Giving Compass' Take:

• Katie Topping at Education Dive interviews Dr. Andrew Hegedus on the relationship between poverty and school performance. 

• Are all methods of school performance measurement created equal? Does measuring achievement alone serve students or schools with differing levels of challenges?

• Here's how progress against poverty has improved test scores. 

Dr. Andrew Hegedus, Research Consulting Director at NWEA, recently completed a groundbreaking research study exploring the relationship between poverty and performance. We spoke with him about the origins of this work, implications for educators, and where his research is headed next. Hegedus’ responses were edited for length and clarity.

How did you first become interested in studying school performance?

I worked in a school district as a senior administrator in Delaware. One of my favorite schools was right next to our district office in downtown Wilmington, a tougher, urban area. The teachers and principal were on it. You'd go in the classroom, kids were engaged and learning, it was really impressive. And then I’d go to this other school near my house out in the ‘burbs with university professors’ kids and there was nothing happening. Kids were well behaved but that was about it.

In the next year or two, the school in the suburbs got Blue Ribbon status and the school near the district office was labeled a focus school. The principal was relocated, and 50 percent of the teachers were reassigned. Everybody had to interview for their jobs again. Those were pretty severe consequences that made no sense to me because of what I saw in the building.

Read the full article about poverty and school performance by Katie Topping at Education Dive.