Joshua Goodman

  • How Does Compulsory Math Education Close the Racial Income Gap?

    How Does Compulsory Math Education Close the Racial Income Gap?

    STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education has been a national imperative for decades. More recent administrations have prioritized STEM in schools due to the rising importance of mathematical skills in the labor market. The American Competitive Initiative, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006, committed a…

  • Wicked Smart: Massachusetts’s Efforts to Turn Around a Failing School District

    Wicked Smart: Massachusetts’s Efforts to Turn Around a Failing School District

    Just 30 miles north of Boston on the Merrimack River is the city of Lawrence, Massachusetts. This industrial metropolitan area is home to almost 80,000 people, with a median household income of $32,851 and a poverty rate of 29.2 percent. Almost 40 percent of residents are immigrants, coming predominantly from…

  • “A” For Attendance: Do Certain Types of Absences Affect Students Differently?

    “A” For Attendance: Do Certain Types of Absences Affect Students Differently?

    Students who miss school intermittently suffer more than students who miss school due to mass disruptions like snow days, suggesting there are more negative effects from poor attendance than just missed instructional time.