k 12 education definition

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• Katie Terrell Hanna

What is K-12?

K-12, a term used in education and educational technology in the United States, Canada and some other countries, is a short form for the publicly supported school grades prior to college.

These grades are kindergarten (K) and first through 12th grade (1-12). (If the term were used, 13th grade would be the first year of college.)

What are the different levels of K-12?

K-12 schools are usually divided into three levels:

• elementary school (grades K-5);
• middle school or junior high school (grades 6-8); and
• high school (grades 9-12).

In some instances, these three groups are kept separate; in others, elementary and middle school are grouped together, but high school is kept separate. In other cases, all levels are held together on the same campus.

What are the benefits of K-12 education?

K-12 education is the foundation of a student's academic career. It provides the basic knowledge and skills necessary for success in college and the workplace .

K-12 education also plays an important role in developing responsible citizens and preparing young people for the challenges of adulthood.

Benefits of a K-12 education include the following:

• academic preparation for college and the workforce;
• social and emotional development;
• exposure to different cultures and perspectives; and
• opportunities for physical activity and extracurricular involvement.

Is K-12 private or publicly funded?

K-12 education is free in the U.S., with most schools being public (state-funded) schools, and is mandatory in the U.S. until age 16 or 18, depending on the state.

However, there are also a number of private K-12 schools, which are supported by tuition payments and other private sources of funding.

What subjects are studied in K-12?

K-12 education covers a wide range of topics, including the following:

• language arts (reading, writing and comprehension);
• mathematics ;
• social studies;
• physical education; and
• foreign languages.

What types of assignments are given to K-12 students?

Assignments at the K-12 level can vary greatly, depending on the age and level of the students.

They can range from simple tasks, such as math problems or reading comprehension exercises, to more complex projects, such as research papers or presentations.

In general, assignments are designed to assess a student's understanding of the material covered in class and their ability to apply it to real-world situations.

What types of assessments are given in K-12?

Like assignments, assessments at the K-12 level can vary greatly. They can be formal, such as standardized tests, or informal, such as class participation or homework completion.

Assessments are typically used to measure a student's progress over time and to identify areas in which they may need additional support.

How do you get enrolled in K-12?

Enrollment in K-12 schools is typically done through the school district in which a family lives.

If they are moving to a new area, they may need to contact the school district office to find out what the enrollment process is. In some cases, they may be able to enroll their child in a K-12 school online.

Are there any alternatives to K-12 education?

There are a number of alternatives to K-12 education, including the following:

• home schooling
• private schools
• charter schools
• online schools

Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to do your research before making a decision.

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Education & Science

K-12 education in the United States - statistics and facts

Public school politics, inequalities in education, key insights.

Detailed statistics

School enrollment in public and private institutions in the U.S. 2022

Expenditure on public and private elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1970-2021

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Educational Institutions & Market

Share of Americans who are concerned about select issues in public schools U.S. 2023

Top three reasons K-12 public school teachers fear for their safety U.S. 2023

U.S. states restricting schools from teaching race, sex, or inequality 2021-2023

Further recommended statistics

• Basic Statistic Number of elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. 2020/21, by type
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. public schools 2021/22, by enrollment size and school type
• Basic Statistic School enrollment in public and private institutions in the U.S. 2022
• Basic Statistic Enrollment in public and private elementary schools 1960-2022
• Basic Statistic High school enrollment in public and private institutions U.S. 1965-2031
• Premium Statistic Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools U.S. 2022, by state
• Basic Statistic Primary and secondary school enrollment rates in the U.S. in 2022, by age group
• Basic Statistic Share of students enrolled in U.S. public K-12 schools 2021, by ethnicity and state
• Basic Statistic U.S. public school enrollment numbers 2000-2021, by ethnicity

Number of elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. 2020/21, by type

Number of elementary and secondary schools in the United States in 2020/21, by school type*

Share of U.S. public schools 2021/22, by enrollment size and school type

Share of public schools in the United States in 2021/22, by enrollment size and school type

Enrollment in public and private schools in the United States in 2022 (in millions)

Enrollment in public and private elementary schools 1960-2022

Enrollment in public and private elementary schools in the United States from 1960 to 2022 (in millions)

High school enrollment in public and private institutions U.S. 1965-2031

High school enrollment for public and private schools in the U.S. from 1965 to 2020, with projections up to 2031 (in 1,000s)

Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools U.S. 2022, by state

Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States in 2022, by state (in 1,000s)

Primary and secondary school enrollment rates in the U.S. in 2022, by age group

Share of population enrolled in primary and secondary education in the United States in 2022, by age group

Share of students enrolled in U.S. public K-12 schools 2021, by ethnicity and state

Share of students enrolled in K-12 public schools in the United States in 2021, by ethnicity and state

U.S. public school enrollment numbers 2000-2021, by ethnicity

K-12 public school enrollment numbers in the United States from 2000 to 2021 by ethnicity (in 1,000s)

Revenue and expenditure

• Basic Statistic School expenditure on public and private institutions 1970-2020
• Basic Statistic Expenditure on public and private elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1970-2021
• Premium Statistic U.S. per pupil public school expenditure FY 2023, by state
• Basic Statistic U.S. public schools - average expenditure per pupil 1980-2020
• Basic Statistic U.S. education - total expenditure per pupil in public schools 1990-2021
• Basic Statistic Revenue of public elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1980-2020
• Premium Statistic Average annual tuition for private K-12 schools U.S. 2024, by state
• Premium Statistic Estimated average salary of public school teachers U.S. 2021/22, by state

School expenditure on public and private institutions 1970-2020

School expenditure in public and private institutions in the United States from 1970 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)

School expenditure on public and private elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1970 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars)

U.S. per pupil public school expenditure FY 2023, by state

Per pupil public elementary and secondary school expenditure in the United States in the fiscal year of 2023, by state (in U.S. dollars)

U.S. public schools - average expenditure per pupil 1980-2020

Average expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance in public elementary and secondary schools from academic years 1980 to 2020 (in U.S. dollars)

U.S. education - total expenditure per pupil in public schools 1990-2021

Total expenditure per pupil in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1990 to 2021 (in constant 2022-23 U.S. dollars)

Revenue of public elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1980-2020

Revenue of public elementary and secondary schools in the United States from the academic years 1980 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Average annual tuition for private K-12 schools U.S. 2024, by state

Average annual tuition for private K-12 schools in the United States in 2024, by state (in U.S. dollars)

Estimated average salary of public school teachers U.S. 2021/22, by state

Estimated average salary of public school teachers in the United States in 2021-2022, by state (in constant 2020-21 U.S. dollars)

State laws and book bans

• Premium Statistic U.S. states restricting schools from teaching race, sex, or inequality 2021-2023
• Premium Statistic Proposed bans on sex or gender identity in K-12 schools U.S. 2023, by grade level
• Premium Statistic Share of transgender youth subject to bans on school sport participation U.S 2024
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. transgender population subject to bathroom bills 2024
• Premium Statistic Instances of book bans in U.S. public schools 2022/23, by ban status
• Basic Statistic Books banned in schools in the U.S. H2 2022, by state
• Premium Statistic Book titles banned in schools in the U.S. H2 2022, by subject matter
• Premium Statistic Topics that K-12 librarians would ban from their school libraries U.S. 2023

Legal action taken to restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism, sexism, and systemic inequality in the United States from 2021 to 2023, by state

Proposed bans on sex or gender identity in K-12 schools U.S. 2023, by grade level

Number of proposed bans on instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity in K-12 schools in the United States in 2023*, by grade level of ban

Share of transgender youth subject to bans on school sport participation U.S 2024

Share of transgender youth aged 13 to 17 living in states that restrict transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity in the United States as of March 14, 2024

Share of U.S. transgender population subject to bathroom bills 2024

Share of transgender population aged 13 and over living in states that ban transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity in the United States as of March 14, 2024

Instances of book bans in U.S. public schools 2022/23, by ban status

Total number of instances of books banned from K-12 public libraries and classrooms in the United States in the 2022/23 school year, by ban status

Books banned in schools in the U.S. H2 2022, by state

Number of books banned in school classrooms and libraries in the United States from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, by state

Book titles banned in schools in the U.S. H2 2022, by subject matter

Share of book titles banned in school classrooms and libraries in the United States from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, by subject matter

Topics that K-12 librarians would ban from their school libraries U.S. 2023

Share of library staff working in K-12 schools and districts who believe that libraries in their district or school should not include any books that depict certain topics in the United States in 2023

• Premium Statistic Share of K-12 public students attending predominately same-race schools U.S 2021
• Premium Statistic Share of public schools who feel understaffed U.S. 2024, by students of color
• Premium Statistic Estimated average months of learning lost due to COVID-19 by ethnicity U.S. 2020
• Premium Statistic NAEP reading scores for nine year olds U.S. 2022, by race
• Premium Statistic NAEP math scores for nine year olds U.S. 2022, by race
• Premium Statistic Share of K-12 students who feel their school respects who they are U.S. 2023, by race
• Premium Statistic Schools in the U.S.: victims of threats/injuries by weapons, by ethnicity 2021
• Premium Statistic Share of students who have experienced school shootings U.S. 1999-2024, by race
• Basic Statistic Share of teachers afraid of school shootings U.S. 2022, by location and student race

Share of K-12 public students attending predominately same-race schools U.S 2021

Share of students attending K-12 public schools in which 75 percent or more of the students are of their own race or ethnicity in the United States in the 2020-21 school year

Share of public schools who feel understaffed U.S. 2024, by students of color

Share of public schools who feel that their school is understaffed in the United States entering the 2023-24 school year, by students of color

Estimated average months of learning lost due to COVID-19 by ethnicity U.S. 2020

Estimated average months of learning lost compared with in-classroom learning due to COVID-19 in the United States in 2020, by ethnicity

NAEP reading scores for nine year olds U.S. 2022, by race

Reading scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress for nine year old students in the United States from 2020 to 2022, by race

NAEP math scores for nine year olds U.S. 2022, by race

Mathematics scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress for nine year old students in the United States from 2020 to 2022, by race

Share of K-12 students who feel their school respects who they are U.S. 2023, by race

Share of K-12 students who feel that their school respects who they are, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, or identity in the United States in 2023, by race

Schools in the U.S.: victims of threats/injuries by weapons, by ethnicity 2021

Percentage of U.S. students in grades 9–12 who reported being threatened or injured with a weapon at school in 2021, by ethnicity

Share of students who have experienced school shootings U.S. 1999-2024, by race

Share of students who have experienced school shootings in the United States from 1999 to 2024*, by race

Share of teachers afraid of school shootings U.S. 2022, by location and student race

Share of K-12 teachers who reported feeling afraid that they or their students would be a victim of attack or harm at school in the United States in 2022, by school locale and student racial composition

K-12 teachers

• Basic Statistic Teachers in elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1955-2031
• Basic Statistic U.S. elementary and secondary schools: pupil-teacher ratio 1955-2031
• Premium Statistic Impacts of restricting race, sex, and identity topics for K-12 teachers U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of public K-12 teachers who limit political or social topics in class U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic Top reasons K-12 public school teachers limit political or social topics U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic K-12 teachers' views on how gender identity should be taught at school U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic K-12 teachers' support for parents to opt children out of race/gender topics U.S 2023
• Premium Statistic Top three reasons K-12 public school teachers fear for their safety U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of school staff who received concerns from parents on K-12 curriculum 2023

Teachers in elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1955-2031

Number of teachers in public and private elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1955 to 2031 (in 1,000s)

U.S. elementary and secondary schools: pupil-teacher ratio 1955-2031

Pupil-teacher ratio in public and private elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1955 to 2031

Impacts of restricting race, sex, and identity topics for K-12 teachers U.S. 2023

Share of public K-12 teachers who say that current debates on how public K-12 schools should be teaching certain topics like race and gender identity has impacted their ability to do their job in the United States in 2023

Share of public K-12 teachers who limit political or social topics in class U.S. 2023

Have you ever decided on your own, without being directed by school or district leaders, to limit discussion of political and social issues in class?

Top reasons K-12 public school teachers limit political or social topics U.S. 2023

What are the top three reasons you decided, on your own, to limit discussion of political and social topics in your classroom?

K-12 teachers' views on how gender identity should be taught at school U.S. 2023

Share of public K-12 teachers with various beliefs on what students should learn about gender identity at school in the United States in 2023, by grade level

K-12 teachers' support for parents to opt children out of race/gender topics U.S 2023

Share of public K-12 teachers who believe parents should be able to opt their children out of learning about racism and racial inequality or sexual orientation and gender identity if the way they are taught conflicts with the parents' personal beliefs in the United States in 2023, by party

What are the top three reasons you fear for your physical safety when you are at school?

Share of school staff who received concerns from parents on K-12 curriculum 2023

About which topics have parents expressed concerns to you?

Parent perceptions

• Premium Statistic Main reasons why parents enroll their children in private or public schools U.S. 2024
• Premium Statistic Share of Americans with various views on what school type has the best education 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of parents with select views on what school type is best U.S 2024, by gender
• Premium Statistic Parents' beliefs on how gender identity is taught in school U.S. 2022, by party
• Premium Statistic Parents with select beliefs on how slavery is taught in school U.S. 2022, by party
• Premium Statistic Perceptions on the influence of K-12 parents or school boards U.S 2022, by party
• Premium Statistic Parents who believe teachers should lead students in prayers U.S. 2022, by party
• Premium Statistic Share of K-12 parents concerned about a violent intruder at school U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic K-12 parents' concerns on the effects of AI on their child's learning U.S. 2023

Main reasons why parents enroll their children in private or public schools U.S. 2024

Share of parents with various reasons why they chose to enroll their youngest child in a private or public school in the United States in 2024

Share of Americans with various views on what school type has the best education 2023

If it were your decision and you could select any type of school, and financial costs and transportation were of no concern, what type of school would you select in order to obtain the best education for your child?

