News | Annenberg Institute at Brown

Timing Parenting Tips Boosts their Effectiveness for Children
10/07/2019 | NBER Digest
The challenges of the workweek make it difficult for parents to make effective use of tips sent by text on weekdays.
"Point out the first letter in your child's name in magazines, on signs and at the store. Have your child try. Make it a game. Who can find the most?"
That tip is an example of parenting advice offered by an educational program that sends text messages to parents of preschoolers. The program has proven effective at boosting children's literacy and math skills.
R.I. SAT scores don’t keep pace with grad rates
10/06/2019 | Providence Journal
“We forget that a lot of middle-and upper-class students went through a lot of test prep,” said Ken Wong, director of urban education at Brown University. “When they are sitting in the test room, they already know what kinds of tasks they are being asked to do. We need to think about building support like that in public schools. “On the other hand, students know that they are not being held accountable when they take the SAT,” he said of Rhode Island. “It’s not a high-stakes test for them. It’s important for the districts and the commissioner to communicate why this is important, that it’s clearly connected to college and career readiness.”
Jing Liu named 2019-2020 Emerging Education Policy Scholar
10/03/2019 | Annenberg Institute at Brown University
Congratulations to @DrJingLiu, @AnnenbergInst Postdoctoral Research Associate, being named 2019-2020 Emerging Education Policy Scholar @educationgadfly: https://t.co/UuXLpT25Xg pic.twitter.com/KBxeEAkx43
— Annenberg Institute at Brown (@AnnenbergInst) October 3, 2019
Katharine Meyer named 2019-2020 Emerging Education Policy Scholar
10/03/2019 | Annenberg Institute at Brown University
Congratulations to @katharinemeyer, @AnnenbergInst Postdoctoral Research Associate, being named 2019-2020 Emerging Education Policy Scholar @educationgadfly: https://t.co/KKvxPJrtXu pic.twitter.com/0RPfLC42V0
— Annenberg Institute at Brown (@AnnenbergInst) October 3, 2019
Lehrer-Small ’20: A local partnership model for the Annenberg Institute
10/02/2019 | The Brown Daily Herald
Last year in a shiny glass room one floor above the Brown Bookstore, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform hosted an event: “Advancing Equity through Research-Practice Partnerships.” The Institute brought in Ruth Lopez Turley, founder of the Houston Education Research Consortium, to present on the power of research grounded in community partnerships — a worthy and pertinent topic.

However, one central irony stood out as the elephant in the room: The Annenberg Institute had just undergone a push in the opposite direction.

The Annenberg Institute should heed Turley’s call and focus their research on the Providence community.
Wearable device counts words Detroit parents say to their young children
09/25/2019 | Detroit Free Press
"So the gap is about 30 million words during the course of four to five years, when the child is in development," said Kenneth Wong, a professor and director of the Urban Education Institute at Brown University, which has been studying the results of the Providence Talks program. "That's an enormous gap. The question is, what can we do about that challenge so that they can come to school prepared?"
Getting students to the room where it happens
09/20/2019 | National Council on Teacher Quality
We can all agree that teachers contribute in many ways to students' lives. But how should we measure those contributions? Answers are all over the map, from test-based evidence of teachers' contribution to student learning to observers' perceptions of how well they build rapport with their students. Is there some middle ground where we can measure something beyond test scores?

An updated working paper by Jing Liu and Susanna Loeb (of Brown University) finds a plausible way to quantify at least one key contribution made by teachers: getting students to show up to class. They refer to this as "attendance VAM," a measure of teachers' individual effect on student attendance, with similar controls built into the model as the more familiar, learning-based VAM.
Texts4Teens as Part of Our TipsByText
09/19/2019 | Annenberg Institute at Brown University
We are so happy to have this project for parents of teens as part of our #TipsByText parenting programs! https://t.co/WSo4EMzraH https://t.co/bWwqJgPLJj
— Annenberg Institute at Brown (@AnnenbergInst) September 19, 2019
University study finds more engaging teachers increase student attendance
09/17/2019 | The Brown Daily Herald
As middle and high school students begin making their own decisions about whether to attend class, their teachers have a major impact on their attendance rates, according to a recent study from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Specifically, some teachers were more effective than others at promoting attendance, suggesting that more engaging teachers can reduce unexcused absences.
The Consequences of High School Exit Examinations for Student Life Outcomes: Evidence from a Research-Practice Partnership in Massachusetts
09/12/2019 | Institute of Education Sciences
#IESfunded researchers at @BrownUniversity and @MASchoolsK12 will evaluate a Massachusetts policy that states students must pass exit exams in core subjects to earn a high school diploma. @AnnenbergInst @BrownUEP #NCER Learn more: https://t.co/u20sshrJ85
— IES Research (@IESResearch) September 12, 2019
Do Teachers Want Democracy? Deliberative Culture and Teachers' Evaluations of Schools
09/05/2019 | @BrownUEP
In new research published by @UrbanAffairsRev, Assistant Professor of Education @ProfJonCollins examines how teachers form assessments of schools and districts that motivate their political behavior https://t.co/LzlwVcriV7 pic.twitter.com/kJRPxaGKVb
— BrownUEP (@BrownUEP) September 5, 2019
Kenneth Wong: Accountability and autonomy are key to turning around Providence schools
09/03/2019 | Boston Globe
Following the release of a highly critical report on Providence Public Schools, Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza attended a series of public forums across the city. The message was clear: The current school system has failed to provide parents with what they want for their children’s education. With support from the governor and the mayor, the commissioner has begun the process of running the city’s school system for at least the next three years. Now parents and other stakeholders want to know: By June 2022, will Providence schools become the first choice for an overwhelming majority of families across all zip codes and diverse communities in the city, as opposed to charter schools or private schools? And will today’s parental demand accelerate the supply of high-quality services that lead to significant school improvement?