• | medRxiv

    This study quantifies the relationship between school closure timing and COVID-19 deaths and cases in the general population in all U.S. states. COVID-19 has higher symptomatic infection rates among the elderly, suggesting school closures could be unrelated to transmission. However, predicting daily cumulative COVID-19 deaths by state, earlier school closure is related to fewer deaths per capita and slower growth in deaths per capita. Results are similar for COVID-19 cases per capita.

  • | Institute of Education Sciences

    To encourage the use of common measures, we must begin by identifying the best measures already in wide use. We are pursuing this in several ways. First, we are searching the What Works Clearinghouse to identify the measures most often found in studies catalogued in its large library. Second, we are identifying the measures that are widely used across the close to 2,000 research grants we have funded over the years. Third, we are forming a panel of experts to help identify a set of common metrics defined by grade/subject band (for example, early reading, middle school algebra). Fourth, we are closely following Susanna Loeb's work at EdInstruments.com and looking for other compendia similar to her growing library of metrics. Finally, we will be soliciting input from the field (including your responses to this post) about how to proceed.

  • | Education Week

    With the United States suddenly in a recession, school districts will be thinking seriously about reducing their teaching workforces. On average, salaries account for about 80 percent of district spending, so layoffs may be an inevitable step when budgets must be cut.

    For many, budget crises and potential layoffs may feel all too familiar. The long and severe 2008 recession led many districts to let teachers go. Even more teachers received a reduction-in-force or RIF notice—an advance warning issued to teachers whose jobs are at risk. Two federally funded district bailouts helped districts rescind many of the RIF notices, but still, one estimate indicated nearly 300,000 school employees lost their jobs.

  • | Brown University

    As director of the Annenberg Institute at Brown, Loeb leads a major hub for interdisciplinary education scholarship and its translation into policy and practice, building on the institute’s past work in addressing the causes and consequences of educational inequality in the U.S. Her own research specializes in education policy and the relationship between educational opportunities for students and federal, state and local policies. 

    “I am so honored by this recognition, not only of my research but of the importance of trying to get better answers to education policy questions so that we can provide better opportunities for students — particularly for those students who need them the most,” she said of her election to the academy.

  • | American Academy of Arts and Sciences
    Congratulations to Dr. Susanna Loeb elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious honorary learned societies, are scholars in the fields of education, performing arts, economics, law and mathematics. She's among the 276 new members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which honors exceptional scholars, leaders, artists and innovators engaged in advancing the public good.
  • | The 74

    But a distinction persists, in both qualifications and job security, between those working at the front of the class and those standing behind the lunch counter. Susanna Loeb, an economist at Brown University, said that “classified” employees (i.e., those who can do their jobs with no professional certification) are more at risk of losing their jobs during times of economic hardship.

    “When you look at the protections that are offered, you’ll see that the education workforce that is more white and educated has stronger protections than the one that is more racially diverse and less educated,” she said. “If we’re in a situation where those employees lose their jobs, for example, this is going to be affecting a part of the population that doesn’t have as great skills to find other jobs.”

  • | Annenberg Institute
  • | National Biomechanics Day

    Come celebrate National Biomechanics Day with engineers from Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital!!

    To introduce high school students to the field of biomechanics and biomedical engineering. To engage them in hands-on ac�vi�es with state-of-the art biomechanics research technology and provide an opportunity to interface with Engineering professionals and graduate students.

  • | Education Week

    Leaders must consider unequal opportunities and stress on families

    With the COVID-19 school closures, districts and schools are relying on parents to carry out educational activities in their homes. How can districts help parents make the most of this learning time? And are there alternatives to parents as surrogate teachers?

  • | Watson Institute
  • | NUVO

    Virtual learning offers the potential for many students to access education in a way that wouldn’t have been widely available several years ago.

    “In-person school is better than virtual school, but of course we don’t have the option for in-person right now,” said Susanna Loeb, director of the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. “Really what you want to know is whether virtual school is better than nothing. And I think in many cases, it is.”

    But not everyone is on equal footing.

  • | Education Week

    The times have dictated school closings and the rapid expansion of online education. Can online lessons replace in-school time?

    Clearly online time cannot provide many of the informal social interactions students have at school, but how will online courses do in terms of moving student learning forward? Research to date gives us some clues and also points us to what we could be doing to support students who are most likely to struggle in the online setting.