Share of parents with select views on what school type is best U.S 2024, by gender

If given the option, what type of school would you select in order to obtain the best education for your child?

Parents' beliefs on how gender identity is taught in school U.S. 2022, by party

Share of parents of K-12 students with select beliefs on what children should learn about gender identity in school in the United States in 2022, by party

Parents with select beliefs on how slavery is taught in school U.S. 2022, by party

Share of parents of K-12 students with select beliefs on what children should learn about slavery in school in the United States in 2022, by party

Perceptions on the influence of K-12 parents or school boards U.S 2022, by party

Share of parents who believe that parents or the local school board have too much influence on what public K-12 schools are teaching in the United States in 2022, by political party

Parents who believe teachers should lead students in prayers U.S. 2022, by party

Share of parents who believe that public school teachers should be allowed to lead students in Christian prayers in the United States in 2022, by party

Share of K-12 parents concerned about a violent intruder at school U.S. 2023

Share of K-12 parents who were extremely concerned or very concerned about a violent intruder, such as a mass shooter, entering their child's/children's school in the United States in 2023, by grade of child

K-12 parents' concerns on the effects of AI on their child's learning U.S. 2023

How concerned are you about the effects of artificial intelligence, or AI, on your youngest/oldest child's learning this school year?

U.S. opinion

• Premium Statistic Share of Americans who are concerned about select issues in public schools U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic U.S. views on who should influence LGBTQ-related school policies 2023
• Premium Statistic U.S. views on how slavery and racism should be taught in schools 2023
• Premium Statistic U.S. preferences for race-related curricula in K-12 schools 2023, by race
• Premium Statistic U.S. views on whether teachers should use students' preferred pronouns 2023
• Premium Statistic U.S. teens' comfortability with race and LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of LBGTQ+ students with various reasons to drop out of high school U.S. 2021-22
• Premium Statistic Adults’ opinion on how K–12 schools should handle AI advances U.S. 2023-24

How concerned are you about the following issues in public schools in your local area?

U.S. views on who should influence LGBTQ-related school policies 2023

Share of adults who believe select groups should have a great deal of influence in deciding how to set school policy concerning discussion of LGBTQ people in the United States in 2023

U.S. views on how slavery and racism should be taught in schools 2023

Which of the following statements comes closest to your views?

U.S. preferences for race-related curricula in K-12 schools 2023, by race

Share of adults who believe various race-related curricula should be taught in K-12 schools in the United States in 2023, by race and ethnicity

U.S. views on whether teachers should use students' preferred pronouns 2023

If a teenager asks a teacher to use a particular pronoun – he, she or they – which do you think is the best policy?

U.S. teens' comfortability with race and LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom 2023

Share of teenagers who say they feel comfortable or uncomfortable when topics related to racism, racial inequality, sexual orientation, or gender identity come up in class in the United States in 2023

Share of LBGTQ+ students with various reasons to drop out of high school U.S. 2021-22

Share of LGBTQ+ students with various reasons why they do not plan to graduate high school or are unsure if they will graduate in the United States during the 2021-22 academic year

Adults’ opinion on how K–12 schools should handle AI advances U.S. 2023-24

Which of the following comes closest to your view on how K-12 schools should respond to advances in artificial intelligence (AI)?

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What is K-12 Curriculum?

Natalie has been a teacher, educational consultant, and curriculum designer for 15 years and has a Master of Education degree in Instructional Design and Technology.

Table of Contents

What is k-12 curriculum, courses or subjects taught, learning objectives and activities, state or common core state standards, lesson summary.

In the field of education, K-12 refers to grades kindergarten through twelve where attendance is compulsory.

Curriculum can have multiple meanings, though the term generally describes, in some form or another, the learning experiences students have in the classroom. Curriculum can refer to:

• the courses or subjects students study in school
• the general learning goals and activities for a course, set of courses, or grade level
• the specific learning objectives or standards to be mastered

K-12 Curriculum as a general educational term typically refers to the content being taught and the learning experiences students have in the school setting in grades kindergarten through twelve. Now let's look at some more specific ways in which curriculum can be defined.

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• 0:05 What Is K-12 Curriculum?
• 0:51 Courses or Subjects Taught
• 1:20 Learning Objectives…
• 2:23 State or Common Core Standards
• 3:50 Lesson Summary

In a broad sense, K-12 Curriculum can refer to the courses or subjects taught in school. For example, in the early elementary or primary grades, the curriculum usually includes courses in reading, writing, and mathematics. It may also include courses in social studies, science, music, art, and/or physical education. In high school, the subjects taught may be more specialized, like algebra, art history, Latin, orchestra, or biology.

More commonly in the field of education, K-12 Curriculum refers to the learning objectives and activities taught across grade levels. An example of a general learning objective for grades K-12 is for students to become proficient readers of grade-level appropriate texts. Another general learning objective is for students to apply their knowledge of mathematics to solve real-world problems. An example of a more specific learning objective in elementary school is for students to be able to correctly solve multiplication problems involving two digit factors.

An example of a K-12 learning activity is for students to work in groups to conduct experiments using the scientific method. Or students might create historically accurate costumes from a specified era. Yet another learning activity might be for students to correctly label all fifty United States on a printed map.

When educators talk about the K-12 curriculum, they're often referring to these types of activities: learning experiences that students have in the classroom.

As of 2015, the Common Core State Standards have been adopted in forty-six of the fifty United States. These academic standards for learning outline and articulate exactly what teachers should teach and what students are expected to learn at each grade level in various subjects. The standards have been developed over time by panels of experts in education and provide a foundation for learning and assessment across subjects and grade levels. K-12 curriculum, therefore, is often made up of a sequence of state and Common Core State Standards.

The Common Core State Standards focus on learning objectives in English language arts and literacy and mathematics. State standards often include learning objectives for other subjects, like science, social studies and humanities, and even art, physical education, and music. Often, when educators talk about the K-12 Curriculum, they're talking about the scope and sequence of these learning standards as they are covered in schools across grade levels.

The standards not only help educators identify which concepts and skills to teach, but they also provide standards for measuring student mastery. A solid K-12 curriculum should align with the standards and follow a logical sequence or path for learning as students move through the grade levels. The K-12 curriculum usually aligns directly with the instruments and assessments adopted for measuring student success, including standardized statewide testing.

K-12 curriculum is a broad educational term with multiple meanings. While there is no single perfect definition for the term, here are a few key things to remember:

• K-12 curriculum can refer to the courses or subjects taught in school from grades kindergarten through twelve.
• As it is used in the field of education, K-12 curriculum usually refers to the specific learning objectives and activities experienced by students in grades kindergarten through twelve.
• The K-12 curriculum is most clearly defined by the state and/or Common Core State Standards of learning adopted in a school community and typically outlines a sequence of instruction and assessments directly aligned to those learning standards.

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Hybrid Learning: What is it & What Does it Mean For K-12 Schools?

Doug Bonderud is an award-winning writer capable of bridging the gap between complex and conversational across technology, innovation and the human condition. 

Faced with ongoing and unpredictable pandemic challenges, K–12 schools have been forced to get creative — finding new ways to facilitate learning at a distance, sustain student engagement and deliver consistent success.

It’s been no easy task. Data collected by  Education Week  highlights the continually changing, state-by-state nature of the U.S. COVID-19 response: Some school districts have been ordered open, others remain completely closed and many are left to find a functional balance between in-person and virtual learning on their own.

Given unfamiliarity of the U.S. K-12 system with virtual learning at this scale, substantial confusion remains around effective application across online environments — and what this solution means for schools going forward in 2021.

To help clarify what hybrid learning means, and how it might differ from similar terms that preceded it, we need to start by examining the definition of the term.

What Is the Hybrid Learning Model and How Has it Evolved?

At its most basic, “hybrid learning uses online components for teaching and learning that replaces face-to-face classroom time,” says Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs, chief transformation officer for the  National School Boards Association .

While initial hybrid learning approaches happened almost entirely at home — for both students and teachers — McCotter-Jacobs notes that in many cases, “teachers were in the classroom teaching both in-person and online as schools shifted from an all-remote approach to a combination of virtual and in-person classes.”

As a result, the hybrid model is now used to supplement multiple solutions for student success. In some schools, this means having students at home part time and in class part time; other districts have chosen to keep certain grade groups home full time and allow younger children to return in person.

How Does Hybrid Learning Differ from Blended Learning?

While the terms “hybrid learning” and “blended learning” are often used interchangeably, they’re not identical.

“It can be confusing, but when you think about blended learning, you’re not taking away from face time. Instead, it’s about providing online materials and tools that supplement learning rather than replacing the face-to-face experience,” says McCotter-Jacobs.

In practice, blended learning often takes the form of new initiatives such as project-based learning that add multimedia resources to common coursework and allow students to self-direct some of their learning to explore the holistic results of differing educational disciplines such as math, science or math and sciences.

Hybrid classes, meanwhile, take these online tools and provide them to students through remote learning portals and online learning management systems for use outside of the traditional school environment.

When it comes to hybrid learning vs. blended learning, here’s a good rule of thumb: If tools augment face-to-face frameworks, they’re blended learning models. If they facilitate the replacement of in-person instruction, they’re hybrid.

What Strategies Can Schools Use to Improve Hybrid Learning Models?

Recent research from the  Economic Policy Institute  suggests that online teaching and learning models can be effective “if students have consistent access to the Internet and computers and if teachers have received targeted training and supports for online instruction.”

McCotter-Jacobs echoes this sentiment, noting that “teachers in many cases are older and are not necessarily equipped for this technology.”

In fact, some of the biggest pain points that have emerged have less to do with the technology used to  facilitate remote learning  and hybrid learning itself and more to do with tech-challenged educators tasked with using that technology.

“The training and support they need is critical, and it’s not just for the software itself. How do they create lesson plans under this new model? How do they help students who are struggling? What happens when the software fails?” she says.

For McCotter-Jacobs, there’s one rule to follow when it comes to tapping the benefits of hybrid learning: Keep it simple. From streamlining the volume of applications and services students use to reducing the number of passwords and logins required to gain access, simplicity benefits students, teachers and parents alike.

DISCOVER:  5 tips for an effective hybrid instruction experience.

What Technologies Are Required for Effective Hybrid Learning Plans?

Hybrid classes are only effective when  backed by the right technologies . For McCotter-Jacobs, this starts with Wi-Fi in school buildings, especially as some kids head back to the classroom part time.

She also notes, however, that in-school Wi-Fi isn’t enough to create effective hybrid learning plans because many families lack access to reliable broadband internet at home. “There’s a vast deficiency here,” says McCotter-Jacobs, “with at least 17 million students lacking access to high-speed internet.”

To address this issue, McCotter-Jacobs notes, some districts equipped school buses with Wi-Fi and then drove these buses into underserved neighborhoods. Still, she says, there is a need for broader support to address the digital divide in education. As a result, she says, the NSBA has called for an additional  $12 billion  from the federal government to help deal with the homework gap and help facilitate effective hybrid learning.

What Does the Next Iteration of Hybrid Learning Look Like?

For those under the assumption that hybrid learning is a temporary stopgap, McCotter-Jacobs cautions that “the new normal is not going away.”

As schools prepare for a potential return to the classroom in fall 2021, several elements of hybrid learning will remain. This could take the form of families opting for at-home learning out of an abundance of caution until vaccine rollouts reach a certain threshold or schools choosing a partially hybrid model to reduce classroom overcrowding and improve one-on-one interaction.

That’s why it’s important for educators to embrace the hybrid learning shift as a foundational change to be absorbed and implemented into the broader plan and vision for the future of education.

“There’s an opportunity here for schools to get creative and shift the way students learn and the way teachers provide guidance,” says McCotter-Jacobs.

While she notes that this approach isn’t without its challenges, given “the many intangibles that we can’t put our finger on and the need for the right combination of funds, training and creative minds,” McCotter-Jacobs believes that hybrid learning can have a positive impact if it’s at the forefront of educational change.

“This shift can help take kids to the next iteration of learning,” she says, “and it’s not sitting in a classroom.”

MORE ON EDTECH:  Google for education offers an effective ecosystem for hybrid learning.

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A primer on elementary and secondary education in the United States

Editor’s Note: This report is an excerpt, with minor edits, from Addressing Inequities in the US K-12 Education System , which first appeared in Rebuilding the Pandemic Economy , published by the Aspen Economic Strategy Group in 2021.

This report reviews the basics of the American elementary and secondary education system: Who does what and how do we pay for it? While there are some commonalities across the country, the answers to both questions, it turns out, vary considerably across states. 1

Who does what?

Schools are the institution most visibly and directly responsible for educating students. But many other actors and institutions affect what goes on in schools. Three separate levels of government—local school districts, state governments, and the federal government—are involved in the provision of public education. In addition, non-governmental actors, including teachers’ unions, parent groups, and philanthropists play important roles.

Most 5- to 17-year-old children – about 88%– attend public schools. 2 (Expanding universal schooling to include up to two years of preschool is an active area of discussion which could have far-reaching implications, but we focus on grades K-12 here.) About 9% attend private schools; about a quarter of private school students are in non-sectarian schools, and the remaining three-quarters are about evenly split between Catholic and other religious schools. The remaining 3% of students are homeschooled.

Magnet schools are operated by local school districts but enroll students from across the district; magnet schools often have special curricula—for example, a focus on science or arts—and were sometimes designed specifically to encourage racial integration. Charter schools are publicly funded and operate subject to state regulations; private school regulations and homeschooling requirements are governed by state law and vary across states. Nationally, 6.8% of public school students are enrolled in charter schools; the remainder attend “traditional public schools,” where students are mostly assigned to schools based on their home address and the boundaries school districts draw. Washington, D.C. and Arizona have the highest rates of charter enrollment, with 43 and 19% of their public school students attending charter schools. Several states have little or no charter school enrollment. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all public schooling took place in person, with about 0.6% of students enrolled in virtual schools.

