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 This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: research, teaching research, and leadership research.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 How Can Video Lessons Affect Learning for the Youngest Students?
There has been relatively little research on very young students learning remotely, but emerging research on video lessons could provide clues for educators working to stem learning loss.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 2, 2020
4 min read
International Pre-COVID Learning Inequities Were Already Large Around the World
A new international benchmarking highlights gaps in training for digital learning and other supports that could deepen the challenge for low-income schools during the pandemic.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 29, 2020
4 min read
Education National COVID-19 Dashboard Broadens Picture of School Response
The COVID-19 School Response Dashboard launched this week with data from its first cohort of nearly 600 district, charter, and private schools serving about 200,000 students in-person and online in 47 states.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 25, 2020
2 min read
Education How School Leaders Can Stabilize Attendance During COVID-19
Operating schools amid the pandemic requires leaders to balance risk both on campus and in the community. New research suggests how.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 23, 2020
5 min read
Education SAT Scores, Test-Takers Tick Down Amid COVID-19 Closures
Just under 2.2 million students took the SAT in 2020, about 22,000 students fewer than last year, and average test scores dropped in both math and language arts.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 14, 2020
1 min read
Education What Do Schools Need to Be Better After Coronavirus?
New reports point to ways states and district leaders can help turn crisis modes into long-term equity and innovation in schools.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 2, 2020
4 min read
Education COVID-Related Learning Loss Will Hit Younger Students Differently
New research suggests schools will need to target interventions differently to help students in different grades and subjects recover from pandemic disruption.
Sarah D. Sparks, August 26, 2020
2 min read
Student Well-Being Pandemic Outbreaks Are Inevitable. What Should Superintendents Do When Kids and Teachers Start Getting Sick?
Regardless of whether schools open with full-time in-person classes or a hybrid model, their success in preventing a new outbreak of COVID-19 will depend on their capacity to quickly find and isolate those who come to school sick, find new studies.
Sarah D. Sparks, August 19, 2020
6 min read
Education Child COVID-19 Cases, School Outbreaks Spike in Run-up to Fall
The American Academy of Pediatrics reports COVID-19 cases among children nearly doubled in four weeks, as reopening schools in multiple states are forced to isolate hundreds of students.
Sarah D. Sparks, August 12, 2020
2 min read
Student Well-Being Will Opening Schools Make the Pandemic Worse?
School leaders won't have a clear answer before they must make decisions for this fall despite new studies and findings from reopenings in other countries.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 31, 2020
4 min read
School & District Management How Do You Get Low-Income Students to Apply for Federal College Aid? Make It a Law
A Louisiana law requiring students to complete an application for federal financial aid in order to graduate high school almost entirely closed the gap in college aid applications between students at low- and high-poverty schools.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 30, 2020
2 min read
Families & the Community Parent Racial, Income Divides Seen on School Reopening Preferences
Racial differences in parents' concerns for the next school year highlight ways schools may need to target reopening plans, according to new nationally representative survey data.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 28, 2020
2 min read
Student Well-Being More Than Masks: Researchers Call for Focus on Learning in School Reopening
Amid a flurry of recent health-related guidance for schools in how to reopen without spreading COVID-19, a group of more than 200 education and policy researchers sent out an open letter on what research says about how schools can prevent a massive learning loss and educational inequity during the next year.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 24, 2020
2 min read
Student Well-Being Cyberbullying, Mental Health, and Other School-Safety Takeaways for School Reopening
Student safety and wellness will still be an issue for school and district leaders even if they reopen remotely, as new federal data show.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 22, 2020
2 min read