Press Room, The Education Trust

WASHINGTON – As we mark the 25^th anniversary of “A Nation at Risk,” the spotlight is shining everywhere except where it is most needed. We need a clear-eyed accounting of the progress our schools and students have made over the past 25 years, and we need an honest assessment of the unfinished work required to protect the prospects of our young people and our nation into the future.

Instead of purposeful evaluation and planning, one group of commentators is furiously debating whether the Commission got it right when it claimed that the "tide of mediocrity" was getting “higher” back in 1983, as opposed to merely “high.” Meanwhile, another group argues that without fully and finally eliminating all of the outside-of-school challenges in children's lives, better schools won't make much of a difference.

These arguments distract us from attending to what we can and should do right now for our schools and for the students they serve. Yes, too many of our students are growing up under unconscionable conditions. And yes, we must commit ourselves and our nation to ensuring that no American child suffers under the burdens of poverty or racism. But we cannot allow gross inequities outside our schools to excuse gross inequities within our schools because the facts suggest that poor children and children of color can and do learn more when their schools are better.

4.3.08	EdTrust Statement on NAEP 2007 Writing Results
2.7.08	Ed Trust Releases Their Fair Share Report and Web Tool Exposing Gaps in Teacher Quality in Texas
1.17.08	EdTrust Releases the seventh Funding Gap Report
12.4.07	EdTrust Statement on the Math and Science Results from the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
11.15.07	EdTrust Statement on the 2007 Urban District Results in Reading and Mathematics from the Nation's Report Card
11.5.07	EdTrust Announces the 2007 Dispelling the Myth Award Winners
10.31.07	Higher Education Leaders from Across U.S. Announce New Initiative to Expand College Access and Increase Success for Low-Income and Minority Students
9.25.07	Education Trust Statement on the 2007 Math and Reading Results from The Nation's Report Card
9.20.07	Education Trust/Education Trust-West Statement on CTA Opposition to Performance Pay for Teachers
9.10.07	Haycock Testimony on Teacher Quality Provisions of NCLB
9.7.07	Education Trust Statement on House No Child Left Behind Reauthorization Draft of Title II
8.29.07	Education Trust Statement on House No Child Left Behind Reauthorization Draft
8.1.07	GRADUATION MATTERS: How NCLB allows states to set the bar too low for improving high school grad rates
6.20.07	Study of Texas' 10 Largest School Districts Reveals Large Spending Gaps on Teacher Salaries
6.14.07	Education Trust Statement on FEA Proposals for Assessment and Accountability
6.7.07	Education Trust Statement on NCES Standards Study
5.16.07	Education Trust Statement on 2006 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in U.S. History and Civics
4.25.07	Education Trust Statement on Strong American Schools
4.11.07	Education Trust Recommendations for No Child Left Behind Reauthorization
3.16.07	Education Trust Response to Education Weeks’ Quality Counts 2007: Demographics Aren’t Destiny, What Schools Do Matters
3.8.07	Testimony of Ross Wiener to the U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness: The State of Higher Education: How Students Access and Finance a College Education
3.6.07	Written Testimony of Amy Wilkins Before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
2.22.07	EdTrust Statement on 12^th Grade NAEP Results
2.15.2007	Kati Haycock’s Testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education
1.24.2007	Statement by Kati Haycock, President of the Education Trust, on the State of the Union Address and No Child Left Behind Reauthorization
12.20.2006	Education Trust Releases Funding Gaps 2006
12.13.2006	Education Trust Releases 2006 Education Watch State Summaries
12.13.2006	Education Trust Named #1 Education Advocacy Organization of the Decade
11.20.2006	Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nation’s Premier Public Universities
11.15.06	Ed Trust Statement on NAEP Science Urban Assessment
10.30.06	The Education Trust Honors Five “Dispelling the Myth” Schools
9.25.06	Kati Haycock’s Testimony Before the No Child Left Behind Commission on NCLB Reauthorization
9.13.06	Yes We Can: Telling Truths and Dispelling Myths About Race and Education in America
8.31.06	Promise Abandoned: How Policy Choices and Institutional Practices Restrict College Opportunities
8.16.06	Ed Trust Statement on US ED Review of State Plans for Highly Qualified and Experienced Teachers in Every Classroom
8.10.06	Missing the Mark: States’ Teacher-Equity Plans Fall Short
8.7.06	Statement by Ross Wiener, Education Trust Policy Director, on the National Governors Association Graduation Counts Compact Progress Report
7.27.06	Kati Haycock’s Testimony to the House Education and Workforce Committee Endorsing Growth Measures
6.8.06	Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality
5.24.06	Ed Trust Statement on NAEP Science Results
4.17.06	Ed Trust Statement on State Proposals for the Growth-Model Pilot Program
3.2.06	Primary Progress, Secondary Challenge: A State-By-State Look at Student Achievement Patterns
112.22.05	Funding Gap 2005: Most States Shortchange Poor and Minority Students
12.01.05	Statement From The Education Trust On NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment Results
11.30.05	Getting The Job Done: How Some High Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement
11.18.05	Education Trust Statement on U.S. Department of Education’s Announcement of a Growth-Model Pilot Program
11.16.05	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
11.05.05	Five Schools Honored at the Annual Education Trust Dispelling the Myth Award Ceremony
10.19.05	Closing the Achievement Gap: 2005 NAEP Reading and Math Results Show Some Gains, But Slowing Progress
09.29.05	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”
09.2.05	Education Trust Statement on Gulf Coast Disaster
09.2.05	Don’t Count Them Out: Kati Haycock Statement on Louisiana Tragedy and the Future of Education in the State
07.17.05	Education Trust Statement on the National Governors Association’s “Graduation Counts: A Compact on State High School Graduation Data”
07.14.05	2004 NAEP Long-Term Assessment Shows Tremendous Gains at the Elementary Level and Highlights Remaining Challenges at the Secondary Level
06.23.05	Getting Honest About Grad Rates: Too Many States Hide Behind False Data
04.28.05	Written Testimony of Kati Haycock, Director, Education Trust on “Hearing on Providing Quality Postsecondary Education: Access and Accountability” before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, United States Senate
03.01.05	Education Trust Statement: Utah Must Confront Inequities in Public Education
02.23.05	On Course for Success: A Close Look at Selected High School Courses That Prepare All Students for College
02.23.05	Statement of Ross Wiener, policy director of The Education Trust, on the report by National Conference of State Legislatures’ Task Force on No Child Left Behind
02.15.05	New Report Reveals How California's Low-Income and Minority Students are Shortchanged by State and District Budget Practices
01.19.05	Education Trust Releases College Results Online: Similar Institutions Aren’t that Similar When it Comes to Student Success
01.11.05	Statement By The Education Trust on Armstrong Williams Incident
01.06.05	Stalled in Secondary: Student Achievement Lags in Middle Grades and High School

EdWatch Online -- The Education Trust's State and National Database gives reporters instant access to state-by-state and national data on educational performance and opportunity gaps by race and class – kindergarten through college. How does African American and Latino achievement in your state compare to African American and Latino achievement in other states? How does your state’s achievement gap compare to the gap in other states? How does teacher quality, curriculum and funding in your state compare to other states?

Dispelling the Myth Online -- Need to find some high-performing high-poverty and high-minority schools in your state? This easy to use, fully interactive Web site allows reporters to employ their own criteria to conduct rapid searches for high-performing or high-improving schools in nearly every state in the nation.

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