Local School Districts

Over 13,000 local education agencies (LEAs), also known as school districts, are responsible for running traditional public schools. The size and structure of local school districts, as well as the powers they have and how they operate, depend on the state. Some states have hundreds of districts, and others have dozens. District size is mostly historically determined rather than a reflection of current policy choices. But while districts can rarely “choose” to get smaller or larger, district size implicates  important   trade-offs . Having many school districts operating in a metropolitan area can enhance incentives for school and district administrators to run schools consistent with the preferences of residents, who can vote out leaders or vote with their feet by leaving the district. On the other hand, fragmentation can lead to more segregation by race and income and less equity in funding, though state laws governing how local districts raise revenue may address the funding issues. Larger districts can benefit from economies of scale as the fixed costs of operating a district are spread over more students and they are better able to operate special programs, but large districts can also be difficult to manage. And even though large districts have the potential to pool resources between more- and less-affluent areas, equity challenges persist as staffing patterns lead to different levels of spending at schools within the same district.

School boards can be elected or appointed, and they generally are responsible for hiring the chief school district administrator, the superintendent. In large districts, superintendent turnover is often cited as a barrier to sustained progress on long term plans, though the causation may run in the other direction: Making progress is difficult, and frustration with reform efforts leads to frequent superintendent departures. School districts take in revenue from local, state, and federal sources, and allocate resources—primarily staff—to schools. The bureaucrats in district “central offices” oversee administrative functions including human resources, curriculum and instruction, and compliance with state and federal requirements. The extent to which districts devolve authority over instructional and organizational decisions to the school level varies both across and within states.

State Governments

The U.S. Constitution reserves power over education for the states. States have delegated authority to finance and run schools to local school districts but remain in charge when it comes to elementary and secondary education. State constitutions contain their own—again, varying—language about the right to education, which has given rise to litigation over the level and distribution of school funding in nearly all states over the past half century. States play a major role in school finance, both by sending aid to local school districts and by determining how local districts are allowed to tax and spend, as discussed further below.

State legislatures and state education agencies also influence education through mechanisms outside the school finance system. For example, states may set requirements for teacher certification and high school graduation, regulate or administer retirement systems, determine the ages of compulsory schooling, decide how charter schools will (or will not) be established and regulated, set home-schooling requirements, establish curricular standards or approve specific instructional materials, choose standardized tests and proficiency standards, set systems for school accountability (subject to federal law), and create (or not) education tax credits or vouchers to direct public funds to private schools. Whether and how states approach these issues—and which functions they delegate to local school districts—varies considerably.

Federal Government

The authority of the federal government to direct schools to take specific actions is weak. Federal laws protect access to education for specific groups of students, including students with disabilities and English language learners. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education, and the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. The U.S. Department of Education issues  regulations and guidance  on K-12 laws and oversees grant distribution and compliance. It also collects and shares data and funds research. The Bureau of Indian Education is housed in the Department of the Interior, not the Department of Education.

The federal government influences elementary and secondary education primarily by providing funding—and through the rules surrounding the use of those funds and the conditions that must be met to receive federal funding. Federal aid is typically allocated according to formulas targeting particular populations. The largest formula-aid federal programs are Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which provides districts funds to support educational opportunity, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), for special education. Both allocate funding in part based on child poverty rates. State and school district fiscal personnel ensure that districts comply with rules governing how federal funds can be spent and therefore have direct influence on school environments. Since 1965, in addition to specifying how federal funds can be spent, Congress has required states and districts to adopt other policies as a condition of Title I receipt. The policies have changed over time, but most notably include requiring school districts to desegregate, requiring states to adopt test-based accountability systems, and requiring the use of “evidence-based” approaches. 

IDEA establishes protections for students with disabilities in addition to providing funding. The law guarantees their right to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive setting and sets out requirements for the use of Individualized Educational Programs. Because of these guarantees, IDEA allows students and families to pursue litigation. Federal law prohibits conditioning funding on the use of any specific curriculum. The Obama Administration’s Race to the Top program was also designed to promote specific policy changes—many related to teacher policy—but through a competitive model under which only select states or districts “won” the funds. For the major formula funds, like Title I and IDEA, the assumption (nearly always true) is that states and districts will adopt the policies required to receive federal aid and all will receive funds; in some cases, those policy changes may have  more impact than the money  itself. The federal government also allocated significant funding to support schools during the Great Recession and during the COVID-19 pandemic through specially created fiscal stabilization or relief funds; federal funding for schools during the COVID crisis was significantly larger than during the Great Recession.

The federal tax code, while perhaps more visible in its influence on higher education, also serves as a K-12 policy lever. The controversial state and local tax deduction, now limited to $10,000, reduces federal tax collections and subsidizes progressive taxation for state and local spending, including for education. As of 2018, 529 plans, which historically allowed tax-preferred savings only for higher education expenses, can also be used for private K-12 expenses.

Non-Governmental Actors

Notable non-governmental actors in elementary and secondary education include teachers’ unions and schools of education, along with parents, philanthropists, vendors, and other advocates.The nation’s three million public school teachers are a powerful political force, affecting more than just teachers’ compensation. For example, provisions of collective bargaining agreements meant to improve teachers working conditions also limit administrator flexibility.  Teachers unions  are also important political actors; they play an active role in federal, state, and school board elections and advocate for (or, more often, against) a range of policies affecting education.  Union strength varies considerably across U.S. states.

Both states and institutions of higher education play important roles in determining who teaches and the preparation they receive. Policies related to teacher certification and preparation requirements, ranging from whether teachers are tested on academic content to which teachers are eligible to supervise student teachers, vary considerably across states. 3 Meanwhile,  reviews of teacher training programs  reveal many programs do not do a good job incorporating consensus views of research-based best practices in key areas. To date, schools of education have not been the focus of much policy discussion, but they would be critical partners in any changes to how teachers are trained.

Parents play an important role, through a wide range of channels, in determining what happens in schools. Parents choose schools for their children, either implicitly when they choose where to live or explicitly by enrolling in a charter school, private school, participating in a school district choice program, or homeschooling, though these choices are constrained by income, information, and other factors. They may also raise money through Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) or other foundations—and determine how it is spent. And they advocate for (or against) specific policies, curriculum, or other aspects of schooling through parent organizations, school boards, or other levels of government. Parents often also advocate for their children to receive certain teachers, placements, evaluation, or services; this is particularly true for parents of students with disabilities, who often must make sure their children receive legally required services and accommodations. Though state and federal policymakers sometimes  mandate parent engagement , these mechanisms do not necessarily provide meaningful pathways for parental input and are often dominated by  white and higher-SES parents .      

Philanthropy also has an important influence on education policy, locally and nationally. Not only do funders support individual schools in traditional ways, but they are also increasingly active in influencing federal and state laws. Part of these philanthropic efforts happen through advocacy groups, including civil rights groups, religious groups, and the hard-to-define “education reform” movement. Finally, the many vendors of curriculum, assessment, and “edtech” products and services bring their own lobbying power.

Paying for school

Research on school finance might be better termed school district finance because districts are the jurisdictions generating and receiving revenue, and districts, not schools, are almost always responsible for spending decisions. School districts typically use staffing models to send resources to schools, specifying how many staff positions (full-time equivalents), rather than dollars, each school gets. 

Inflation-adjusted, per-pupil revenue to school districts has increased steadily over time and averaged about $15,500 in 2018-19 (total expenditure, which includes both ongoing and capital expenditure, is similar but we focus on revenue because we are interested in the sources of revenue). Per-pupil revenue growth tends to stall or reverse in recessions and has only recently recovered to levels seen prior to the Great Recession (Figure 1). On average, school districts generated about 46% of their revenue locally, with about 80% of that from property taxes; about 47% of revenue came from state governments and about 8% from the federal government. The share of revenue raised locally has declined from about 56% in the early 1960s to 46% today, while the state and federal shares have grown. Local revenue comes from taxes levied by local school districts, but local school districts often do not have complete control over the taxes they levy themselves, and they almost never determine exactly how much they spend because that depends on how much they receive in state and federal aid. State governments may require school districts to levy certain taxes, limit how much local districts are allowed to tax or spend, or they may implicitly or explicitly redistribute some portion of local tax revenue to other districts.

Both the level of spending and distribution of revenue by source vary substantially across states (Figure 2), with New York, the highest-spending state, spending almost $30,000 per pupil, while Idaho, Utah, and Oklahoma each spent under $10,000 per pupil. (Some, but far from all, of this difference is related to higher labor costs in New York.) Similarly, the local share of revenue varies from less than 5% in Hawaii and Vermont to about 60% in New Hampshire and Nebraska. On average, high-poverty states spend less, but there is also considerable variation in spending among states with similar child poverty rates.

Discussions of school funding equity—and considerable legal action—focus on inequality of funding across school districts  within the same state . While people often assume districts serving disadvantaged students spend less per pupil than wealthier districts within a state, per-pupil spending and the child poverty rate are nearly always uncorrelated or  positively  correlated, with higher-poverty districts spending more on average. Typically, disadvantaged districts receive more state and federal funding, offsetting differences in funding from local sources. Meanwhile, considerable inequality exists between states, and poorer states spend less on average. Figure 3 illustrates an example of this dynamic, showing the relationship between district-level per-pupil spending and the child poverty rate in North Carolina (a relatively low-spending state with county- and city-based districts) and Illinois (a higher-spending state with many smaller districts). In North Carolina, higher poverty districts spend more on average; Illinois is one of only a few states in which this relationship is reversed. But this does not mean poor kids get fewer resources in Illinois than in North Carolina. Indeed, nearly  all  districts in Illinois spend more than most districts in North Carolina, regardless of poverty rate.

Figure 4 gives a flavor of the wide variation in per-pupil school spending. Nationally, the district at the 10th percentile had per-pupil current expenditure of $8,800, compared to $18,600 at the 90th percentile (for these calculations we focus on current expenditure, which is less volatile year-to-year, rather than revenue). Figure 4 shows that this variation is notably  not  systematically related to key demographics. For example, on average, poor students attend school in districts that spent $13,023 compared to $13,007 for non-poor students. The average Black student attends school in a district that spent $13,485 per student, compared to $12,918 for Hispanic students and $12,736 for White students. 4  School districts in high-wage areas need to spend more to hire the same staff, but adjusting spending to account for differences in prevailing wages of college graduates (the second set of bars) does not change the picture much.

Does this mean the allocation of spending is fair? Not really. First, to make progress reducing the disparities in outcomes discussed above, schools serving more disadvantaged students will need to spend  more  on average. Second, these data are measured at the school district level, lumping all schools together. This potentially masks inequality across (as well as within) schools in the same district.

The federal government now requires states to report some spending at the school level; states have only recently released these data. One study using these new data finds that within districts, schools attended by students of color and economically-disadvantaged students tend to have more staff per pupil and to spend more per pupil. These schools also have more novice teachers. How could within-district spending differences systematically correlate with student characteristics, when property taxes and other revenues for the entire district feed into the central budget? Most of what school districts buy is staff, and compensation is largely based on credentials and experience. So schools with less-experienced teachers spend less per pupil than those with more experienced ones, even if they have identical teacher-to-student ratios. Research suggests schools enrolling more economically disadvantaged students, or more students of color, on average have worse working conditions for teachers and experience more teacher turnover. Together, this means that school districts using the same staffing rules for each school—or even allocating more staff to schools serving more economically disadvantaged students—would have different patterns in spending per pupil than staff per pupil.

[1] : For state-specific information, consult state agency websites (e.g., Maryland State Department of Education) for more details. You can find data for all 50 states at the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics , and information on state-specific policies at the Education Commission of the States .

[2] : The numbers in this section are based on the most recent data available in the Digest of Education Statistics, all of which were collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[3] : See the not-for-profit National Council on Teacher Quality for standards and reviews of teacher preparation programs, and descriptions of state teacher preparation policies.

[4] : These statistics may be particularly surprising to people given the widely publicized findings of the EdBuild organization that, “ Nonwhite school districts get $23 billion less than white school districts. ” The EdBuild analysis estimates gaps between districts where at least 75% of students are non-White versus at least 75% of students are White. These two types of districts account for 53% of enrollment nationally. The $23 billion refers to state and local revenue (excluding federal revenue), whereas we focus on current expenditure (though patterns for total expenditure or total revenue are similar).

Disclosures: The Brookings Institution is financed through the support of a diverse array of foundations, corporations, governments, individuals, as well as an endowment. A list of donors can be found in our annual reports published online  here . The findings, interpretations, and conclusions in this report are solely those of its author(s) and are not influenced by any donation .

About the Authors

Sarah reber, joseph a. pechman senior fellow – economic studies, nora gordon, professor – mccourt school of public policy, georgetown university.

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U.S. Government Accountability Office

K-12 Education

Issue summary.

The U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies work to ensure that 50 million students in K-12 public schools have access to a safe, quality education. However, a history of discriminatory practices has contributed to inequities in education, which are intertwined with disparities in wealth, income, and housing. Moreover, there are ongoing concerns about the safety and well-being of all students. To help address these issues, Education should strengthen its oversight of key programs, policies, and data collections.

