Explore commentary and stories from Chad Aldeman, K-12 policy and school finance expert, on the evolving landscape of educational recovery and progress.
I thought I understood the chronic absenteeism problem. Kids were disengaged during the pandemic and lost the habit of going to school regularly. Plus, the virus and flu were still circulating, which forced kids to stay home. That story is a generic one. The virus and flu should affect all kids equally, right?
Humans are lazy. I don’t mean that in a negative sense. But we all take shortcuts, we use rules of thumb, and we generally try to make things as easy as possible on ourselves.
Math performance among New Mexico’s 8th graders has fallen 15 points in the last decade, grounding scores to a two-decade low. Yet, despite the alarming state of learning, New Mexico leaders appear to be walking back an accountability system that was originally touted by a panel of independent, national experts as one of the best in the country.
From an education policy perspective, there’s not much to say about last night’s presidential debate.
Algebra is a gateway toward more advanced mathematics courses, and passing the course in 8th grade is a strong predictor of future college success.
In a report for FutureEd last month, Lynn Olson and Tom Toch advocate for a “matrix sampling” approach to federally required achievement tests. Basically, instead of testing all kids in grades 3-8, states could test just a sample of students and still get high-level accountability results.
About 25 million kids will sit down to take a state test this spring. When can parents reasonably expect to see their child’s results?
So the key question is not whether these types of digital programs “work,” but, “how many students actually stick with them?” And the reality is not that many.
So the key question is not whether these types of digital programs “work,” but, “how many students actually stick with them?” And the reality is not that many.
Game-changing automatic enrollment policies took the trophy, but full bracket represents leading efforts to advance math in states and districts. Check out EduProgress.org/math to learn more!
March MATHness is heating up! We're on to the Elite Eight - with the first-round winners being driven by strong, statewide math legislation, high-quality tutoring programs, innovative learning platforms, and game-changing new enrollment policies.
March MATHness is heating up! We're on to the Elite Eight - with the first-round winners being driven by strong, statewide math legislation, high-quality tutoring programs, innovative learning platforms, and game-changing new enrollment policies.
Chad Aldeman is a nationally recognized expert on education policy, including school finance; teacher preparation, evaluation, and compensation; and state standards, assessment, and accountability. Chad has worked at the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University, Bellwether Education, and the U.S. Department of Education during the Obama Administration.
He has published reports on K-12 and higher education accountability systems; school choice; student enrollment; and teacher preparation, evaluations, and compensation. His work has been featured on CNN and NPR and published in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. Chad holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and a master’s of public policy from the College of William and Mary. Chad is also the founder of ReadNotGuess.com, a program to help parents support their child’s early reading skills.
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