After years in the making, the National Institute for Literacy at last issued its report from the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP), called "Developing Early Literacy." Designed to consolidate much of the extant literature in early literacy, the field has eagerly awaited their findings. Much like the National Reading Panel...

New York City School Superintendent Joel Klein and Al Sharpton, a curious coupling to be sure, argue in their 1/1/2/09 Op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal that all we need is high quality teachers to close the pernicious achievement gap. (Interestingly the title of the editorial is "Charter Schools...

I can't think of a wiser choice than President-elect Obama's selection of Arne Duncan, current CEO of Chicago Public Schools, as Education Secretary. Duncan has a track-record of educational reform successes and he'll use whatever it takes -- innovative charters, teacher reforms, early childhood programs--to ensure higher achievement. Way back...

Greg Toppo, top education news reporter for USA Today, highlights a ground-breaking study in his piece on December 8th that provides incontrovertible evidence, perhaps for the very first time, on how poverty afflicts children's brains. Toppo reported on a study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience that found poverty...

There is something to be said about hindsight. Those clamoring for jobs with the Obama Administration will soon learn on their own about the burdens and brickbats. As a researcher passionate about issues of poverty, low-achievement, and early childhood education, I took the D.C. plunge and joined the Bush Administration...

According to Lou Gerstner in his December 1st op-ed piece in Wall Street Journal, schools today are failing miserably to educate students for 21st knowledge and skills. He's right. Scores on national achievement tests are flat and, in some cases, down over the past two decades. Today, we have...