For example:

• The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning for millions of students during the 2020-21 school year. Certain student populations were more likely to face significant obstacles to learning in a virtual environment—such as high-poverty students and students learning English. Some children also never attended class during the 2020-2021 school year.
• As the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased use of remote education, K-12 schools across the nation have increasingly reported ransomware and other types of cyberattacks. Federal agencies offer products and services to help schools prevent and respond to cyberattacks. But Education's plan for addressing risks to schools was issued in 2010 and needs an update to deal with changing cybersecurity risks.
• The U.S. is experiencing a shortage of teachers – a problem that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic amid reports of teachers leaving the profession, fewer new teachers entering, and schools struggling to hire teachers. While Education has introduced a strategy to address these issues, progress can be made to ensure its efforts are working.
• While nearly all public school districts require students to adhere to dress codes, concerns about equity in school dress codes have included the detrimental effects of removing students from the classroom for dress code violations. A review of a nationally representative sample of public school district dress codes revealed school dress codes more frequently restrict items typically worn by girls. Additionally, rules about hair and head coverings can disproportionately affect Black students and those of certain religions and cultures.
• School districts spend billions of dollars a year (primarily from local government sources) on building and renovating facilities at the nearly 100,000 K-12 public schools nationwide. A survey of school facilities brought up common issues and priorities, such as improving security , expanding technology, and addressing health hazards. Additionally, about half of districts reported needing to update or replace multiple systems like heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) or plumbing. Accessing public school facilities was also reported as a challenge, with survey results showing that two-thirds of school districts had facilities with physical barriers that may limit access for students with disabilities.
• Even before the pandemic, virtual public school enrollment was growing—mostly in virtual charter schools. Compared to students in brick-and-mortar public schools, 2018-2019 data showed that a lower percentage of virtual school students took state achievement tests, and their scores were significantly lower. Also, Education officials said the virtual environment makes it harder to monitor attendance. Certain federal funds are allocated using attendance data, so there's a risk that virtual schools could get more or less funding than they should.
• Education requires public school districts to biennially report incidents of restraint (restricting a student’s movement) and seclusion (confining a student to a space alone). However, Education’s data quality checks may not catch misreporting or statistical outliers. For instance, 70% of districts reported 0 incidents of restraint and seclusion, but Education’s quality check only applies to fewer than 100 large districts. Education also doesn’t have a quality check for districts reporting relatively high incident rates—such as one that reported an average of 71 restraint incidents per student per year.
• A review of school shooting data found that half were committed by current or former students. Suburban and rural, wealthier, and low-minority schools had more school-targeted shootings; such shootings were the most fatal and most commonly committed by students. Urban, poor, and high-minority schools had more shootings overall and were more motivated by disputes; these shootings were often committed by non-students or unknown shooters.

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What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?

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Education Week is the #1 source of high-quality news and insights on K-12 education. Sign up for our EdWeek Update newsletter to get stories like this delivered to your inbox daily.

Is “critical race theory” a way of understanding how American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits people of color against white people? Liberals and conservatives are in sharp disagreement.

The topic has exploded in the public arena this spring—especially in K-12, where numerous state legislatures are debating bills seeking to ban its use in the classroom.

In truth, the divides are not nearly as neat as they may seem. The events of the last decade have increased public awareness about things like housing segregation, the impacts of criminal justice policy in the 1990s, and the legacy of enslavement on Black Americans. But there is much less consensus on what the government’s role should be in righting these past wrongs. Add children and schooling into the mix and the debate becomes especially volatile.

School boards, superintendents, even principals and teachers are already facing questions about critical race theory, and there are significant disagreements even among experts about its precise definition as well as how its tenets should inform K-12 policy and practice. This explainer is meant only as a starting point to help educators grasp core aspects of the current debate.

Just what is critical race theory anyway?

Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.

The basic tenets of critical race theory, or CRT, emerged out of a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s created by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Richard Delgado, among others.

A good example is when, in the 1930s, government officials literally drew lines around areas deemed poor financial risks, often explicitly due to the racial composition of inhabitants. Banks subsequently refused to offer mortgages to Black people in those areas.

Today, those same patterns of discrimination live on through facially race-blind policies, like single-family zoning that prevents the building of affordable housing in advantaged, majority-white neighborhoods and, thus, stymies racial desegregation efforts.

CRT also has ties to other intellectual currents, including the work of sociologists and literary theorists who studied links between political power, social organization, and language. And its ideas have since informed other fields, like the humanities, the social sciences, and teacher education.

This academic understanding of critical race theory differs from representation in recent popular books and, especially, from its portrayal by critics—often, though not exclusively, conservative Republicans. Critics charge that the theory leads to negative dynamics, such as a focus on group identity over universal, shared traits; divides people into “oppressed” and “oppressor” groups; and urges intolerance.

Thus, there is a good deal of confusion over what CRT means, as well as its relationship to other terms, like “anti-racism” and “social justice,” with which it is often conflated.

To an extent, the term “critical race theory” is now cited as the basis of all diversity and inclusion efforts regardless of how much it’s actually informed those programs.

One conservative organization, the Heritage Foundation, recently attributed a whole host of issues to CRT , including the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, LGBTQ clubs in schools, diversity training in federal agencies and organizations, California’s recent ethnic studies model curriculum, the free-speech debate on college campuses, and alternatives to exclusionary discipline—such as the Promise program in Broward County, Fla., that some parents blame for the Parkland school shootings. “When followed to its logical conclusion, CRT is destructive and rejects the fundamental ideas on which our constitutional republic is based,” the organization claimed.

(A good parallel here is how popular ideas of the common core learning standards grew to encompass far more than what those standards said on paper.)

Does critical race theory say all white people are racist? Isn’t that racist, too?

The theory says that racism is part of everyday life, so people—white or nonwhite—who don’t intend to be racist can nevertheless make choices that fuel racism.

Some critics claim that the theory advocates discriminating against white people in order to achieve equity. They mainly aim those accusations at theorists who advocate for policies that explicitly take race into account. (The writer Ibram X. Kendi, whose recent popular book How to Be An Antiracist suggests that discrimination that creates equity can be considered anti-racist, is often cited in this context.)

Fundamentally, though, the disagreement springs from different conceptions of racism. CRT puts an emphasis on outcomes, not merely on individuals’ own beliefs, and it calls on these outcomes to be examined and rectified. Among lawyers, teachers, policymakers, and the general public, there are many disagreements about how precisely to do those things, and to what extent race should be explicitly appealed to or referred to in the process.

Here’s a helpful illustration to keep in mind in understanding this complex idea. In a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court school-assignment case on whether race could be a factor in maintaining diversity in K-12 schools, Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion famously concluded: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” But during oral arguments, then-justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said: “It’s very hard for me to see how you can have a racial objective but a nonracial means to get there.”

All these different ideas grow out of longstanding, tenacious intellectual debates. Critical race theory emerged out of postmodernist thought, which tends to be skeptical of the idea of universal values, objective knowledge, individual merit, Enlightenment rationalism, and liberalism—tenets that conservatives tend to hold dear.

What does any of this have to do with K-12 education?

Scholars who study critical race theory in education look at how policies and practices in K-12 education contribute to persistent racial inequalities in education, and advocate for ways to change them. Among the topics they’ve studied: racially segregated schools, the underfunding of majority-Black and Latino school districts, disproportionate disciplining of Black students, barriers to gifted programs and selective-admission high schools, and curricula that reinforce racist ideas.

Critical race theory is not a synonym for culturally relevant teaching, which emerged in the 1990s. This teaching approach seeks to affirm students’ ethnic and racial backgrounds and is intellectually rigorous. But it’s related in that one of its aims is to help students identify and critique the causes of social inequality in their own lives.

Many educators support, to one degree or another, culturally relevant teaching and other strategies to make schools feel safe and supportive for Black students and other underserved populations. (Students of color make up the majority of school-aged children.) But they don’t necessarily identify these activities as CRT-related.

As one teacher-educator put it: “The way we usually see any of this in a classroom is: ‘Have I thought about how my Black kids feel? And made a space for them, so that they can be successful?’ That is the level I think it stays at, for most teachers.” Like others interviewed for this explainer, the teacher-educator did not want to be named out of fear of online harassment.

An emerging subtext among some critics is that curricular excellence can’t coexist alongside culturally responsive teaching or anti-racist work. Their argument goes that efforts to change grading practice s or make the curriculum less Eurocentric will ultimately harm Black students, or hold them to a less high standard.

As with CRT in general, its popular representation in schools has been far less nuanced. A recent poll by the advocacy group Parents Defending Education claimed some schools were teaching that “white people are inherently privileged, while Black and other people of color are inherently oppressed and victimized”; that “achieving racial justice and equality between racial groups requires discriminating against people based on their whiteness”; and that “the United States was founded on racism.”

Thus much of the current debate appears to spring not from the academic texts, but from fear among critics that students—especially white students—will be exposed to supposedly damaging or self-demoralizing ideas.

While some district officials have issued mission statements, resolutions, or spoken about changes in their policies using some of the discourse of CRT, it’s not clear to what degree educators are explicitly teaching the concepts, or even using curriculum materials or other methods that implicitly draw on them. For one thing, scholars say, much scholarship on CRT is written in academic language or published in journals not easily accessible to K-12 teachers.

What is going on with these proposals to ban critical race theory in schools?

As of mid-May, legislation purporting to outlaw CRT in schools has passed in Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Tennessee and have been proposed in various other statehouses.

The bills are so vaguely written that it’s unclear what they will affirmatively cover.

Could a teacher who wants to talk about a factual instance of state-sponsored racism—like the establishment of Jim Crow, the series of laws that prevented Black Americans from voting or holding office and separated them from white people in public spaces—be considered in violation of these laws?

It’s also unclear whether these new bills are constitutional, or whether they impermissibly restrict free speech.

It would be extremely difficult, in any case, to police what goes on inside hundreds of thousands of classrooms. But social studies educators fear that such laws could have a chilling effect on teachers who might self-censor their own lessons out of concern for parent or administrator complaints.

As English teacher Mike Stein told Chalkbeat Tennessee about the new law : “History teachers can not adequately teach about the Trail of Tears, the Civil War, and the civil rights movement. English teachers will have to avoid teaching almost any text by an African American author because many of them mention racism to various extents.”

The laws could also become a tool to attack other pieces of the curriculum, including ethnic studies and “action civics”—an approach to civics education that asks students to research local civic problems and propose solutions.

How is this related to other debates over what’s taught in the classroom amid K-12 culture wars?

The charge that schools are indoctrinating students in a harmful theory or political mindset is a longstanding one, historians note. CRT appears to be the latest salvo in this ongoing debate.

In the early and mid-20th century, the concern was about socialism or Marxism . The conservative American Legion, beginning in the 1930s, sought to rid schools of progressive-minded textbooks that encouraged students to consider economic inequality; two decades later the John Birch Society raised similar criticisms about school materials. As with CRT criticisms, the fear was that students would be somehow harmed by exposure to these ideas.

As the school-aged population became more diverse, these debates have been inflected through the lens of race and ethnic representation, including disagreements over multiculturalism and ethnic studies, the ongoing “canon wars” over which texts should make up the English curriculum, and the so-called “ebonics” debates over the status of Black vernacular English in schools.

In history, the debates have focused on the balance among patriotism and American exceptionalism, on one hand, and the country’s history of exclusion and violence towards Indigenous people and the enslavement of African Americans on the other—between its ideals and its practices. Those tensions led to the implosion of a 1994 attempt to set national history standards.

A current example that has fueled much of the recent round of CRT criticism is the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which sought to put the history and effects of enslavement—as well as Black Americans’ contributions to democratic reforms—at the center of American history.

The culture wars are always, at some level, battled out within schools, historians say.

“It’s because they’re nervous about broad social things, but they’re talking in the language of school and school curriculum,” said one historian of education. “That’s the vocabulary, but the actual grammar is anxiety about shifting social power relations.”

Education Issues, Explained

The literature on critical race theory is vast. Here are some starting points to learn more about it, culturally relevant teaching, and the conservative backlash to CRT.

Brittany Aronson & Judson Laughter. “The Theory and Practice of Culturally Relevant Education: A Synthesis of Research Across Content Areas.” Review of Educational Research March 2016, Vol. 86 No. 1. (2016); Kimberlé Crenshaw, ed. Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement. The New Press. (1996); Gloria Ladson-Billings, “Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy,” American Educational Research Journal Vol. 32 No. 3. (1995); Gloria Ladson-Billings, “Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education?” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education Vol 11. No. 1. (1998); Jonathan Butcher and Mike Gonzalez. “Critical Race Theory, the New Intolerance, and Its Grip on America.” Heritage Foundation. (2020); Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. 3rd ed. New York, NY: New York University Press. (2017); Shelly Brown-Jeffy & Jewell E. Cooper, “Toward a Conceptual Framework of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: An Overview of the Conceptual and Theoretical Literature.” Teacher Education Quarterly, Winter 2011.

A version of this article appeared in the June 02, 2021 edition of Education Week as What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?

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Key National Education Indicators: Workshop Summary (2012)

Chapter: 3 indicators for k-12 education.

3 Indicators for K-12 Education

Schooling for students in kindergarten through grade 12 is the heart of what most people think of as “education.” Public K-12 education is a large and complex system, and it is the focus of many expectations, from producing responsible and productive citizens to boosting the nation’s standing in science and technology and its position with respect to its economic competitors. 14 The presenters represented an array of research experience: all the suggested indicators are listed in Table 3-1 .

CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTITUTIONS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, AND RESOURCES

One way to think about the providers of public K-12 education, Mark Dynarski observed, is as an industry, and doing so highlights several aspects that are important for thinking about which indicators of quality and effectiveness would be most valuable. Public education is, by and large, provided by governmental structures that are highly decentralized, with each state having separate authority to supply education, and more than 15,000 school districts operating within those states. Thus, the supply of education, in an economic sense, takes the form of face-to-face instruction in classrooms, supported by physical capital, as economists term it, in the form of land, buildings, and equipment. Schools also are responsible for providing transportation and meals to students. Public education is supported by federal, state, and local property taxes. The federal share is less than ten percent of the cost, though the federal government exerts significant authority over education through legislation and regulation.

As with other publicly provided goods, the “output” and efficiency of public education are challenging to define and measure. National assessments of achievement, in place for decades, and, more recently, state assessments developed in compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act, provide proxy measures. But, in Dynarski’s view, a set of indicators should provide a broader picture of the state of the complex system that educates nearly 50 million students in more than 98,000 schools and spends more than $500 billion per year. 15

Other presenters had somewhat different perspectives—the group offered indicators for both schools and teachers.

14 The indicators system would include data on private schools and their students but it is public education that is the primary focus of policy makers.

