Where We Stand

Closing Achievement Gaps By Focusing on Opportunity Gaps The policy areas that we focus on are:

Implementing Standards and Accountability:  Standards and assessments that are aligned with those standards are the foundations of equity in education.  Standards ensure that schools are evaluated against a common benchmark.

For more information on our Standards and Accountability work, visit the following:

• Standards in Practice (SIP)
• New Frontiers for a New Century
• A New Core Curriculum
• Telling the Whole Truth (or Not) About High School Graduation Rates 
• The ABC's of AYP
• What New "AYP" Information Tells Us About Schools, States, and Public Education

Raising Teacher Quality:  Research confirms what parents have always known:  teachers have a huge impact on whether students learn.  Indeed, new research establishes that if we could assign our most effective teachers to the students who are farthest behind, we could close the achievement gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers.

For more information on Teacher Quality, visit the following:

• Real Value of Teachers
• A New Common Core Curriculum for All
• Telling the Whole Truth (or Not) About Highly Qualified Teachers
• Good Teaching Matters
• Honor in the Boxcar
• In Need of Improvement

Closing Other Opportunity Gaps:  Low-income students and students of color also receive less of other valuable resources, such as fiscal resources and access to the most challenging courses and curriculum (in addition to being disproportionately assigned to special education).  We publish data on these gaps, highlight the success of policies that are successfully narrowing these gaps, and advocate for equitable educational opportunities for all students.

For more information on Closing Other Opportunity Gaps, visit the following:

• A New Common Core Curriculum for All
• The Funding Gap Report (2003)   
• The Funding Gap Report (2002)   
• Add it Up
• Youth at a Crossroads

Alignment Between K-12, Higher Education and the Workplace:  The majority of our high school graduates enter college within two years, but many have not been adequately prepared by their high school education.  In part, that is due to outdated sorting systems in K-12 education that don’t match the expectations of today’s youth and their families.  But another problem is that in most states, the requirements for graduating high school and entering higher education are not aligned. There has been a lack of communication, and students are paying the price -- particularly students that rely on their schools for guidance and counseling about the demands of college and work. Our schools need to prepare all of our young people with the skills and knowledge that are required to succeed in college and in the high-skill, high-wage jobs to which today’s young people aspire.

For more information on Alignment Between K-12, Higher Education and the Workplace, visit the following:

• Matter of Degrees
• American Diploma Project
• Ticket to Nowhere

Testimony and Letters to Congress

• Ross Wiener's Testimony Before the Education Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee House of Representatives, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

• Kati Haycock’s Testimony Before the No Child Left Behind Commission on NCLB Reauthorization
• Open Letter to Congress from the Education Trust Director Kati Haycock on Cuts to Food Stamps, the Free-Lunch Program, and Financial Aid for Low-Income Students
• Written Testimony of Kati Haycock, Director, the Education Trust before The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce: "Closing the Achievement Gap in America’s Public Schools: The No Child Left Behind Act"
• Written Testimony of Kati Haycock, Director, Education Trust, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, United States Senate "Hearing on Providing Quality Postsecondary Education: Access and Accountability."

·   Testimony Of Ross Wiener, Policy Director, The Education Trust, Before The U.S. House Of Representatives Committee On Education And The Workforce on College Graduation Rates 

·   Testimony of Kati Haycock, Director, The Education Trust Before the U.S. House Of Representatives Committee On Education and the Workforce Subcommittee On 21^ST Century Competitiveness

·   Testimony of Kati Haycock, Director of The Education Trust, Before the National Commission on Accountability in Higher Education

Partnerships

• Education Trust Partnership with the NAACP Supports the State and Local Call to Action.

• Education Trust Partnership with NABSE Provides Information for African American Educators. 

For more information about the Ed Trust’s federal and state policy work, contact Ross Wiener.

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 Myths vs. Realities PowerPoint Presentation