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Research Archive

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March 28, 2025

Cracking the Code Behind Dismal 8th Grade Reading Scores

The most recent round of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results delivered a familiar gut punch: Just 30 percent of eighth graders in the United States read at or above the…

May 2, 2024

A New Lost Generation: Disengaged, Aimless, and Adrift

More than a quarter of America’s school-aged children were absent from school 10 percent or more of the time last year. There’s no shortage of explanations on offer for this…

March 7, 2024

Proven Results: Highlighting the Benefits of Charter Schools for Students and Families

In 2002, I became a fifth-grade teacher at the lowest-performing public school in the South Bronx, New York City’s lowest-performing school district. A mere 16 percent of PS 277 students…

September 18, 2023

Students’ Lack of Basic Knowledge of US History and Civics Remains a National Embarrassment

A new study from a pair of Penn State researchers finds that passing the US Citizenship Test as a high school graduation requirement does nothing to improve youth voter turnout. Within the…

June 30, 2023

The U.S. Could Learn a Lot from This School in the U.K.

Last month, I took advantage of a trip to the U.K. to spend a day observing at London’s legendary Michaela School, which serves about 800 students ages eleven to 18, a…

June 14, 2023

The Best Argument for School Choice

A new study from the Texas Public Policy Foundation is a reminder that the most persuasive argument in favor of school choice is not the promise of higher test scores, the beneficial…

February 22, 2023

Unlocking the Future

Editor’s Note: The following chapters are AEI scholars’ contributions to a report from Opportunity America’s working group on K-12 education. The toll of the pandemic years is becoming clearer every…