students, leaving the nation ill-prepared to identify and effectively serve high-potential students, a survey reports.

The report – 2008-2009 State of the States in Gifted Education by the National Association for Gifted Children and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted finds a fragmented collection of policies and resources that vary greatly between states and local districts and that are almost universally underfunded and underresourced.

More than a quarter of all states provided no funding for gifted students during the last school year, and most high-potential students are taught by teachers with little to no training in gifted education, the report concludes.

problems inhibiting permanent change in low-performing schools Ω The story of America’s failed efforts to turn around the lowest-performing schools can be summed up in the tale of Markham Middle School. Located in the Watts neighborhood of Southeastern Los Angeles, Markham’s student body is predominantly ...

Understanding Teachers Contracts Ω Whether it's the contentious multi-year negotiations over the teachers contract in Washington, D.C., or the debates in many states over competing for Race to the Top funds, teachers contracts are at the center of the education reform debate today. .

School districts across the country are shortchanging low-income students A new report from The Education Trust documents how budgeting practices in school districts across the country are shortchanging low-income students and undermining the power of federal investments in high-poverty schools. “*Close the Hidden Funding .

Hybrid learning studied Ω Creating a new educational model to serve dropouts and at-risk students Full report In the fall of 1999, Wichita Public Schools launched a dropout-recovery and credit-recovery program, called the Learning Centers, in response to the district’s low ...