PDF, 315KB, 6pp); Full Report ( PDF, 505KB, 32pp)
Schools serving large student populations with achievement gaps may also have trouble retaining teachers. Recent research is revealing a great deal about how changes in educational practices and policies can revamp classrooms and schools to close the achievement gaps and promote excellence in learning for all students. Author Susan Moore Johnson describes what research says about workplace conditions that support effective instruction and professional growth. It also suggests that more talented teachers can be retained through improvements in workplace conditions, particularly at hard-to-staff schools.
» Theories of Learning and Teaching: What Do They Mean for Educators (2006)
Summary ( PDF, 410KB, 6pp); Full Report ( PDF, 478KB, 3pp)
Recent research is revealing a great deal about how changes in educational practices and policies can revamp classrooms and schools to close the achievement gaps and promote excellence in learning for all students. This new NEA report, by Suzanne M. Wilson and Penelope L. Peterson, describes what current research says about the learning process and details nine concepts of learning, knowledge, and teaching that have formed the basis for recent education reform.
» Prekindergarten Web Resources
NEA prepared this list of prekindergarten research resources, including reviews and meta-analyses of the literature, policy discussions, and cost analyses related to state-funded prekindergarten programs.
» Closing the Student Achievement Gap by Closing the Teaching Quality Gap: Reframing the Debate (2005) ( PDF, 222KB, 17pp)
A research brief from NEA's Visiting Scholars Series, presented by Barnett Berry from the Center for Teaching Quality, Inc. on April 7, 2005.
Tools for Closing Achievement Gaps
» Diversity Toolkit (2008)
NEA's online Diversity Toolkit is an educator's guide to tools and resources that foster inclusion in the classroom and workplace. It provides basic information, a short list of strategies and tools, and suggestions for how to find out more.
» Closing Achievement Gaps: An Association Guide (2006) ( PDF, 743KB, 110pp)
This NEA report offers strategies for closing achievement gaps and provides examples of advocacy in action at the state, local, and national levels. It covers partnerships with policymakers and national organizations; research-based bargaining strategies; model legislative proposals; professional development activities, products, and other resources; organizing strategies for mobilizing members; and success stories from state and local affiliates grappling with this complex issue in creative ways.
Talking Points on Issues Affecting Achievement Gaps
» High School Attendance, Graduation, Completion and Dropout Statistics (2006)
This research-based brief fills in the blanks on who stays and who goes, the benefits of a GED, and provides information on both the personal and societal costs of dropping out. It also highlights linked references for more information on the subject.
» Small Schools (2005)
This brief lists key research facts about small schools, including their bigger benefits to disadvantaged students. Benefits to all have been found to include raised student achievement, increased attendance, and improved school climate.
» English Language Learners (2005)
This brief of research-based talking points discusses the number and types of English language learners, or "ELLs," in schools, the specific challenges they face, what kind of programs are available to them, and how well they are doing academically.
» High School Reform (2005)
This brief discusses findings from a research review of national and state trends in high school reform, including sets of characteristics that high performing high schools share in common, such as a focus on closing achievement gaps.
» Collective Bargaining for Improved Student Achievement: A Missed Opportunity
Bill Raabe, director of the National Education Association's Collective Bargaining & Member Advocacy Department, makes a point that collective bargaining and improving student achievement aren't mutually exclusive.
Resources from Other Organizations on Achievement Gaps
Reports & Web Sites on Closing Achievement Gaps
Briefs, Working Papers, Reports
» Study Finds Acquiring Heritage Language Helps Native Students Achieve Academically ( PDF, 43pp)
Native American and Hawaiian children who learn their heritage language typically learn English no slower than their peers enrolled in English-only programs and generally outperform those same peers on standardized tests, according to "Language Planning Challenges and Prospects in Native American Communities and Schools," a study from the Education Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University.
» WestEd Policy Brief - Reforms That Could Help Narrow the Achievement Gap
This brief outlines a series of reforms, in addition to school improvement, that could help narrow the achievement gap.
» Would Smaller Classes Help Close the Black-White Achievement Gap? (2001) ( PDF, 49pp)
Smaller classes would help reduce the achievement gaps according to this working paper from Princeton.
» The National Indian Education Study (NIES), Part I: NAEP 2005 Performance by American Indian and Alaska Native Students
NIES is a two-part study designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian Alaska Native students in the United States. Part I looks at students' NAEP performance.
» The New Demography of America's Schools: Immigration and the No Child Left Behind Act ( PDF, 46pp)
One in five school-age children, now, is a child of immigrants. NCLB poses challenges for children of immigrants, LEP students, and the schools serving them, particularly those with large numbers of children of immigrants. Explored in this this Urban Institute report are U.S. immigration, the challenges it poses for schools now, and the potential within policies for improvement.
» Public Education and Black Male Students: A State Report Card (2004) ( PDF, 52pp)
This report is both an invitation to learn and a call for action. While it highlights the end results of the school experience, it also directs attention to contributing disparity factors, such as special education designations, in- and out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) results, where available. The report also provides a guiding set of benchmark indicators for demonstrating serious attention to the status of Black male students in the states.
» Tracking Achievement Gaps and Assessing the Impact