education

  • Electric School Buses Are Flipping the Traditional Electricity Model on Its Head

    Electric School Buses Are Flipping the Traditional Electricity Model on Its Head

    From San Francisco to Chicago to Fairfax, Va., electric buses are helping school districts reduce their carbon footprints and protect the lungs of their young riders. Unlike more popular transit options, electric school buses provide great opportunities to reshape the electric grid without disadvantages such as low range or demand…

  • Do Electric School Buses Have an Impact in the Classroom?

    Do Electric School Buses Have an Impact in the Classroom?

    Policy experts have studied the many social determinants of health for years. Most researchers agree that a person’s health is dependent on his or her social and physical environment. Many studies have examined how repeated exposure to air pollution increases the risk of developing asthma and pneumonia. School buses, which…

  • The First Step Towards Opportunity: A Conversation about Bilingual Education with Former Governor Jack Markell

    The First Step Towards Opportunity: A Conversation about Bilingual Education with Former Governor Jack Markell

    Jack Markell served as the governor of Delaware from 2009 to 2017, Throughout this period, education reform was an important part of his work. In fact, during Governor Markell’s first term, Delaware was chosen as one of the first two states to receive competitive federal funding from the “Race to…

  • Is Older Really Wiser? Maternal Age and Child Development

    Is Older Really Wiser? Maternal Age and Child Development

    Although numerous researchers have examined the potential negative consequences of teen parenthood, fewer studies have investigated how having children later in life can benefit or disadvantage those children. As the average age of first-time mothers continues to rise, especially in bigger cities, it is important to understand what this means…

  • Competitive Outcomes: Does Increased School Choice Mean Better Schools in the Long Run?

    Competitive Outcomes: Does Increased School Choice Mean Better Schools in the Long Run?

    As American political rhetoric becomes more and more partisan, debates around public education have become increasingly divisive. From Betsy DeVos’s support for charter schools to nationwide protests by public teachers demanding higher pay, disagreement abounds regarding how best to serve America’s struggling students. In December, New Orleans propelled itself to…

  • Beyond Test Scores: How Can We Measure Social-Emotional Learning?

    Beyond Test Scores: How Can We Measure Social-Emotional Learning?

    In recent years, educators and policymakers have expanded the conversation around student success by moving beyond standardized test scores. Social-emotional learning (SEL), in particular, has emerged as an important factor in student outcomes. The use of non-academic terms like “self-management” and “grit” has grown common among policymakers and educators, due…

  • Food for Thought: SNAP Distribution and Student Achievement

    Food for Thought: SNAP Distribution and Student Achievement

    Decades of innovative education reform have focused on how to improve schools, yet academic success is about more than just classrooms and teachers. One factor that may affect student achievement is food stability; researchers and policymakers are asking how a student’s access to nutritional food impacts that student’s success in…

  • Mixed Messages Muddle Student Attitudes on Genetic Modification

    Mixed Messages Muddle Student Attitudes on Genetic Modification

    Genetically modified (GM) crops have been marketed and sold to the public since 1994. As an entire generation has grown up surrounded by genetically modified organisms (GMOs), attitudes towards modified foods have gradually trended towards a more favorable outlook. With more than 90 percent of crops such as corn and soybeans…

  • How Does Vocational Education Impact Income Gaps?

    How Does Vocational Education Impact Income Gaps?

    Education plays an important role in countering inequality, and education policy can be an efficient tool for policymakers to reduce income disparities. According to the Economic Policy Institute, on average, a family in the top one percent of the U.S. income distribution earned 26.3 times as much as a family…

  • Increasing the Demand for Education With Unconditional Cash Transfers

    Increasing the Demand for Education With Unconditional Cash Transfers

    Sub-Saharan Africa hosts the majority of the 124 million children not enrolled in school across the globe. Education plays a key role in improving individual and social well-being, but high poverty impedes access to quality education. This cycle of poverty can be broken by reducing the burden of the financial…

  • La democracia paga: nueva evidenca sobre su impacto en el crecimiento económico

    La democracia paga: nueva evidenca sobre su impacto en el crecimiento económico

    Es tentador ser escépticos sobre la relación causal entre democracia y crecimiento económico, especialmente con ejemplos como China, el eclipse de la primavera árabe o el aumento del populismo en Europa y Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, nueva evidencia empírica muestra que la democratización aumenta el PIB per cápita entre 20…