News

Paul Morgan headshot in red polo shirt.

Morgan contributes to new LDA of America policy statement

September 14, 2020

Penn State researchers have given policy makers the evidence-based research needed to keep policies on disability identification in educational settings up to date.
Paul Morgan, professor of education, and the rest of his team at the Center for Educational Disparities Research (CEDR) at Penn State…
Paul Morgan headshot in red polo shirt.

Professor discusses implications of COVID-19 for education

September 10, 2020

At the start of the new school year, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused parents, teachers and school administrators to grapple with education options. Paul Morgan, a professor in the Penn State College of Education and director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research in the Social Science…
What the Words Say graphic

Morgan and team's research featured in report, podcast

August 6, 2020

A new APM Reports and podcast focuses on how false assumptions about what it takes to be a skilled reader has created deep inequalities among U.S. children, putting many on a difficult path in life. Multiple studies conducted by CEDR Director and PRI affiliate Paul Morgan and his research team are…
Students reading in library

Understanding the needs of students with or at risk for disabilities

July 13, 2020

Penn State researchers are examining how students with or at risk for disabilities can be better helped as they attend U.S. schools through two new projects totaling almost $1.2 million being funded by the National Center for Special Education Research, U.S. Department of Education's Institute of…
Insights from Experts image

Impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on special education services

May 26, 2020

Penn State researchers provide informed commentary on the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on special education service delivery in Pennsylavania. Early reports suggest that students may re-enter school in the fall of 2020 almost a full year behind academically. However, Penn State researchers…
Gopalan headshot in blue blouse

Researchers study impact of health care reform on child development

May 18, 2020

Education has long been associated with enhanced health and well-being in large part by allowing greater access to resources such as quality health care. With the aid of a new grant, an education professor at Penn State has started a project to study the flip side of that coin — how can health…
Students studying in class.

Achievement gaps may explain racial overrepresentation in special education

March 19, 2020

U.S. school districts may be flagged as over-identifying students of color as having disabilities when other factors, such as achievement gaps, may explain these disparities, according to new Penn State research published in Exceptional Children.
Federal legislation and regulations require U.S.…
Young Asian boy studying.

Underlying factors affect children's early reading and math achievement

March 16, 2020

Underlying individual and environmental factors may better explain inter-relations between children’s early reading and mathematics achievement, according to new research that fails to support prior work suggesting that increasing children’s math skills might help increase their reading skills.…
Paul Morgan headshot in red polo shirt.

Morgan cited in CDC report

March 11, 2020

Paul Morgan, Paul Morgan, Harry and Marion Eberly Fellow, professor of education and demography, and director of the Center for Educational Disparities, was cited in a CDC report on prevalence rates for ADHD and learning disabilities in the U.S. The story was picked up by the New York Times, ABC…
Black, white and Asian students taking notes during class.

Categorical inequalities between Black and white students are common in US schools—but they don’t have to be

February 24, 2020

By Kenneth Shores, Ha Eun Kim, and Mela Still for Brookings
The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) reports large, persistent gaps between Black and white students on educational outcomes such as school suspensions, uptake of AP classes, assignment to special education and gifted and talented…
Student in wheel chair with other students.

Extent of discrimination in discipline of students with disabilities unclear

January 30, 2020

Federal legislation and regulation currently require U.S. schools to monitor for whether students with disabilities who are also racial or ethnic minorities are being inappropriately disciplined. Yet a new analysis of existing studies led by Paul Morgan, professor of education in the Department of…
Headshot of Erica Frankenberg with long brown hair and multi-colored blouse.