15 Information avaialble at http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84 and http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84 .

TABLE 3-1 Indicators Suggested for K-12 Education

Safety and Orderliness of the School Climate

If students do not feel physically and emotionally safe at school, Elaine Allensworth argued, they will be reluctant to go to school and will have a hard time focusing on learning when they are there. Schools that are safe have higher attendance and better teacher retention; schools with safety problems tend to be those that struggle to improve learning, and have low attendance and graduation rates, high teacher mobility, and poor emotional outcomes for students. Poor discipline strategies in unsafe schools disproportionately affect minority and low-income students, she added.

Surveys, in her view, are the best way to measure the school climate. Other measures that may seem to be more objective are often biased by variation in discipline and record-keeping practices. Although she sees many possible positive outcomes if school climate is treated as an important measure, she cautioned that it is also possible that schools worried about accountability in this area might use counter-productive strategies, such as increasing suspension rates or arrests at school or increasing teacher-led instruction to increase orderliness in the classroom.

School Culture Related to College and Career Aspirations

A primary goal for schools is to prepare students for college and careers, and there could be several components to an indicator of how well they are doing this, in Allensworth’s view. An indicator of the percentage of students who go on to two- and four-year colleges and full-time employment would provide a basic indication of school effectiveness. For more nuanced information, she suggested an indicator of students’ expectations and their schools’ approach to preparation for college and career that is based on surveys . A benefit of focusing on this indicator could be to make schools take on a greater sense of responsibility for explicitly preparing their students for the future. Doing so might also encourage collaboration across school levels, as systems consider the elements that foster preparedness even in elementary and middle school.

Collaborative School Community Focused on Student Learning

The degree to which school leaders, teachers, and parents collaborate has consistently been found to be among the strongest predictors of school improvement, school safety, and student learning gains (see, e.g., Literacy Collaborative, 2009). This important aspect of schools can be defined in different ways, Allensworth noted, but whether the focus is a sense of professional community among teachers; parent-teacher collaboration; inclusive leadership; or trust between and among teachers, parents, and principals, the research consistently shows positive effects on important outcomes. She suggested an indicator of the nature of school communities that is measured through surveys of teachers, parents, and student . Focusing on this measure may help schools improve coordination related to instruction, school climate, and staff stability.

Parent Satisfaction

Dynarski suggested an indicator of parents’ satisfaction . The extent to which parents are satisfied with the education their children receive is an important indicator, in Dynarski’s view, because it is they who are responsible for the demand for it. Their satisfaction could be viewed as a judgment about whether the funds are well spent. Their dissatisfaction could suggest either that the costs are out of proportion with the results, that their children are expressing unhappiness with school for reasons that parents judge to be valid, or that parents have incomplete or erroneous information about their schools.

The National Center for Education Statistics has measured parent satisfaction at regular intervals using the “National Household Education Survey.” It asks parents about their level of satisfaction with schools, teachers, academic standards, and order and discipline in schools, and recently a question about staff interaction with parents was added. The survey results show that, since 1993, levels of parent satisfaction have been stable—a result Dynarski finds surprising considering how tumultuous the period covered has been.

High School Completion Rates

High school completion rates “can’t be overlooked,” noted Rob Warren. There are fewer and fewer jobs for people without high school diplomas, he noted, and failing to complete high school is a robust predictor of many economic and social difficulties, including poverty, delinquency and crime, and civic disengagement. Much recent attention has focused on the accuracy of different ways of measuring school completion and dropout rates (see National Research Council, 2011a). Measures of a few states’ 4-and 6-year completion rates are available in publicly reported data (longitudinal student tracking systems), and it is possible to accurately approximate these data for past years, he observed, using counts of enrollment by grade and public school graduates (Greene, 2002; Heckman and LaFontaine, 2008).

Retention Rates Through 8th Grade

An equally important but less well-documented indicator, suggested Warren, is grade retention . Data on school completion have been well publicized, but few people could estimate the average grade retention rate for the nation, he noted. Grade retention is one of the leading predictors of high school dropout rates and is also a valuable indicator of students’ progress through school, in terms of both cognitive and noncognitive outcomes. Interpretations of the significance of grade retention rates vary, Warren observed. To some, low rates are evidence that there is too much “social promotion,” or a push to move students to the next grade even if they are not academically ready, while to others low retention rates mean that most children are succeeding. Conversely, high retention rates may look like evidence that schools are unfairly punitive or that they are holding students to high standards, depending on the observer.

To demonstrate the possibilities for exploring retention data, Warren compared data for twelve states that do report their grade retention rates with three sources of

publicly available data: census-based estimates of the number of people in each jurisdiction who are of a certain age (e.g., six year-olds in Kansas in a particular year); data from the Private School Survey on the numbers of K-8 students who attend private schools; and public school enrollment counts from the Common Core of Data (CCD). Using the three data sources, he constructed estimates of grade retention rates for the 12 states and found them to be highly correlated with the rates the state had calculated. For 2004-2005, he observed a range for the 1st grade among the 12 states from less than 4 percent for Wisconsin to between 7 and 8 percent for Delaware, for an estimated rate for the United States of 4.2 percent (Louisiana was an outlier at nearly 12 percent because of Hurricane Katrina).

This method works for grades 1 through 8, he noted, but the high school grades present additional challenges.

Teacher-Student Ratio

For Dynarksi, the “fundamental technology” inside schools is the relationship between teachers and students inside the classroom. One possible indicator would be pupil-teacher ratio, a measure of the contact between teachers and students, and it is reported by NCES.

The ratio has declined steadily since 1960, when it was one teacher for every 25 students, to the current level of one teacher for every 15 students. However, Dynarksi cautioned that these figures include specialist teachers, such as reading and special education faculty who play a range of roles, so the class size likely has not declined as significantly as the ratio might suggest. For example, the average size for elementary classrooms was 21.2 students in 1999 and is currently 20.3 students. Dynarski noted that these downward trends have not yielded increases in NAEP scores in that (admittedly short) period of time. One might ask whether this finding shows that the school system has become decreasingly productive in terms of how efficiently resources are used, he added, but in considering such a question it would be critical to consider many other factors that influence the productivity of schooling—changing characteristics of student populations and changing educational goals and emphases, for example.

Teacher Evaluations

Brian Gill suggested an indicator of the proportion of teachers whose evaluations distinguish them from a basic standard, using measures of their contributions to student achievement and their professional practice .

“Education researchers have come to a conclusion that has long been apparent to parents and teachers,” he noted: “Teachers matter, both in the short and the long term” (see, e.g. Chetty, Friedman, and Rockoff, 2011; Hanushek and Rivkin, 2010; Kane and Staiger, 2012). This body of research has had particular policy importance as the U.S. Department of Education has focused on using its leverage to encourage states to better distinguish between high- and low-performing teachers, and to base high-stakes consequences on their evaluations. This poses both opportunities and challenges, in

Gill’s view, because the policy is actually “ahead of the research.” It is clear that teachers matter, he added, but there is a great deal more to learn about how they matter. Which characteristics and practices are most important to teacher effectiveness, and how they can be reliably measured are questions that have not been fully answered. Current evaluation systems, he added, are typically showing that more than 95 percent of teachers are satisfactory, so there is a clear need for better ways to distinguish among them.

Most attention has centered recently on “value-added” models that measure teachers’ contributions to changes in students’ standardized test results in reading and mathematics. 16 In Gill’s opinion, value-added measures show promise as one component of a broader system of teacher evaluation, despite methodological challenges. The field will also need deeper and broader measures of performance that can be used with teachers of other subjects and grades not tested, and that can capture aspects of performance not measurable using standardized assessments, he added. Other measures (e.g. the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) 17 and the Framework for Teaching 18 ) have shown promise as ways to measure teacher effectiveness (Kane and Staiger, 2012).

In Gill’s view, one concern about evaluation systems that hold teachers accountable for their students’ gains on standardized tests is that they can create incentives for teachers to “game the system,” taking steps designed to boost scores rather than to improve student learning. He believes that value-added metrics should be used with caution, that they should be used, if possible, with multiple measures of student achievement, and that they should be augmented with robust measures of teachers’ professional practice.

Teacher Quality

Robert Pianta suggested two indicators of teacher quality: (1) teachers with mastery-level and current knowledge of content they are teaching and (2) teachers with mastery-level and contemporary knowledge of child and adolescent development . These two aspects of teachers (including those who interact with students in after-school programs and other settings outside the regular school day) are basic structural indicators of their effectiveness, in his view.

“Does the person teaching algebra know algebra?” is a key question, he explained. Another is whether a teacher has up-to-date knowledge of child and adolescent development, and of learning trajectories in a variety of skill domains. These would not be difficult to measure, in Pianta’s view, but currently, “we do not assess them at all.” The proxies most often used—possession of a master’s degree, course-taking, or certification status, for example—are not associated “with much of anything,” in his view. He acknowledged that a considerable amount of research has shown the importance of content knowledge, but he argued that more precise measures than teachers having majored in the subject they are teaching are needed.

16 See National Research Council (2010) for more information about value added modeling.

17 For a description, see http://www.brookespublishing.com/store/books/class/index.htm .

18 For a description, see http://www.danielsongroup.org/article.aspx?page=frameworkforteaching .

Classroom Processes

Pianta also suggested three indicators of classroom processes: (1) Teacher-student interactions that demonstrate high levels and qualities of involvement, stimulation, and expansion of thinking and cognition, and sensitivity to students’ perspectives, individual experiences, and backgrounds; (2) Teacher-student interactions that foster relationships with and among students; and (3) the extent to which teachers provide challenging opportunities to learn in the classroom .

Looking at teachers’ characteristics is not enough, in Pianta’s view. It is important also to look directly at the character of classroom instruction in three ways that he believes are reasonable and practicable. A variety of research has pointed to teacher engagement as a key factor in student learning (Gates Foundation, 2010). When teachers interact in an engaging way, he explained, they create cognitive demand through feedback and discourse, and they also help students feel a sense of belonging and appreciate the relevance of the content that is being taught. These are classrooms, he added, “in which children are trending higher” even on standardized assessments. These teacher behaviors, he suggested, also show an association with lower dropout rates and rates of social and behavioral problems (Gates Foundation, 2012).

These behaviors can be quantified and assessed, he added, using some of the observation techniques discussed in the context of early childhood education. He argued that number of large-scale studies have demonstrated that both observations and student surveys can capture the nature of classroom interactions quite well. Pianta cautioned that the rigor and reliability of such measures depend on careful design, and also that if such measures are used, it will be important to watch for unintended consequences. For example, if an indicator is adopted that “simply counts the number of open-ended questions a teacher asks, you are going to get a lot of open-ended questions,” without, perhaps, much insight into whether those questions are embedded in an effective and engaging interaction.

INDIVIDUAL OUTCOMES

School Attendance by Age

A basic indicator of opportunity to learn, in Elaine Allensworth’s view, is student attendance. “If kids are not in school, they are not learning,” she observed, and proposed an indicator of school attendance by age . She emphasized that a large body of research demonstrates the importance of attendance. There is wide variation in attendance rates, even across schools serving very similar populations. Attendance is often viewed as a trivial or low-level predictor, she added, but it is highly predictive of eventual educational attainment—it influences learning, grades, and graduation rates. Attendance changes as students age, with problems typically beginning in the middle grades and rates “bottoming out” in high school. She also noted that it is relatively easy and not expensive for schools to improve attendance, and they can achieve significant benefits quickly.

Data on average daily attendance are already collected by all schools (in terms of the percentage of enrolled days that are days attended), but attendance also can be

calculated to include nonenrolled students and thus be combined with information about students who drop out. Another possibility, Allensworth noted, would be to measure chronic absence, though doing so without also measuring daily attendance for all students would mean focusing on a very small subgroup of students and missing the opportunity to flag problems before they become chronic.

College Readiness Levels by Age and Grade

Allensworth proposed an indicator of college readiness . Although it may seem difficult to measure, colleges have long used systems based on high school grades and test scores, and grades have been found highly predictive of both college performance and later earnings. Tests scores are less predictive, she added, particularly when other factors are taken into account. Many people view high school grades as too subjective to be used as a reliable indicator, she added, but they do reflect students’ engagement, motivation, and other noncognitive factors associated with academic success. Since standardized tests provide measures of certain skills, the two together provide a better picture of student progress than either does alone, in her view.

There are a variety of tests already in use, as well as databases containing information about students’ coursework and high school grades, and linking those to test scores would provide the potential for developing a composite measure of readiness, Allensworth believes, and it should be possible to adapt and improve such measures to make it possible to assess students progress toward readiness in earlier grades. Though data are available at the national, state, and local levels, she added, they are not always comparable.

There is also a significant caution related to this measure, she added, because high-stakes accountability incentives based on test scores and grades can lead to poor educational practices. Emphasis on testing can lead to narrowing of the curriculum and cause teachers to devote excessive time to test-taking skills. Similarly, using grades for accountability purposes can lead to grade inflation, and, particularly in schools with very poor student engagement, grading practices may reflect effort at the expense of actual performance. These problems, she added, are most likely in schools serving the most disadvantaged students.

Voter Registration Rate of 18- to 21-Year-Olds

One of the original goals for public education, noted Gill, was to develop the educated citizenry that is essential to the functioning of democracy, and opinion polls indicate that people still believe that is an important goal. He proposed an indicator of the voter registration rate of 18- to 21-year-olds . This issue is even more important in the 21st century than it was in earlier in the nation’s history, he added, because government plays a larger role in people’s lives than in the past, and the “stream of information bombarding us” puts a high premium on the ability to distinguish fact from fiction and from opinion. New approaches to school funding and governance (e.g., vouchers and charter schools) have challenged the expectation that education will be delivered in a “common school” under the direct authority of democratically elected officials, he added. For all these reasons it is important to focus public attention on

preparation for citizenship and measure it not only at the national level but also for each sector (traditional public schools, charters, private schools, and home schooling), and for individual schools.

