Agora Education Research

08/25/2026

Choosing a school is hard enough without having to decode different rating systems. Lisa Kessler’s new blog helps families understand what those ratings really mean and why a single grade can miss so much of what matters for students.

Lisa walks through the five ways states rate schools and shows how each one can shape what families learn. She also explains why two schools with very different letters might be doing equally strong work once you look at growth, subgroup performance, and the programs available to students.

If you have ever wondered what a B school actually tells you, or why some states use dashboards instead of grades, this blog is a clear and helpful guide.

Take a few minutes to read Lisa’s newly published piece. It is well worth it:

This article explains how states rate schools and why one letter or number can obscure far more than it reveals.

08/20/2026

Do industry certifications in high school make a difference for students after graduation? Florida’s statewide data say yes. Students who earn certifications are more likely to enroll in college and finish degrees, across different career pathways and demographic groups.

You can read the full study here:

08/16/2026

This Hechinger Report article looks at a new idea some school districts are trying: paying vendors based on whether students actually make progress. It’s an interesting approach, and early results show some promise. At the same time, the article makes clear how hard it is to understand what truly helps students learn.

At Agora, we care a lot about this question. Efforts like outcomes-based contracting only work when districts have strong data, clear information about what students need, and the tools to understand whether a program is making a real difference. When agencies have good evidence to guide their decisions, they can invest in strategies that genuinely support students.

Article:

Lessons from school districts that tied pandemic-era tutoring contracts to student achievement

08/06/2026

If you’ve ever filled out a school survey, a census form, or any government questionnaire, you’ve probably wondered how your information is protected.

Here’s a surprising fact: ZIP code, date of birth, and gender — just those three — can uniquely identify nearly 87% of Americans. That’s why federal agencies take confidentiality so seriously.

The Agora Research Academy has launched a new course, Introduction to CIPSEA, that walks through how federal data is protected and why researchers have strict rules to follow before anything can be shared.

It’s taught by Shelley Burns, who spent decades at NCES making sure families’ information stayed confidential.

The course is $1 through August 15 (then $40), with a certificate and 4 CLPs.
Link:

CIPSEA — the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act — is the federal law that protects confidential statistical data collected by NCES, the Census Bureau, and the eleven other principal statistical agencies. If your work brings you into contact with restricted-use fed...

08/04/2026

📣 The August issue of Data Currents is here and it’s one of our favorites yet. This month we look at something we all experience: how timing shapes decisions. Our July panel talked about what happens when schools get important information too late and what it would take to make sure the right people have the right facts when they need them.

🧭 The issue also explains how researchers can make their work easier for educators to use and why different kinds of data follow different rules depending on where they come from. It’s written for anyone who cares about how schools make choices for children, including families who want to understand the system a little better.

📰 Read the August issue
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In this month’s Data Currents you will see how four experts that we convened in July to explore why education data doesn't travel turned this question around. The data mostly arrives. It arrives late. Decisions get made in the gap, which is exactly what Lisa Kessler found looking at who vets the A...

07/31/2026

As the United States celebrates 250 years, we are taking a moment to look back at how public education grew and changed over time. Even though the Constitution never guaranteed a right to an education, generations of Americans built systems, protections, and data tools that help us understand who is being served and who is being left behind.

Tom Snyder’s new blog traces that history and reminds us how important it is to keep our education data systems strong. They are part of how we support an informed public and a healthy democracy.

Read the full reflection here:

Even without a national right to education, the United States built one of the world’s most ambitious systems to support, count, and understand its schools.

07/30/2026

Education researchers across the country are speaking up about the proposed changes to federal grant rules, and their concerns are worth paying attention to. The new approach could make it harder to study questions that matter for students, especially work that looks at differences in outcomes across groups or research that takes years of steady support to build.

Rachel Dinkes from the Knowledge Alliance points out that progress like the science of reading did not happen overnight. It came from long‑term, federally supported research that spanned multiple administrations. Many in the field worry that the proposed rules could discourage that kind of work and introduce more political involvement in decisions that have traditionally relied on independent scientific review.

Agora encouraged public comments earlier this summer, and this article shows why so many organizations are urging OMB to reconsider the proposal.

Read more here:

Critics say the White House proposal could curtail studies of achievement gaps and the long-term research that led to the science of reading

07/27/2026

Our July webinar Lost in Transit highlighted a simple truth. Local decisionmaking only works when states and districts can rely on strong federal support for evidence and data. Only the federal government can keep national collections coordinated and ensure that research standards are consistent enough for leaders to make informed choices.

This EdWeek article reinforces that point. IES has helped raise the bar for rigorous research and provided tools that local leaders cannot build on their own. Philanthropy and states are doing more, but they cannot replace federal scale or capacity.

Local control depends on a federal foundation that keeps evidence credible and accessible.

The Trump administration's retreat leaves local education leaders vulnerable.

07/24/2026

“The data is traveling. The question is whether it arrives while anyone can still use it.”

Our July Agora Research Academy panel took on the timing problem directly. The data is getting collected. It is getting analyzed. It is simply arriving after the moment when leaders need it most. The full Lost in Transit recording and written recap are now available.

🎙️ Panelists: Cara Jackson, Ph.D., Stacy Loewe, Rachel Dinkes, Ph.D., Tom Snyder
🎙️ Moderator: Carolyn Grim

🎥 Watch and 📄 read the recap: https://edevaluator.org/lost-in-transit-when-education-data-does-not-travel/

07/22/2026

Who is actually deciding which AI tools are safe for students?

Lisa Kessler explores this question in her newest blog for Agora Research Academy. With AI adoption moving quickly and policy development lagging behind, districts are left navigating a mix of private consortiums, nonprofit certifications, and tools teachers adopt on their own. Lisa explains why privacy alone is not enough and why real safety also requires accuracy, effectiveness, equity, and meaningful teacher control.

She also outlines what states should be doing to move from guidance to accountability and shares how Agora is mapping this landscape in our upcoming course on AI in education.

Read Lisa’s full blog:

A governance vacuum has left private groups, not states, effectively deciding which AI tools are considered safe for students.