Gregory Pollard is a Research Analyst II at the UChicago Consortium on School Research.  In this role, he supports data analysis and research efforts for the 5Essentials Survey and the Equitable Learning and Development group. Prior to coming to the UChicago Consortium, Gregory studied social and education policy at the University of Michigan–focusing on the structural and interpersonal factors that shape minoritized youth’s experiences in schools. He has interned at several of Chicago’s youth-serving nonprofits throughout his graduate and undergraduate studies.

Latrice Marianno is a PhD in Educational Statistics and Research Methods student in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. Her current research interests involve evaluating initiatives and interventions designed to improve outcomes for low-income and minority students as well as understanding the role of data and research in educator decision-making. Prior to pursuing her doctoral degree, Latrice earned her MSEd in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in Political Science from Rutgers University.

Dr. Laura Desimone is Professor and Director of Research in the College of Education and Human Development, with a faculty appointment in the School of Education and an affiliation with the Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics faculty group. She holds a secondary appointment in the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration. Before that, she was a professor at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania from 2007 until 2018, with a secondary appointment at the School of Social Policy and Practice.

A recent study out of the University of Chicago showed high schools that prioritized social- emotional development had double the positive long-term impact on students as compared to those that focused solely on improving test scores.

As part of their work, researchers determined school’s effectiveness based upon its impact on students’ social-emotional development, test scores and behaviors. They concluded that the most effective schools provide a welcoming environment for students, an experience that shapes their later years...

When the pandemic shut down schools across the country, the federal government responded with billions of dollars to help districts support remote learning, serve free meals to students and safely reopen schools.

In 2021, the Biden administration gave districts another $122 billion through its $1.9 trillion stimulus package, an amount that far surpassed previous rounds. Districts were required to spend at least 20 percent of those funds on helping students recover academically, while the rest could be used on general efforts to respond to the pandemic...

Some would like nothing more than to see Mike Miles go.

At last week's meeting of Houston ISD's new board of managers, the public pushback against the recently named superintendent overseeing the takeover by the Texas Education Agency was fierce. We criticized the board for attempting to run its first meeting with minimal presentation and without answering questions, though it's likely board members wouldn't have heard much anyway because of the shouting from some attendees during that part of the meeting. It was not an exercise in good governance or good listening...

Key Findings

• The findings in this report do not provide a simple explanation for why young women earned higher grades than young men in ninth-grade math.

Among all the missteps and broken promises kids and families experienced when Chicago closed 50 schools a decade ago, the worst is this: The children who were displaced didn’t end up better off, in schools that were higher-performing.

That was the most important goal of the closures — and the city failed to reach it...