The rate at which young people register to vote and actually vote is one possible indicator of how well schools are succeeding in this mission, Gill explained, and the rate at which young people (including those too young to vote) participate in community service is another. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) includes an assessment in civics that addresses civic knowledge, attitudes, and skills, though, Gill noted, that assessment has only been administered three times in the last 15 years.

Command of Core Content

For Rob Warren the fundamental question is whether kids are learning. He proposed an indicator of command of core content . He turned to NAEP scores as the best starting point for examining what students know about core subjects in multiple grades, in a way that can be disaggregated by state, by social-economic group, and across time. NAEP has some drawbacks, he acknowledged. The cut scores are sometimes seen as too high or as arbitrarily set, 19 for example, but students who lack basic proficiency in the subjects tested by NAEP are less likely to complete postsecondary schooling and are at a disadvantage in the labor market as a result. NAEP scores are already widely publicized, and the American public already views them as indicators of the effectiveness of public schools.

Education Spending as a Share of Gross Domestic Product

The proportion of a country’s expenditures that is devoted to education is a possible indicator of the importance the country attaches to it, and is used as a basic point of international comparison, Dynarski explained, and he proposed an indicator of education spending as a share of gross domestic product . The United States does not rank very high in that comparison, but that is partly because it is so wealthy, he noted: it could be spending a great deal on education without the total constituting a large share of gross domestic product (GDP). This ratio fluctuates, because the GDP fluctuates, but the trend since 1984 has been a steady increase in education spending, in real dollars.

This ratio can be calculated using GDP data and separately collected public expenditure data.

Spending per Student

It is also important, Dynarski added, to consider that if the number of students has increased significantly, expenditures per-pupil may actually decline even while the

19 The cut scores for NAEP are determined through a judgment-based process in which a panel of educators and public members reach consensus about descriptions of the sorts of skill and knowledge students should demonstrate to meet performance levels. For a description of the standarrds-setting methods used for NAEP, see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/set-achievement-lvls.asp .

proportion of GDP increases, and he suggested an indicator of spending per student . He noted that data collected by NCES shows that per-pupil spending has trended upwards since the early 1960s, sharply up until the 1990s and more gradually since then.

Spending on Research and Development

The expectation in many fields—particularly medicine—is that a great deal of research will be conducted and practice will follow that research as it develops, noted Brian Gill. The same has not been true in education, and the result is that “the technology in education has been remarkably unchanged for a century or more.” In response to Dynarkski’s observation that schools may not have become more productive, Gill suggested that stagnant productivity is partly a result of a chronic underinvestment in research and development, and he proposed an indicator of the percentage of education funding that is spent on research and development .

Moreover, the demands of the job market and of effective citizenship have steadily grown, making the stakes of schooling higher than they have ever been. In his view, dramatic improvements in educational productivity are needed. New technologies that have been described as revolutionary, he suggested, have not changed the core of classroom instruction. Gill believes that there is reason for cautious optimism about the potential in educational technologies that are now being developed, but that dramatic increases in productivity will require both large additional investments in research and development and a willingness on the part of school systems to allow new technologies to disrupt longstanding institutional practices

This effort should include investment in research into ways to better measure student achievement and evaluate the effects of interventions, in Gill’s view. “One of the frustrations” of the new research on teachers’ value added, he added, “is that it has thus far provided little information on what highly effective teachers are actually doing that makes them highly effective.” Research into these and other questions is needed not only for its own sake but to support immediate needs.

Opportunity to Learn

Although it may be hard to measure, opportunity to learn cannot be ignored, argued Rob Warren, and he proposed it as an indicator. He likes the definition used by Grodsky and colleagues, “the resources available to students, most often in the classroom setting, that facilitate their acquisition of knowledge or skills” (2008, p. 388), and he stressed that it is important to consider this aspect of schooling separately from other indicators. Measures of achievement (e.g., NAEP scores) and measures of school completion both conflate two separate factors: (1) student abilities and effort and (2) the structures that influence students’ opportunities.

But, Warren noted, there is considerable debate about how opportunity to learn might be measured. Possibilities for which data are available include class size; pupil-teacher ratio; number of days and hours of instruction per year; teacher quality, perhaps based on value-added measures; or measures of facilities or such offerings as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs. These are all proxies rather than direct measures, Warren observed. In his view, further work is needed to determine

which measure or combination of measures best captures this essential aspect of schooling, and he finds it “problematic that such a fundamental concept has received so little measurement attention.”

ISSUES FOR THE K-12 INDICATORS

Though the panelists were all given the same charge, they approached it in somewhat different ways. Each considered the indicators they chose as a set, intended to cover at least one aspect of the status of education. Some focused only on one of the three aspects defined in the committee’s framework; see Appendix C for a list of the indicators arranged by presenter. Thus, individually, each indicator tells a story, Mark Dynarski noted, but taken as a group they should reveal more. For example, if the teacher-student ratio is changing over time, that suggests students may be getting more or less time with teachers. But if that indicator is examined in light of other indicators, of teacher quality or of other factors that may influence the ratio, for example, a more nuanced picture can emerge.

Though the workshop was not intended as a vehicle for making a final selection or recommendations of indicators, discussant Henry Braun encouraged the panelists to use the initial suggestions each had made to consider the characteristics the system as a whole should have. The indicators put forward, he suggested, could easily have been suggested 10 or even 20 years earlier, and he wondered whether further thinking would be needed to ensure that the indicators ultimately chosen will support important contemporary goals for education. The discussion addressed this question from several angles.

College Readiness? Broader Goals?

Several discussants also wondered whether the indicators suggested reflected a sufficiently ambitious vision of what public education can accomplish. One noted that the indicators chosen for a similar project covering European countries (Hoskins, Cartwright, and Schoof, 2010) are based in fundamental social goals: economic security, social cohesion, and sustainability. The United States might have somewhat different goals, the participant added, such as promoting participatory democracy or a balance between individual freedom and responsibility, but the set of indicators chosen could be conceived as measures of how well the system is meeting such goals.

Another participant suggested a different sort of educational purpose that also could provide a conceptual underpinning for the indicators chosen. Beyond the specific skills and knowledge education should impart, he explained, is the idea that education should help children develop images of “possible selves” as they gain understanding of what their options are. Prior efforts to “rethink” high school, he added, such as the Youth Act of 1980 20 or the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, 21 have not yielded the desired changes. He hopes that current thinking focuses less on the distinctions between college and career preparation and more on helping students prepare to grow and change.

20 For a description, see http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED195851.pdf .

21 For a description, see http://www.fessler.com/SBE/act.htm .

Several presenters pointed out that the skills needed to succeed in the 21st century are not necessarily different from those needed in the past. While adaptation—such as taking advantage of advances in the cognitive and behavioral sciences—is important, it may also be important to recognize that even if ideas have been under discussion for a long time, the system may not yet have succeeded in implementing them. In particular, Pianta noted, possibilities for measuring aspects of education that may have been recognized as important but were not easily captured using large-scale standardized tests have opened up considerably.

It is important to recognize, though, Allensworth noted, that “we have ratcheted up expectations for students” significantly in the last 10 to 20 years. “Almost all schools now say they want their students to leave school college ready,” she explained, and this is a significant change from the way things were a generation ago. Tracking student grades is useful, she added, precisely because they capture skills that cannot be measured on tests but are important for both postsecondary schooling and work, such as the ability to get things done, to work in groups, and to solve problems. “There’s not a whole lot of evidence out there, she added, “that what you need to be career ready is so different from what you need to be college ready.”

Nevertheless, Dynarski observed, “one could read the data and say the K-12 system has just moved too slowly [so it is putting students into] the pipeline who aren’t ready for colleges that have adapted more quickly. The empirical evidence is pointing to the shortcomings not of colleges but of the K-12 system.”

What Might Be Missing?

Discussion highlighted a few issues that were not raised in the suggested indicators. One participant noted the relative lack of emphasis on contextual factors, particularly in comparison with the suggested preschool indicators. “Presumably the family and the community are just as important for school-age students as for kids from zero to age 5,” this person remarked. Another noted that “education is actually coproduced with parents,” but that parental inputs were not addressed by any of the indicators. The important role parents play is explicitly addressed in the early childhood context, this person observed, but “over time we assign more responsibility to the education provided by schools.” It would be possible, this person suggested, to develop a composite indicator using, for example, parents’ reading to children, helping with homework, or helping children prepare for college, to gauge involvement.

It is difficult to address equity issues with national indicators, Mark Dynarski noted, because national statistics may disguise significant variation. For example, steady growth in per pupil spending, on average, may result because affluent school districts are increasing their spending a considerable amount while poorer districts are not. It might be possible to construct an indicator of the variance in the states’ spending, perhaps as a share of their own budgets. But even this indicator would not capture other kinds of inequity, such as the distribution of up-to-date buildings, experienced teachers who are teaching the subject in which they were prepared, and other factors. Participants noted that measuring spending at the state level, as well as the national level, would add important information about equity and other issues.

The education system in the United States is continually challenged to adapt and improve, in part because its mission has become far more ambitious than it once was. At the turn of the 20th century, less than one-tenth of students enrolled were expected to graduate from high school. Today, most people expect schools to prepare all students to succeed in postsecondary education and to prosper in a complex, fast-changing global economy. Goals have broadened to include not only rigorous benchmarks in core academic subjects, but also technological literacy and the subtler capacities known as 21st-century skills.

To identify the most important measures for education and other issues and provide quality data on them to the American people, Congress authorized the creation of a Key National Indicators System (KNIS). This system will be a single Web-based information source designed to help policy makers and the public better assess the position and progress of the nation across a wide range of areas. Identifying the right set of indicators for each area is not a small challenge. To serve their purpose of providing objective information that can encourage improvement and innovation, the indicators need to be valid and reliable but they also need to capture the report committee's aspirations for education.

This report describes a workshop, planned under the aegis of the Board on Testing and Assessment and the Committee on National Statistics of the National Research Council. Key National Education Indicators is a summary of the meeting of a group with extensive experience in research, public policy, and practice. The goal of the workshop was not to make a final selection of indicators, but to take an important first step by clearly identifying the parameters of the challenge.

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6 Chapter 6: Progressivism

This chapter will provide a comprehensive overview of Progressivism. This philosophy of education is rooted in the 
 philosophy of pragmatism. Unlike Perennialism, which emphasizes a universal truth, progressivism favors “human experience as the basis for knowledge rather than authority” (Johnson et. al., 2011, p. 114). By focusing on human experience as the basis for knowledge, this philosophy of education shifts the focus of educational theory from school to student.

In order to understand the implications of this shift, an overview of the key characteristics of Progressivism will be provided in section one of this chapter. Information related to the curriculum, instructional methods, the role of the teacher, and the role of the learner will be presented in section two and three. Finally, key educators within progressivism and their contributions are presented in section four.

Characteristics of Progressivim

6.1 Essential Questions

By the end of this section, the following Essential Questions will be answered:

• In which 
 school 
of thought is Progressivism rooted?
• What is the educational 
 focus of Progressivism?
• What do Progressivist 
 believe are 
 the primary 
 goals of schooling?

Progressivism is a very student-centered philosophy of education. Rooted in pragmatism, the educational focus of progressivism is on engaging students in real-world problem- solving activities in a democratic and cooperative learning environment (Webb et. al., 2010). In order to solve these problems, students apply the scientific method. This ensures that they are actively engaged in the learning process as well as taking a practical approach to finding answers to real-world problems.

Progressivism was established in the 
 mid-1920s and continued to be one of the most 
influential philosophies of education through the mid-1950s. One of the primary reasons for this is that a main tenet of progressivism is for the school to improve society. This was sup posed to be achieved by engaging students in tasks related to real-world problem-solving. As a result, Progressivism was deemed to be a working model of democracy (Webb et. al., 2010).

6.2 A Closer Look

Please read the following article for more information on progressivism: Progressive education: Why it’s hard to beat, but also hard to find.

As you read the article, think about the following Questions to Consider:

• How does the author define progressive 
 education?
• What does the author say progressive 
 education is not?
• What elements of progressivism make sense, 
 according to the author? Progressive education: Why it’s hard to beat, but also hard to find

6.3 Essential Questions

• How is a Progressivist curriculum best described?
• What subjects 
 are included in 
 a Progressivist curriculum?
• Do you think 
 the focus of this curriculum is beneficial for students? Why 
 or why not?

As previously stated, Progressivism focuses on real-world problem-solving activities. Consequently, the Progressivist curriculum is focused on providing students with real-world experiences that are meaningful and relevant to them rather than rigid subject-matter content.

Dewey (1963), who is often referred to as the “father of progressive education,” believed that all aspects of study (i.e., arithmetic, history, geography, etc.) need to be linked to materials based on students every- day life-experiences.

However, Dewey (1938) cautioned that not all experiences are equal:

The belief that all genuine education comes
 about through experience does not mean that
 all experiences are genuinely or equally 
 educative. Experience and education cannot
 be directly equated to each other. For some
 experiences are mis-educative. Any experience
 is mis-education that has the effect of arresting
 or distorting the growth or further experience (p. 25).

An example of miseducation would be that of a bank robber. He or she many learn from the experience of robbing a bank, but this experience can not be equated with that of a student learning to apply a history concept to his or her real-world 
 experiences.

Features of a Progressive Curriculum

There are several key features that distinguish a progressive curriculum. According to Lerner (1962), some of the key features of a progressive curriculum include:

• A focus on the student
• A focus on peers
• An emphasis on growth
• Action centered
• Process and change centered
• Equality centered
• Community centered

To successfully apply these features, a progressive 
 curriculum would feature an open classroom environment. In this type of environment, students would “spend considerable time in direct contact with the community or cultural surroundings beyond the confines of the classroom or school” (Webb et. al., 2010, p. 74). For example, if students in Kansas were studying Brown v. Board of Education in their history class, they might visit the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka. By visiting the National Historic Site, students are no longer just studying something from the past, they are learning about history in a way that is meaningful and relevant to them today, which is essential in a Progressive curriculum.

