67% of educators say job-embedded, collaborative learning matters most 

Rivet Education’s research brief, The Supply and Demand of Curriculum-Based Professional Learning, revealed the latest insights on the use of high-quality instructional materials and the curriculum-based professional learning to support their implementation. According to professional learning providers, collaborative professional learning is the leading format, indicated by 67% of responding educators, who said that this improved teaching or student learning to a moderate or large extent. The other formats said to make an impact are coaching (47%) and workshops (45%).
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84% of parents say professional learning should be informed by student testing data

The National Parents Union recently released survey results of 1,518 parents with students in pre-K to 12th grade public schools. 84% of these parents agreed it was valuable to use student testing data to make decisions about curriculum, such as providing high-quality instructional materials and evidence-based reading instruction — for example, the science of reading. Regarding school and district resource allocations, 89% said academic test data should be used to determine the implementation of professional learning or instructional coaching to support high-quality curriculum.
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6th lowest unemployment rate for Elementary education

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York produced a tool to look at labor market outcomes of new college grads according to their major. Of the 74 majors on the list, those with degrees in education fared better in terms of employment than those in many other areas of study. The unemployment rate for those who majored in elementary or general education was 1.5%, the sixth and seventh lowest on the list. For those who studied secondary education, the unemployment rate was 1.6%, and 1.9% for those majoring in early childhood education. For comparison, industrial engineering came in first, at 0.2%, and art history was last at 8%. These findings may provide a helpful selling point for recruiting new teacher candidates.
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81% of Americans put a high priority on teacher recruitment and retention

The 56th annual PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools shows that Americans’ top educational priorities are preparing students to enter the workforce and attracting and retaining good teachers. Members of all political parties, 81% of respondents, said they want the next federal U.S. administration to focus on attracting and retaining good teachers. That is second among seven priorities, just behind preparing students to enter the workforce, at 84%. 61% of Americans prefer a candidate who favors increased funding for public schools. Other areas of priority for the next administration are student mental health (73%), helping students who’ve fallen behind, (72%), and college affordability, (70%).
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64 high-poverty schools make above-average gains

Two reports from Education Reform Now highlight high-performing, high-poverty schools in Massachusetts and Colorado that demonstrated high academic proficiency or significant academic growth on state assessments. Collectively, 64 schools achieved above-average proficiency rates in math or English language arts or demonstrated significant growth in those subject areas since 2019. In Massachusetts, school leaders cited ongoing professional learning and coaching among the top five contributors to success. In Colorado, a key strategy was aligning data-driven decision-making and high-quality instructional materials, supported by professional learning on content and instructional strategies.
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