Reports
In 1991, the Schott Foundation for Public Education launched with an overarching objective that we still work toward today: to develop and strengthen a broad-based movement for equity in education, ensuring that all children have an opportunity to learn. This is a look back at how we've made that happen and the impact we've had over time.
The overuse of suspensions in Massachusetts schools is harming educational opportunities for all students, but with the burden impacting black students and students with disabilities more than other groups, according to a study released by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies and supported by the Schott Foundation. The study is the first ever to quantify the school-level days of missed instruction due to discipline, reporting both the black/white gap and the impact on students with disabilities. The report advocates that the state adopt "days of lost instruction" as an accountability measure.
Schott’s biennial 50-state report series chronicles the hurdles and systemic challenges in the national education system that result in frustrating, racially identifiable gaps in graduation rates, including disparities in school discipline and inequitable school supports. The 2015 report illustrates the inexcusable degree to which Black male students are neglected by our nation's inequitable public education system.
An important new report from the African American Policy Forum is a must-read for anyone committed to understanding how both race and gender impact educational opportunity in our country. Black Girls Matter: Pushed-Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected combines national data on school discipline with interviews with young women of color to paint a picture of their experiences in school and in their communities and to offer suggestions for how we can better support them.
Personal Opportunity Plans: Conditions and Considerations for Effective Development and Implementation of Personal Opportunity Plans by the Commonwealth, Districts, and Schools
This report contributes to the movement to shift from standards-based to supports-based reform that provides necessary resources so that every student has the opportunity to learn, succeed in school, and craft a productive future with the support of counselors, teachers, and personal advocates.
In 2007, New York State adopted, but failed to implement, a Foundation Aid formula that would have ensured equitable educational resources in districts across the state. A report from the Alliance for Quality Education shows the districts with the largest gaps between what they need in state funding aid and what the state is actually providing.
From the Civil Rights Project: "Although Latinas complete college at almost twice the rate as their male counterparts, they trail all other women by significant percentages. The fact that two-thirds of Latinas come from low-income families and that many people continue to hold negative stereotypes about Latinas result in unique challenges for these young women. This student found a number of important levels for improving educational outcomes for Latinas that suggest potential actionable policies." Click below for the summary and recommendations and click here for the full report.
The end of third grade marks an important transition when young students move from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." However, 66 percent of all fouth-graders, and 80 percent of fourth-graders from low-income families, are not reading at grade level.
Americans with fewer years of education have poorer health and shorter lives, and that has never been more true than today. In fact, since the 1990s, life expectancy has decreased for people without a high school education. Education is important not only for higher paying jobs and economic productivity, but also for saving lives and saving dollars.
This report provides a detailed roadmap for making high-quality, full-day prekindergarten available for all three- and four-year-old children in New York State over an eight-year period.