Commentary

Founded 20 years ago, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform was launched in an equity-dominated era; AISR Executive Director Warren Simmons exhorts federal education policy-makers to return to an equity-driven agenda that builds stronger systems nationwide and a more promising future.

The recently released report For Each and Every Child from the federally appointed Equity and Excellence Commission identifies deep disparities in educational opportunities, experiences, and outcomes for educators and students and outlines actionable recommendations for progress. However, to pursue those recommendations, significant reflection, bravery, and action will be needed by educators and other change agents.

Youth – the most talked about constituency in our schools – are on the front lines of school reform, which gives them the unique expertise needed to shape reform work in a meaningful way.

Teaching quality is the subject of ever-increasing national attention, but how do we define and measure it – and how do we use that information to improve student outcomes?

The success of community organizing is rooted in the idea of relational power – power developed collaboratively with others, rather than power over others.

When secondary and post-secondary institutions share student data to pinpoint the factors leading to college readiness, they must address political, social, and cultural issues as well as technical challenges to avoid replicating old inequities with new technology.

Today’s discussions of education reform are heavily focused on individual rewards and sanctions, but a growing body of research supports the collective capacity-building approach taken by the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.

The recent "A Match on Dry Grass" conference at Harvard Graduate School of Education underscores that community organizing has become a powerful force for education change, and nurturing its growth is key to achieving equity for underserved youth living in high poverty.

School counselors play an important role in helping students become college ready.

The intended role of charter schools as an innovation stimulus is too often ignored in the overheated debates between advocates and critics – but one small district in Rhode Island is showing how it's done.

As interest in parent organizing and engagement grows across the country, AISR's Keith Catone and UCLA IDEA's John Rogers contrast genuine grassroots parent power to impact education reform with the "Astroturf" version recently presented by Bruno Manno.

Over the past several years, more and more evidence has emerged that effective parent engagement can positively affect school culture, working conditions, and student achievement.

Poor academic outcomes by K-12 students in rural areas are traditionally ignored in the school reform debate. Emerging research suggests that improvements could be realized if lessons learned from community organizing for education reform in urban settings are effectively applied in rural communities.

AISR comments on Ron Wolk’s new book, Wasting Minds: Why Our Education System Is Failing and What We Can Do About It.