• In what ways have you experienced elements 
 of a Progressivist curriculum as a student?
• How might you implement a Progressivist 
 curriculum as a future teacher?
• What challenges do you see in implementing 
 a Progressivist curriculum and how might 
 you overcome them?

Instruction in the Classroom

6.4 Essential Questions

• What are the 
 main methods of instruction in a Progressivist classroom?
• What is the teachers 
 role in the classroom?
• What is the students 
 role in the classroom?
• What strategies do students use in a Progressivist classrooms?

Within a Progressivist classroom, key instructional methods include: group work and the project method. Group work promotes the experienced-centered focus of the Progressive philosophy. By giving students opportunities to work together, they not only learn critical skills related to cooperation, they are also able to engage in and develop projects that are meaningful and have relevance to their everyday lives.

Promoting the use of project work, centered around the scientific method, also helps students engage in critical thinking, problem solving, and deci- sion making (Webb et. al., 2010). More importantly, the application of the scientific method allows Progressivists to verify experi ence through investigation. Unlike Perennialists and Essentialists, who view the scientific method as a means of verifying the truth (Webb et. al., 2010).

Teachers Role

Progressivists view teachers as a facilitator in the classroom. As the facilitator, the teacher directs the students learning, but the students voice is just as important as that of the teacher. For this reason, progressive education is often equated with student-centered instruction.

To support students in finding their own voice, the teacher takes on the role of a guide. Since the student has such an important role in the learning, the teacher needs to guide the students in “learning how to learn” (Labaree, 2005, p. 277). In other words, they need to help students construct the skills they need to understand and process the content.

In order to do this successfully, the teacher needs to act as a collaborative partner. As a collaborative partner, the teachers works with the student to make group decisions about what will be learned, keeping in mind the ultimate out- comes that need to be obtained. The primary aim as a collaborative partner, according to Progressivists, is to help students “acquire the values of the democratic system” (Webb et. al., 2010, p. 75).

Some of the key instructional methods used by Progressivist teachers include:

• Promoting discovery and self-directly learning.

• Integrating socially relevant themes.
• Promoting values of community, cooperation, 
 tolerance, justice, and democratic equality.
• Encouraging the use of group activities.
• Promoting the application of projects to enhance 
 learning.
• Engaging students in critical thinking.
• Challenging students to work on their problem 
 solving skills.
• Developing decision making techniques.
• Utilizing cooperative learning strategies. (Webb et. al., 2010).

6.5 An Example in Practice

Watch the following video and see how many of the bulleted instructional methods you can identify! In addition, while watching the video, think about the following questions:

• Do you think you have the skills to be a 
Constructivist teacher? Why or why not?
• What qualities do you have that would make you 
 good at applying a Progressivist approach in the 
 classroom? What would you need to improve 
upon?

Based on the instructional methods demonstrated in the video, it is clear to see that progressivist teachers, as facilitators of students learning, are encouraged to help their stu dents construct their own understanding by taking an active role in the learning process. Therefore, one of the most com- mon labels used to define this entire approach to education today is: C onstructivism .

Students Role

Students in a Progressivist classroom are empowered to take a more active role in the learning process. In fact, they are encourage to actively construct their knowledge and understanding by:

• Interacting with their environment.
• Setting objectives for their own learning.
• Working together to solve problems.
• Learning by doing.
• Engaging in cooperative problem solving.
• Establishing classroom rules.
• Evaluating ideas.
• Testing ideas.

The examples above clearly demonstrate that in the Progressive classroom, the students role is that of an 
 active learner.

6.6 An Example in Practice

Mrs. Espenoza is an 6th grade teacher at Franklin Elementary. She has 24 students in her class. Half of her students are from diverse cultural backgrounds and are receiving free and reduced lunch. In order to actively engage her students in the learning process, Mrs. Espenoza does 
not use traditional textbooks in her classroom. Instead, she uses more real-world resources 
 and technology that goes beyond the four walls of the classroom. In order to actively engage 
 her students in the learning process, she seeks out members of the community to be guest 
 presenters in her classroom as she believes 
 this provides her students with an way to 
 interact with/learn about their community. 
 Mrs. Espenoza also believes it is important for 
 students to construct their own learning, so she emphasizes: cooperative problem solving, project-based learning, and critical thinking.

6.7 A Closer Look

For more information about Progressivism, please watch the following videos. As you watch the videos, please use the “Questions to Consider” as a way to reflect on and monitor your own learnings.

• What are two new insights you gain about the 
Progressivist philosophy from the first video?
• What is the role of the Progressivist teacher according to the second video? Do you think you would be good in this role? Why or why not?
• How does Progessivism accommodate different learning styles? Give at least one specific example. What is the benefit of making this accommodation for the student?
• Can you relate elements of this philosophy to 
 your own educational experiences? If so, how? 
 If not, can you think of an example?

Key Educators

6.8 Essential Questions

• Who were 
 the key educators 
 of Progressivism?
• What 
impact did 
 each of the 
 key educators 
 of Progressivism have 
 on this philosophy of education?

The father of progressive education is considered to be Francis W. Parker. Parker was the superintendent of schools in Quincy, Massachusetts, and later became the head of the Cook County Normal School in Chicago (Webb et. al., 2010). 
 John Dewey is the American educator most commonly associated with progressivism. William H. Kilpatrick also played an important role in advancing progressivism. Each of these key educators, and their contributions, will be further explored in this section.

Francis W. Parker (1837 – 1902)

Francis W. Parker was the superintendent of schools in Quincy, Massachusetts (Webb, 2010). Between 1875 – 1879, Parker developed the Quincy plan and implemented an experimental program based on “meaningful learning and active understanding of concepts” (Schugurensky, 2002, p. 1). When test results showed that students in Quincy schools outperformed the rest of the school children in Massachusetts, the progressive movement began.

Based on the popularity of his approach, Parker founded the Parker School in 1901. The Parker School

“promoted a more holistic and social 
 approach, following Francis W. Parker’s 
 beliefs that education should include the 
 complete development of an individual 
 (mental, physical, and moral) and that 
 education could develop students into 
 active, democratic citizens and lifelong learners” (Schugurensky, 2002, p. 2).

Parker’s student-centered approach was a dramatic change from the prescribed curricula that focused on rote memorization and rigid student disciple. However, the success of the Parker School could not be disregarded. Alumni of the school were applying what they learned to improve their community and promote a more democratic society.

John Dewey (1859 – 1952)

John Dewey’s approach to Progressivism is best articulated in his book: The School and Society

(1915). In this book, he argued that America needed new educational systems based on “the larger whole of social life” (Dewey, 1915, p. 66). In order to achieve this, Dewey proposed actively 
 engaging students in inquiry-based learning and experimentation to promote active learning and growth among 
 students.

As a result of his work, Dewey set the foundation for 
 approaching teaching and learning from a student-driven 
 perspective. Meaningful activities and projects that actively engaging the students’ interests and backgrounds as the 
 “means” to learning were key (Tremmel, 2010, p. 126). In this way, the students could more fully develop as learning would be more meaningful to them.

6.9 A Closer Look

For more information about Dewey and his views on education, please read the following article titled: My 
 Pedagogic Creed. This article is considered Dewey’s 
 famous declaration concerning education as presented in five key articles that summarize his beliefs.

My Pedagogic Creed

William H. Kilpatrick (1871-1965)

Kilpatrick is best known for advancing Progressive 
 education as a result of his focus on experience-centered 
 curriculum. Kilpatrick summarized his approach in a 1918 
 essay titled “The Project Method.” In this essay, Kilpatrick (1918) advocated for an educational approach that involves

“whole-hearted, purposeful activity proceeding in a social 
 environment” (p. 320).

As identified within The Project Method, Kilpatrick (1918) emphasized the importance of looking at students’ 
 interests as the basis for identifying curriculum and developing pedagogy. This student-centered approach was very 
 significant at the time, as it moved away from the traditional approach of a more mandated curriculum and prescribed 
 pedagogy.

Although many aspects of his student-centered approach were highly regarded, Kilpatrick was also criticized given the diminished importance of teachers in his approach in favor of the students interests and his “extreme ideas about student- centered action” (Tremmel, 2010, p. 131). Even Dewey felt that Kilpatrick did not place enough emphasis on the importance of the teacher and his or her collaborative role within the classroom.

Reflect on your learnings about Progressivism! Create a T-chart and bullet the pros and cons of 
 Progressivism. Based on your T-chart, do you 
 think you could successfully apply this 
 philosophy in your future classroom? Why 
or why not?

Media Attributions

• Progressivism Quote © quotemaster.org
• Dewey Curriculum © quotesgram.com
• Action Centered © Photos for Class
• Stop and Think © DWRose
• Project Based Learning © Blendspace
• Collaboration © photosforclass.com
• Learning by Doing © PBL Education - WordPress.com
• Francis W. Parker Quote © azquotes.com
• School and Society © Amazon.com
• The Project Method © Goodreads.com

To the extent possible under law, Della Perez has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Social Foundations of K-12 Education , except where otherwise noted.

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Transforming K–12 education for the better

August 26, 2023 K–12 schools have dealt with many challenges over the past few years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic put many existing problems into much sharper focus. Even so, there are many bright spots to point to as children head back into the classroom this fall. Some districts are rolling out new mental health interventions to support their students’ needs and others are seeing accelerated rates of learning recovery after adopting new instructional materials, according to McKinsey senior partner Jimmy Sarakatsannis , partner Jake Bryant , and colleagues. Read the full report to see how these combined interventions can create better learning experiences for all, and explore the rest of our recent education insights about how schools can transform for the better.

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What It Will Take to Improve K-12 Schools

Education reform is a stanford priority, and a national imperative..

Reading time min

Photo: Linda A. Cicero/Stanford News Service

By John Hennessy

Many of you have heard me speak about the role of the university in helping the United States remain economically competitive. One of the most critical ways we can make an impact is in assuring an educated workforce for our future, and we can do that in part through our work to improve the educational outcomes in our nation's K-12 schools.

If every student had a highly effective teacher for even three years in a row, we could nearly eliminate the achievement gap between student groups. Over the past several years, the K-12 Initiative at Stanford has been dedicated to offering a comprehensive, transformative and multidisciplinary approach to educational improvement. The initiative has led to the creation of two new multidisciplinary centers—the Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA) and the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET)—that are providing innovative research and tools for educators and decision makers.

We know that great teachers are the cornerstones of improving student performance, but we know less about how to prepare teachers for the modern classroom. Since 2009, CSET has worked with more than 1,200 teachers and school leaders to determine what attributes make a great teacher and create professional development courses to help improve teacher quality. Recently, a set of districts and universities around the country has begun using CSET's innovative online professional courses to help prepare more effective teachers.

Reform in K-12 education has been based too infrequently on measurements of student outcome. A key shortcoming has been the lack of data and sophisticated analysis to tell us what reforms are most needed and cost-effective. CEPA is helping decision makers at all levels analyze and interpret large volumes of data, translating evidence into improvement by working directly with state and federal policy makers. Participating in the program are seven large school districts across the country serving nearly 2 million students, in cities including New York, Miami, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco and Oakland.

Both centers are committed to addressing issues related to leadership capacity to sustain effective change. The integrated, long-term partnerships they maintain with school leadership development teams allow innovation to take hold and to be sustained for maximum impact on student achievement. These two centers join a variety of efforts across the University—from the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K-12 Education to the Stanford College Prep program offered to East Palo Alto students through the Haas Center to Stanford's Summer Program for Teachers—in contributing to solutions to this critical national problem.

We have also made an important leadership appointment in our School of Education, where Claude Steele returned this fall to serve as dean. Dean Steele is not only recognized as a leader within higher education, having most recently served as provost at Columbia University, he is a social scientist dedicated to improving the quality of our schools and the educational outcomes of our students. His work examining the underachievement of minority students has been used extensively by educators to understand group differences in school and test performance, and has led to a variety of interventions in educational settings that improve these performances. He understands intimately the challenges facing our schools and is passionate about making a difference.

To further the conversation about the university role in K-12 schools, our 2011 Roundtable event held in collaboration with Stanford Reunion Homecoming focused on solutions to the difficulties that plague public education. We invited PBS host Charlie Rose and a distinguished panel including Claude Steele, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, '91, MA '92, and Netflix founder Reed Hastings, MS '88, Gr. '98, to campus to discuss with all of you how innovators and innovations can help us change the status quo.

Working simultaneously with teachers, policy makers and leaders, Stanford University is applying its research expertise to develop the models necessary to drive education reform and, ultimately, improve the achievement levels of our nation's students. I am very proud of this work and I hope you will be, too.

John Hennessy is the former president of Stanford University.

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PreK-12 Education

You are here

Education is a continuum, and children need an aligned, high-quality educational experience from cradle to career. Early experiences for children from birth through age 8, in particular, build the foundation for a lifetime of learning and growth.

In this extended period of rapid brain development , young children’s opportunities to learn must look different from those for older children. To put them on a path to success, NAEYC works to promote policies and practices that help children entering kindergarten be ready for school—and help schools be ready to effectively support every child’s unique development and learning.

As part of this effort, NAEYC supports educators in the early grades, including those in state-funded preschool programs , to have specialized knowledge, skills, and competencies, with support from leaders who understand developmentally appropriate practice . With the increasing scientific, economic, and political consensus regarding the importance of investing in early childhood education, the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed in December 2015 with an elevated focus on the importance of the early years for long-term student success.

What does ESSA do, particularly with respect to early childhood education?

How does essa work, how does essa support children and families, how does essa support early childhood educators, how can you support essa, highlighted partner resources.

ESSA, or the Every Student Succeeds Act, is the newest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was created in 1965 as a national education and civil rights law designed to address inequities in the education system.

