Leadership Blog

Inside School Research

The Inside School Research blog covered education research behind big policy debates and daily classroom concerns. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: research, teaching research, and leadership research.

School & District Management Three Better Ways to Use Global Tests
International benchmarking tests always make headlines, but reading between the lines would help education researchers and policymakers better use the tests to improve schools.
Sarah D. Sparks, April 6, 2018
6 min read
School & District Management Q&A Q&A: Aimee Guidera Looks Back on Research, Privacy, and the Future of Education Data
Aimee Guidera, the founding president of the Data Quality Campaign, will step down after 13 years at the helm of one of the most active organizational voices for education data in the field.
Sarah D. Sparks, April 5, 2018
6 min read
School & District Management Can You Write These Common Letters? (It's Harder Than You Think.)
The way we learn to write letters by hand can affect how we mentally read them later on, a new study finds.
Sarah D. Sparks, April 4, 2018
2 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Attending a Less-Challenging College May Hurt, Not Help, High School Transition
A new study suggests that students who have lower-achieving classmates in college than they had in high school show more symptoms of depression.
Sarah D. Sparks, April 2, 2018
4 min read
School & District Management Grades Suffer When Class Time Doesn't Match Students' Biological Clocks
A new study comes as more high schools nationwide experiment with an array of school schedules, from late starts to four-day weeks and alternating block classes.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 30, 2018
4 min read
Special Education Immunizations and the Impacts of Virtual Reality: Two New Findings on Autism
New studies on autism offer insight into the parts of the brain associated with social challenges for students on the autism spectrum and how pervasive myths about the causes of autism could put children and their families at greater physical risk.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 29, 2018
4 min read
Conceptual image of growth mindset.
solar22/iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being & Movement For Teenagers, Praising 'Effort' May Not Promote a Growth Mindset
New research suggests adolescents can take the opposite message from adults praising their effort: that students just aren't "talented."
Sarah D. Sparks, March 27, 2018
4 min read
School & District Management From Our Research Center Principals: More of Your Students Might Be Abused or Neglected Than You Think
Principals and teachers often don't know when a student is being abused or neglected, but a new study suggests the effects can significantly hurt reading and math achievement in elementary school.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 27, 2018
3 min read
School & District Management Mark Schneider Confirmed as Nation's Education Research Director
After nearly four years, the U.S. Education Department's research agency is at last on the verge of getting a new permanent director.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 23, 2018
2 min read
School & District Management Education Research Gets a Boost in Omnibus Spending Bill
While education research programs across several agencies have faced cuts and consolidations this year, Congress is expected to approve an omnibus spending bill that rejects cuts in favor of some modest increases to federal education research and data.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 22, 2018
3 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement In Washington, Trauma Feeds the School-To-Prison Pipeline, Particularly for Girls
While rates of juvenile arrests and incarceration are declining across the country, arrests have been rising for girls in Washington, D.C. A new study suggests policies that criminalize children's response to trauma are a cause, both in the District and nationwide.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 22, 2018
3 min read
Science Want More Girls in Science Fields? Check the Images on Your Classroom Walls
Boys and girls are more likely to depict women as scientists today than 50 years ago, a new study finds. But as students progress through grades, their views of scientists mirror common stereotypes.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 20, 2018
2 min read
School & District Management A Look at How Principals Really Drive School Improvement
"It's a shift in perspective from a focus on the curriculum and individual teachers to focusing on the collective work of the school," says an author of a new longitudinal research analysis.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 16, 2018
2 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement This Map Shows How Much Is Stacked Against Students in Your State
New data from ChildTrends shows some children shoulder greater challenges that may affect their school performance.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 15, 2018
1 min read