Chad Aldeman

Promotional graphic that announces the launch of the SPARC Center Scholars Program. It includes that applications are due by May 1, 2026. The SPARC Center logo is featured in the graphic’s bottom left corner and it includes the website sparccenter.org

📢Just launched: the SPARC Center Scholars Program! This program aims to support early career scholars in conducting rigorous research on the #SpecialEducation teacher workforce. Learn more and apply by May 1:

sparccenter.org/sparc-center...

Thanks to backloaded compensation and high cost of living, lots of blue states with high average teacher salaries are actually pretty unattractive places for *entry-level* teachers.

www.slowboring.com/p/is-a-new-t...

Federal funding: What to watch for this year | HMH With the approval of the 2026 federal budget for education behind us, and  the President’s annual budget request for next year around the corner, many education leaders are asking the same question: W...

I had the opportunity to write this week for HMH’s Policy in Motion about what to watch as the FY2027 federal appropriations process gets underway. Early signals from Congress could shape education funding debates in the months ahead.

bit.ly/4rbHlkn

The Maryland School District ‘Doing the Improbable’ in Teaching Kids to Read Aldeman: Worcester County posts the highest 3rd-grade reading proficiency in the state despite its poverty level. Here's how they do it

{new} In Maryland, a district called Worcester County is producing some of the best academic results in the state.

What is it doing differently? Check out my latest piece @the74.bsky.social -->

How 12th Grade Math & Reading Scores Have Changed Over Time In the past three decades, the performance curve looks flatter with a few more high scorers but a lot more low performers.

Analysis from @chadaldeman.bsky.social: How 12th grade math and reading scores have changed over time

Revolving School Doors? A Longitudinal Examination of Teacher, Administrator, and Staff Contributions to School Churn - Emily K. Penner, Yujia Liu, Aaron J. Ainsworth, 2026 Non-teaching staff comprise over half of all school employees, and their turnover may be consequential for school operation, culture, and student success, yet w...

I’m really glad to see that our paper is now out at Ed Researcher! We examine turnover among the half of school employees who are not teachers to understand how their turnover compares. Using Oregon data (2007-23) for all public school employees, there are 3 new patterns that we document:
A 🧵

Value-added models (VAMs), also referred to as growth models, are used in education research and policy to estimate the impacts of districts, schools, and teachers on student outcomes. Read Cory Koedel's chapter to learn more about this topic: livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...

Are Teachers Abandoning Teaching? On the contrary, data show teacher turnover remains consistently low

{new} The rate at which teachers leave the profession has been remarkably stable for the last 40 years.

Read my latest for @educationnext.bsky.social --> www.educationnext.org/are-teachers...

Is a Master’s in Education Really Worth It? Probably Not, Research Shows Aldeman: Educators take on huge debt to earn advanced degrees, and taxpayers foot the bill for higher pay. But an M.A. doesn't make teachers better.

I almost let this go without saying anything, but I can't. This issue of the non-value (to student test achievement) of the generic MA is such an old one (e.g.,
www.jstor.org/stable/20439...). Why aren't we learning from the evidence?

www.the74million.org/article/is-a...

In New Book, Researcher Calls Out Dumbed-Down Method of Teaching Reading Aldeman: In 'Leveled Reading: Leveled Lives,' Tim Shanahan argues that protecting students from difficult texts puts them on a treadmill with no exit.

{new} It makes sense that for kids to learn, they should be gradually eased into more challenging material.

But how gradual is too gradual?

A powerful new book argues that America’s classroom literacy practices are moving far too slowly -->
www.the74million.org/article/in-n...

College Prices Have Not Risen Dramatically in the Last Decade—But Will That Change? Higher education is facing a crisis of confidence among the general public, and much of that is driven by concerns regarding affordability. For example, about 80 percent of Democrats and Republican…

I was sufficiently annoyed with a piece claiming that inflation-adjusted college costs have doubled over the last 20 years that I wrote a response. There really haven't been increases over the last decade, but I fear that promising trend may be changing.

These Schools Are Beating the Odds in Teaching Kids to Read YouTube video by The 74

Watch: These schools are beating the odds in teaching kids to read @chadaldeman.bsky.social www.youtube.com/shorts/8hec1...

Nation’s Parents Release Annual Ranking Of Top 50 ‘Perfectly Good’ State Schools The list includes dozens of totally fine schools where students can learn all the same things they’d learn at one of those expensive colleges on the East Coast.

When satire is actually pretty good advice. theonion.com/nation-s-par...

I'm on the job market!

