Betsy Wolf
@betsyjwolf.bsky.social
SWDC Parent, Ed Researcher, Lover of Graphs, #DCStatehood, 🐺 🏃🏻♀️ 🚴♀️. Re-posts != endorsements and posts are my own. https://betsyjwolf.substack.com
An official update from the US Department of Education.
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
An official update from the US Department of Education.
For my practitioner friends, people who managed Title I funds (among others) were laid off today.
October 10, 2025 at 11:52 PM
For my practitioner friends, people who managed Title I funds (among others) were laid off today.
Another 466 employees being laid off from the Department of Education. Remember this was the plan all along: Traumatize the federal workforce. Dismantle ED. Break the institutions.
October 10, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Another 466 employees being laid off from the Department of Education. Remember this was the plan all along: Traumatize the federal workforce. Dismantle ED. Break the institutions.
Truly fascinating graphs about Americans' (inaccurate) perceptions of their fellow citizens. today.yougov.com/politics/art...
August 28, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Truly fascinating graphs about Americans' (inaccurate) perceptions of their fellow citizens. today.yougov.com/politics/art...
DC state test scores from last school year were released today. At first glance, it looks like improvement across the board, but this is the graph. Will take a closer look later.
August 21, 2025 at 9:55 PM
DC state test scores from last school year were released today. At first glance, it looks like improvement across the board, but this is the graph. Will take a closer look later.
DDOT installed a speed bump on my residential street 👏 and a 🌈 today. I’ll take it.
June 18, 2025 at 11:42 PM
DDOT installed a speed bump on my residential street 👏 and a 🌈 today. I’ll take it.
Really struck by this graph from @dcpolicycenter.bsky.social along with this statistic: "As of 2023, 34 percent of D.C.’s high school students reported that they felt persistently sad or hopeless on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, down from the previous year but up from 26 percent in 2012."
May 1, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Really struck by this graph from @dcpolicycenter.bsky.social along with this statistic: "As of 2023, 34 percent of D.C.’s high school students reported that they felt persistently sad or hopeless on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, down from the previous year but up from 26 percent in 2012."
Gutting research and science hurts Americans.
April 5, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Gutting research and science hurts Americans.
There is a kid focused rally today to try to get the Senate to protect DCs local budget and not cut $300 million from DC’s public schools.
March 13, 2025 at 12:08 PM
There is a kid focused rally today to try to get the Senate to protect DCs local budget and not cut $300 million from DC’s public schools.
Friend sent me this. Department of Ed webpage on environmental sustainability is now down and redirects to a page about the benefits of homeschooling.
February 19, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Friend sent me this. Department of Ed webpage on environmental sustainability is now down and redirects to a page about the benefits of homeschooling.
Implications for everybody: Pay attention to what's being measured and for whom and consider how relevant that is to what you're trying to affect.
January 15, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Implications for everybody: Pay attention to what's being measured and for whom and consider how relevant that is to what you're trying to affect.
Implications for researchers: tell us who is in your sample! And tell us things we need to know about the sites that influenced the study results.
January 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Implications for researchers: tell us who is in your sample! And tell us things we need to know about the sites that influenced the study results.
This 'map' also shows that it's easier to get a positive finding in some domains than others because it's easier to get a positive finding on some types of measures than others. Not all evidence is equal and you really need to think about what is being measured.
January 15, 2025 at 2:00 PM
This 'map' also shows that it's easier to get a positive finding in some domains than others because it's easier to get a positive finding on some types of measures than others. Not all evidence is equal and you really need to think about what is being measured.
The WWC database includes a broad range of outcome domains, but there is more research in some domains than others (and the definition of the domains change over time, so it's not an exact science). But the domains follow directly from which topics were the focus of systematic reviews.
January 15, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The WWC database includes a broad range of outcome domains, but there is more research in some domains than others (and the definition of the domains change over time, so it's not an exact science). But the domains follow directly from which topics were the focus of systematic reviews.
Also, this 'map' shows that there are relatively few studies in the WWC database focused on some subgroups of students, like English learners. We probably don't fully understand intervention effects for some groups of students, particularly when there is a lot of variation within a group.
January 15, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Also, this 'map' shows that there are relatively few studies in the WWC database focused on some subgroups of students, like English learners. We probably don't fully understand intervention effects for some groups of students, particularly when there is a lot of variation within a group.
Another way to think about it is how similar are study contexts to school contexts. I found the study samples to be much more heterogeneous than public schools b/c studies may include more than 1 school site and are therefore less segregated than public schools.
January 15, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Another way to think about it is how similar are study contexts to school contexts. I found the study samples to be much more heterogeneous than public schools b/c studies may include more than 1 school site and are therefore less segregated than public schools.
I looked at where studies were conducted and found similar findings to other studies: more studies are conducted in the coastal states than in non-coastal ones. Probability due to where researchers are located and availability of data.
January 15, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I looked at where studies were conducted and found similar findings to other studies: more studies are conducted in the coastal states than in non-coastal ones. Probability due to where researchers are located and availability of data.
I took a look at the 2024 DC public school ratings. I wouldn't get attached to any rating. betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/2024-dc-sc...
December 20, 2024 at 1:42 PM
I took a look at the 2024 DC public school ratings. I wouldn't get attached to any rating. betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/2024-dc-sc...
Thanks to @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social for stopping by for some hot coco in support of Jefferson Academy at the Brent Elementary🎄sale! Here Saturday until 5 pm.
December 7, 2024 at 4:00 PM
Thanks to @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social for stopping by for some hot coco in support of Jefferson Academy at the Brent Elementary🎄sale! Here Saturday until 5 pm.
Updated to include all the DC-owned school buildings that are currently leased out that could possibly be used as swing spaces (static pink dots), if there was any strategic planning whatsoever.
November 14, 2024 at 2:38 PM
Updated to include all the DC-owned school buildings that are currently leased out that could possibly be used as swing spaces (static pink dots), if there was any strategic planning whatsoever.
Hot off the press: New paper shows enormous churn of schools in DC over a 20 year period and finds that the churn tracks with neighborhood gentrification. I don't know how you look at the # of schools that closed and think it's good. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
August 13, 2024 at 6:41 PM
Hot off the press: New paper shows enormous churn of schools in DC over a 20 year period and finds that the churn tracks with neighborhood gentrification. I don't know how you look at the # of schools that closed and think it's good. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
New post on the metrics behind OSSE's 2023 school ratings. Most of the metrics don't account for differences in student needs across schools, leading to systematically inequitable ratings. betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/the-metric...
February 5, 2024 at 10:57 PM
New post on the metrics behind OSSE's 2023 school ratings. Most of the metrics don't account for differences in student needs across schools, leading to systematically inequitable ratings. betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/the-metric...
Relationships across income lines are good for everyone, but only possible in places where there is socio-economic diversity. When we isolate ourselves in high-income enclaves, we drive ourselves crazy and incorrectly believe it's a zero sum game.
October 24, 2023 at 1:36 PM
Relationships across income lines are good for everyone, but only possible in places where there is socio-economic diversity. When we isolate ourselves in high-income enclaves, we drive ourselves crazy and incorrectly believe it's a zero sum game.