Frankenberg rises in ranking of public influencers on education

January 14, 2020

Erica Frankenberg, professor of education (educational leadership) and demography, director of the Center for Education and Civil Rights, and an associate in the University's Population Research Institute, jumped 76 places to rank 87th in this year's Rick Hess Straight Up (RHSU) Edu-Scholar Public…
Vibrant and Healthy Kids report

Morgan's research cited in report on using science and policy to advance health

December 13, 2019

Paul Morgan, director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research and PRI affiliate, and his research team's finding on disparities in disability identification are repeatedly cited in Vibrant and Healthy Kids, the new National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine report on using…
Students studying in classroom

Shores' research on cuts in school spending leading to learning loss

September 30, 2019

SSRI cofunded faculty member Kenneth Shores' research into school spending cuts triggered by the Great Recession being associated with sizable losses in academic achievement for students living in counties most affected by the economic downturn, was published recently in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed…
Jennifer Frank in floral blouse.

Professor contributes to federal report on child and youth mental health

September 23, 2019

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls for a comprehensive national agenda to improve mental, emotional and behavioral health in children and youth. Jennifer Frank, assistant professor of education, senior research associate with the Edna Bennett…
African American student in class.

Study: Black students less likely to be identified as having disabilities

August 28, 2019

Black and Latino students in the South are less likely to be identified as having learning disabilities when compared to their White peers, according to a study that will be published in a forthcoming issue of Exceptional Children.
The most stark results included the number of Black students who…
Headshot of Kelly Rosinger with long brown hair, white blouse, and black jacket.

Education policy studies faculty member awarded co-funded grant

August 26, 2019

Kelly Rosinger, assistant professor of education in the Department of Education Policy Studies and research associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, and a team of researchers were recently awarded a total of $373,590 to analyze how variations in performance-based funding (PBF)…
Student taking a test.

New studies challenge the claim that black students are sent to special ed too much

August 19, 2019

Column by Jill Barshay
Decades of research have documented that students of color, particularly black children, are disproportionately classified by schools as having disabilities. In 2016, 12 percent of black children across the nation received services at school for disabilities ranging from…
Student on laptop.

Study shows benefits to changing students' mindsets about learning

August 7, 2019

A groundbreaking new experimental study with more than 12,000 ninth grade students in the United States confirmed that a low-cost online program that takes less than an hour to complete can help students develop a growth mindset — the belief that intellectual abilities are not fixed but can be…
Black student troubled.

Morgan cited in new federal report on race and school discipline

July 23, 2019

Lauren Camera, Education Reporter, U.S. News & World Report
Black students with disabilities are disciplined more often than their white peers, pushing them into the school-to-prison pipeline at higher rates, a new report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights shows – just the latest finding…
Headshot of Erica Frankenberg with long brown hair and multi-colored blouse.

New research details increasing segregation in a transformed school population

May 13, 2019

As the nation prepares to mark the 65th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional, the UCLA Civil Rights Project and the Penn State Center for Education and Civil Rights today (May 10) published new research detailing…
Logo for CECR: Center for Education and Civil Rights.

National symposium to mark 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

April 9, 2019

To commemorate the 65th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Center for Education and Civil Rights and the Africana Research Center at Penn State will convene Brown@65, a national symposium of education, law and policy scholars and practitioners, May 10 on Penn…
Paul Morgan headshot in red polo shirt.

Morgan to serve on ECLS technical review panel

February 19, 2019

Paul Morgan, director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research and PRI affiliate, has been invited to serve on the Technical Review Panel for the new Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2022-23 (ECLS-K: 2023). As a panelist, Morgan will be advising the U.S.…
Kindergarten students learning with teacher

Keeping kids on task in school may start at home

January 31, 2019

The transition to kindergarten can be a challenge for children who have trouble paying attention, and can result in behavioral problems and poor academic achievement. A team led by researchers at Penn State is analyzing task persistence and how parents can influence it in early childhood.
Task…
Young boy sad and alone.

Children’s race, not disability status, may predict more frequent suspension

January 23, 2019

Suspension is one way schools discipline students, but the high number of and disparities in suspensions in the U.S. has sparked controversy and policy debate.
New research, led by Paul L. Morgan, Harry and Marion Eberly Fellow, professor of education and demography, and director of Penn State’s…