My JMP studies the role of high school teachers in preparing students for college success

I find significant positive effects of high school teachers on
🔹College admissions test scores
🔹College enrollment
🔹College performance

🧵(1/10)

The American penny died on Wednesday in Philadelphia. It was 232. The cause was irrelevance and expensiveness, the Treasury Department said. Nothing could be bought any more with a penny, not even penny candy. Moreover, the cost to mint the penny had risen to more than 3 cents, a financial absurdity that doomed the coin. The final pennies were minted on Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia. Top Treasury officials were on hand for its final journey. No last words were recorded. In its heyday, the penny had immense cultural impact. It was the going rate for thoughts. It was a symbol of frugality, saved and/or earned. It could sometimes be pretty and other times arrive from heaven. And how many ideas would never have come to light without a penny dropping?

I love this lede from NYT's Victor Mather on the death of the penny

These Schools Are Beating the Odds in Teaching Kids to Read New analysis compares literacy vs. poverty rates for 10,000 districts, 42,000 schools and 3 million kids. Is your school a Bright Spot?

Interactive —10,000 districts, 3 million kids: These schools are beating the odds in teaching kids to read @chadaldeman.bsky.social www.the74million.org/article/thes...

These Schools Are Beating the Odds in Teaching Kids to Read New analysis compares literacy vs. poverty rates for 10,000 districts, 42,000 schools and 3 million kids. Is your school a Bright Spot?

{new} Which schools do a good job teaching kids to read?

In a new project @the74.bsky.social, we set out to find schools where third-grade reading scores are much higher than might be expected, based on the schools’ poverty rates alone -->

www.the74million.org/article/thes...

What if every student had an IEP? Students with disabilities should not be the only children who benefit from a federal guarantee of an adequate education, two researchers argue in a new report.

"Imagine two elementary students: One struggles to read because she has dyslexia. The other struggles to read because she received poor reading instruction.

The first student is entitled to specialized instruction ... The second student is entitled to nothing." www.chalkbeat.org/2025/10/28/a...

Thank Goodness for Mississippi (and Louisiana) States like New Jersey can copy their playbook for educational improvements

"I want to double back on Sherrill’s casual slams on MS & LA. Do they have some of the “worst schools” in the nation, as Sherrill claimed? And by implication, is NJ doing better than these states? The answer to both...is no." via @chadaldeman.bsky.social www.chadaldeman.com/p/thank-good...

The dangerous war on Tylenol Autism diagnoses have increased because diagnostic practices changed.

The dangerous war on Tylenol (and what's really causing the rise in Autism) open.substack.com/pub/matthewy...

Just in case you need another reason to read Squawk of Spanish, it’s not only #HispanicHeritageMonth but also #NationalPetBirdDay 🦜

Complement the book with fun mazes, word searches, and crafts. Check out the activity kit here:

static1.squarespace.com/static/5d0e4...

Student Achievement Is Down Overall — But Kids at the Bottom Are Sinking Faster Aldeman: It's not about race, income or parents' education. But across tests, grades and subjects, gap between higher and lower performers is growing

“over the last decade, [achievement] declines have not been about specific student groups. Instead, the story is largely about a growing divergence between higher- and lower-performing kids”

Read my latest piece @the74.bsky.social --> www.the74million.org/article/stud...

Student Achievement Is Down Overall — But Kids at the Bottom Are Sinking Faster Aldeman: It's not about race, income or parents' education. But across tests, grades and subjects, gap between higher and lower performers is growing

Analysis: Student achievement is down overall, but kids at the bottom are sinking faster.

Read more here from @chadaldeman.bsky.social:

The responses here are a nice balm today

Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low The percentage of Americans who consider a college education "very important" has slipped below the majority level.

Actual importance of college is probably about as high as ever. // Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low news.gallup.com/poll/695003/...

#BookFestival time is here!

Meet me at the #BaltimoreBookFestival in September
And at the #CrozetBookFest this October.

See here for more: www.writebetween.com/events

@freespiritbooks.bsky.social
@charlesbridge.bsky.social

Building a new education research agenda | EduProgress On Wednesday, August 27th, I’m going to be moderating a panel for The Collaborative for Student Success on, “Filling the Void: Setting the Academic Research Agenda for Education.”

{new} Join us TOMORROW for a webinar on the education research we need for the future: eduprogress.org/building-a-n...

Reading the Project 2025 doc for the first time. I know irony is dead, but in the education section writing "Stopping executive overreach. Congress should set policy—not Presidents through pen-and-phone executive orders, and not agencies through regulations and guidance." is...