The new focus on connections between early childhood and K–12 systems, which is woven into language throughout the bill, can help improve quality, expand access, and improve transitions and supports for families in underserved communities. ESSA creates the opportunity for all parts of the system, from stakeholder engagement to student supports, and assessment to school improvement, to be inclusive of early childhood programs.

In addition, ESSA includes a new Preschool Development Grant program that, if funded, is designed to help states and communities plan, coordinate, and expand their early childhood programs for low-income children.

Overall, the law, which was formerly known as No Child Left Behind, transfers significant authority to the states to ensure that all children have the support they need to be successful in school.

ESSA is composed of nine titles, which provide funding to states and districts to support their efforts in meeting specific educational goals. Title I, for example, allocates funds that can be used, among other purposes, for instructional and comprehensive services for children beginning at birth and across community-based settings; Title II supports professional development for teachers and leaders.   Key Titles for Early Childhood Educators and Allies:

• Part A: Financial assistance to local educational agencies
• Part B: State assessment grants
• Part C: Migrant education
• Part A: Supporting effective instruction
• Part B: National activities (including Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation)
• Title III: Language instruction for English learners and immigrant students
• Part A: Student support and academic enrichment grants
• Part B: 21st century community learning centers
• Part E: Family engagement in education programs
• Part A: Homeless children and youths
• Part B: Miscellaneous; other laws including preschool grants

All states must submit an ESSA Plan , created by state administrators with significant engagement from a diverse group of stakeholders, which outlines how they will comply with the requirements of the law; that plan must be approved by the US Department of Education, which then provides oversight, guidance, and support to ensure the state’s plan is being implemented, and that goals are being measured and met. When state plans are approved, the State Departments of Education will create district applications through which local education agencies will demonstrate how they will use funds to meet the goals outlined in the state plans.

View some of NAEYC’s priorities and recommendations to Congress and the Department of Education during the ESSA reauthorization and rulemaking processes ( a statement of priorities ; a letter to Congress ; a letter to the Administration ). Early childhood education is embedded in the law like never before—proof that your voices were heard! (And it’s working: here’s some progress states are making that we told Congress about .) 

As the federal education law of the land, ESSA is responsible for ensuring that all children have an equal opportunity to receive a high-quality education that prepares them for school and life.

Young children and families benefit particularly from new aspects of the law that focus on promoting transitions from community-based early childhood programs to kindergarten and ensuring that early childhood programs funded by Title I in schools meet high-quality Head Start standards. ESSA’s new Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) grant program offers another opportunity to support children from birth to grade 12, particularly since at least 15 percent of funds must be used for state and local programs serving children birth through kindergarten entry.

The law also requires that the ESSA plan be coordinated with the Child Care and Development Block Grant state plan, which could provide opportunities to leverage resources and supports for children, families, and providers.

Ultimately, children and families benefit when early learning and K–12 systems are funded, connected, and integrated; ESSA provides new opportunities to achieve those important outcomes.

Early childhood educators who work with children before school entry may not have immersed themselves in legislation supporting K–12 education. When NAEYC and the National Association of Elementary School Principals conducted a poll on ESSA and priorities for our members, we found that fewer than 5 percent of early childhood educators we surveyed said they had a strong understanding of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and 70 percent understood it “a little” or “not very well.”

Yet there are meaningful and important opportunities in ESSA to support early childhood educators, particularly related to professional development, where there are critical opportunities for states and districts to expand their professional development offerings and focus on joint professional development that is inclusive of early childhood educators, principals, and other school leaders.

In addition, ESSA establishes the opportunity for Congress to fund new Preschool Development Grants, a competitive grant program that could bolster early childhood educators working with children across age spans and settings by focusing on coordination, improving quality, and expanding access.

Early childhood in ESSA is primarily a “may” for states and districts, not a “must.” This is an opportunity and responsibility that requires our engagement. It is incumbent on each of us to demonstrate that we are ready to hold our officials accountable by advocating for resources and policies that support investment in early childhood education, quality, and equity in the implementation of ESSA. We urge you to:

• Engage with your state and districts’ ESSA processes and plans so that you can advocate for the inclusion of early childhood education and educators, and then hold your state accountable for implementation.
• Check out NAEYC’s recommendations for what states can do as they implement ESSA , with a focus on diverse stakeholder engagement; improving and expanding mixed-delivery early childhood education; professional development; and assessment.
• Call your elected officials and tell them you support fully funding Title II of ESSA to promote high-quality early childhood education and educators—and you want them to support that investment as well.
• Sign up for NAEYC’s America for Early Ed and Children’s Champions email alerts and updates so you can help children, families, and educators succeed!  
• Unlocking ESSA’s Potential to Support Early Learning , New America and BUILD Initiative
• ​ What Early Learning in ESSA Can Look Like for States and Districts , First Five Years Fund
• Early Learning and ESSA , Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes
• Principals’ Action Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act , National Association of Elementary School Principals

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Glossary of K-12 Curriculum and Assessment Terms

Adaptation / test adaptation / transadaptation – A culturally focused process. It is used to create an instrument that is culturally, linguistically and/or psychometrically equivalent to an original testing instrument. In contrast to a test translation, a broader range of skilled professionals is required, which may include specialized translators, cultural experts, subject matter experts and psychometricians.

Administration bias – The effects caused by varying or unexpectedly adverse test administration conditions. These conditions can be social, physical or technical. For example, vague or even missing test administration instructions could prompt one exam proctor to interpret the instructions one way for their group of test takers, while another exam proctor could interpret the instructions in a completely different way for their group of test takers.

Assessment / educational assessment – The process and methods related to measuring and documenting students’ levels of specific knowledge and skills. Assessment is used for a variety of purposes, including determining students’ academic readiness, measuring students’ learning progress, placing students in appropriate courses and providing accountability for schools and teachers.

Authentic passage – A short text, or excerpt from a larger work such as an article or a book, that is chosen for inclusion in an assessment, particularly a language arts or reading comprehension assessment, but was not expressly created for this purpose.

Bias – In assessment, a term that refers to when groups of test takers with similar true abilities will as a rule receive non-equivalent scores due to the characteristics of the test. In other words, one group of test takers will receive an unfair boost while another group of test takers will encounter unwarranted barriers.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) – A set of K-12 educational standards for language arts and mathematics. They include content and skills that students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of each grade. The Common Core State Standards were officially adopted by 41 states, the District of Columbia and four territories.

Completion question (also called a fill-in-the-blank question) – A test item that contains an incomplete statement and a blank space. Test takers are asked to provide correct information in the blank space in order to complete the statement.

Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) – Computer-administered assessments that select items of progressively higher or lower difficulty in response to the test taker’s performance.

Construct equivalence – When the assessment construct provides the same meaning and the same value to target test takers across different cultural groups. Construct equivalence is the foundation of any cross-cultural assessment that intends to produce comparative data, such as the OECD’s PISA assessment .

Constructed-response format – An item format that asks test takers to produce their own responses. These formats include: completion questions, short answer questions and essay questions.

Content standards – Specific knowledge and skills that students are expected to have and be able to demonstrate.

Curriculum – A formal plan for an educational course that defines how students will learn what they should be learning. This may include detailed learning objectives , methods, activities and outcomes.

Curriculum alignment – The process of ensuring that the curriculum, content standards, instructional and assessment methods, educational materials, learning outcomes and/or other elements are all coherent, unified and consistent so that they support and complement each other.

Curriculum development – The cyclical process of planning, creating, implementing, assessing and updating a curriculum .

Curriculum framework – Guidance or documents that address what should be taught or how to implement approved content standards in a curriculum.

Differential item functioning – A method of mapping the likelihood that people with similar abilities but who are members of different groups will experience unequal odds in providing the correct response to a test item.

Distractor – An incorrect option for a multiple-choice question .

English Learner (EL) / English Language Learner (ELL) – A K-12 student who is not a native English speaker and is currently learning English. At present they experience difficulties with the English language that prevent them from successfully participating in an English-language classroom and meeting K-12 academic standards in English. It’s estimated that EL students need five to seven years to attain English proficiency.

Equity – In education, a principle of fairness and inclusion. It aims to ensure that all students receive the tools and individual support they need to be successful, and thus have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Essay question – An item that asks test takers for an extended written response. Whether or not minimum or maximum word counts are imposed, test takers are given the freedom to answer the question in their own way.

Fairness – In assessment, this term often refers to allowing test takers the opportunity to participate in the testing process in an equitable way, even if accommodations need to be made, to ensure that testing scores and outcomes are similarly grouped according to ability level and not group attributes like race, gender, English Learner status and disability.

Formative assessment – An assessment that evaluates student comprehension and learning during a lesson or course, when the learning process is still going on. It is a form of immediate feedback that helps students to see what they know and what they don’t know, and allows teachers to identify any problem areas so they can tailor further instruction accordingly. Formative assessments may take the form of: quizzes, surveys, discussion questions, classwork, homework and end-of-chapter reviews.

High-stakes assessment / high-stakes test – A test that is used to evaluate students’ knowledge and skills, and to make key decisions on stakeholder issues, such as student graduation, school funding levels and teacher bonuses.

Inclusivity – A principle of fairness and belonging for students from all backgrounds. It aims to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education and are equally valued and respected in the classroom.

Instruction / teaching – The methods and activities that teachers use to guide students in their acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

Instructional design – The creation of learning materials and activities that allow students to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills.

Instrument bias – Bias resulting from a test taker’s familiarity (or lack of familiarity) with a particular assessment’s characteristics. As an example, let’s say that Assessment ABC uses images in each item, but the images are very culturally specific. One group of test takers may recognize the images as the test developers intended, but another group may not recognize what the images are supposed to represent. The second group would have difficulty in successfully interpreting the images and getting a high score on the assessment.

Inter-rater reliability – A term that refers to when it’s been established that assessment decisions continue to meet the same consistent standard across the board. Particularly when it comes to more subjective types of assessment, such as essay writing, where grader agreement becomes more difficult, as humans don’t always interpret or evaluate answers in exactly the same way. (Also a subtype of test reliability.)

Item / assessment item / test item – The basic unit of a test. It typically consists of a question or task for the test taker to complete.

Item bank – A collection of test questions and related documentation for each question, such as question format, correct answer, author, date created, question status or even psychometric characteristics like item response theory statistics.

Item bias – Unintended modifications that can creep in and thwart a fair test. Examples of item bias when adapting a test for use in other languages may include poor word choices that have several different meanings, are ambiguous, are unfamiliar to the audience, use a different social register, use a different reading level and change the difficulty level of the item.

Item format – A type of test item. Some examples of item formats include: multiple-choice questions, true or false questions, matching questions, completion questions, short answer questions and essay questions .

Item response theory (IRT) – A model for developing, analyzing and scoring assessments. It takes into account the difficulty of each item, the abilities of each test taker and the performance of test takers on each test item.

Key – The correct answer for a test item. This information guides scorers in their work.

Lexile / Lexile text measure – A numerical score that represents a book or text’s level of difficulty. It aids in the selection of appropriate texts for different readers.

Matching question – An item that asks test takers to match an element in one column to a corresponding element in a second column.

Method bias – This term refers to when varying test conditions result in differences that are otherwise unaccounted for.

Multiple-choice question – A common test item, which consists of a test question and a number of options from which the test taker is asked to choose the correct answer.

Options – The available choices for an item. In a multiple-choice question, there are typically four to five options, which are labeled using the letters A through E.

Next Generation Science Standards ( NGSS ) – A set of K-12 educational standards for science. They detail what students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of each grade. The Next Generation Science Standards were officially adopted by 20 states, although many more states have adopted standards based on the NGSS.

Parallel-forms reliability – A term that refers to when multiple tests are shown to be consistently equivalent assessments that measure the same construct, knowledge or skill and result in the same observed variances. (Also a subtype of test reliability.)

Pilot testing – A small-scale trial run of an assessment. The goal is to identify and mitigate any potential problems in order to prevent them from escalating and being included in large-scale field testing.

Psychometrics – Theories and techniques concerning the measurement of knowledge, skills and abilities. In educational testing, this includes the construction and validation of assessments, and the application of measurement methods and models.

Reliability – A psychometric term that refers to how stable and consistent an assessment’s results are over time and among test takers.

Selected-response format – An item format that first allows test takers to view possible answers and then asks them to choose the correct response. These formats include: multiple-choice questions, true or false questions and matching questions.

Short answer question – An item that poses a full question to elicit a short answer; the test taker is expected to provide the correct response. As an example, “What is the capital city of Peru?”

Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing – A set of testing standards from the American Psychological Association , National Council on Measurement in Education and American Educational Research Association. It covers test construction, fairness in testing and testing applications.

Standards-based curriculum – A curriculum designed to help students acquire and demonstrate specific knowledge and skills in order to meet predefined standards.

Stem – The question, content or stimulus part of the item that test takers are asked to respond to.

Summative assessment – An assessment that evaluates student learning and academic achievement at the end of a course, school year or other defined period. Summative assessments may take the form of: end-of-year assessments, state exams, midterms, final exams, the SAT and the ACT .

Test-retest reliability – This term refers to when assessment conditions remain the same, it’s reasonable to expect results within a certain range. Test-retest reliability ensures that successive measurements produce consistent and repeatable results. (Also a subtype of test reliability.)

Through-year assessment – Also known as continuous or periodic assessments, through-year assessments are formative and summative measures of student learning that are administered multiple times throughout the school year. Unlike traditional K-12 summative assessments, which provide a snapshot of student proficiency at a single point in time, through-year assessments provide a more holistic view of student growth and progress over the course of the academic year.

Translation / test translation – A linguistically-focused process. It is used to create an instrument in one language that is linguistically equivalent to a testing instrument in another language. The skills required are linguistic in nature and performed by a translator, often with the assistance of a subject matter expert .

True or false question – An item that asks test takers to conclude whether the provided statement is true or false.

Validity – A psychometric term that refers to how effectively an assessment measures what it sets out to measure.

If our Glossary of K-12 Curriculum and Assessment Terms has been helpful to you, we encourage you to share it with a colleague or let us know .

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