November 16, 2018

The Next Evolution

Pew Research came out with a new report this week looking at the “post-Millennial” generation, or those born from 1997 to 2012 who are between 6 to 22 years old in 2018. The report contains some interesting findings, including:

  • The oldest post-Millennials are more likely to be enrolled in college than their counterparts in previous generations, including Millennials
  • Nearly half (48%) of post-Millennials are non-white, and one in four post-Millennials is Hispanic
  • Post-Millennials are less likely to be foreign-born than Millennials but more likely to have at least one immigrant parent

pew post millennials

Dropping Knowledge

Two new studies were published recently using data from North Carolina schools and students.

Using data from North Carolina and Tennessee, researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that black students who have one black teacher by third grade are 13 percent more likely to enroll in college and those who have two black teachers are 32 percent more likely. In a separate paper also published this week, two of the same researchers found that teacher expectations of their students’ success matter and that white teachers have lower expectations for black students than for white students.

The Brookings Institute recently published a study out of Howard University that examines the impact of a North Carolina law passed in 2013 that “provided selected school districts with $2 for every $1 spent to hire or train SROs [school resource officers] in elementary and middle schools.” The author looked at disciplinary actions reported to the state in 460 middle schools, both those who received the grant money and those who did not, over the course of seven years and found that the investment in hiring and training school resource officers had no impact on disciplinary reports.

The author finds that 85 percent of the variation in school disciplinary reports cannot be explained by school characteristics: “In other words, if SROs did their jobs completely and flawlessly, there are still a host of variables outside of the schooling context that contribute to school safety issues.” He does find that smaller schools and schools with higher achievement levels are less likely to have safety concerns and suggests that instead of investing more money in SROs, North Carolina should study those middle schools with no disciplinary reports and learn from them.

Need to Know

EdNC’s Bright Spots series continued this week, highlighting innovative efforts across the state to increase attainment. You can read the briefs from ncIMPACT here and watch the videos from EdNC here. Here are a few highlights from this week:


  • ‘On the Geaux’: How a Playground on a Truck Brings Joy

    Stateline | 11/14/2018

  • When No One Retires

    Harvard Business Review | 11/12/2018

  • How solar panels could cool our homes while harvesting energy

    The Verge | 11/12/2018

  • Bringing investment to poor places

    The Economist | 11/15/2018

  • The Secret to Better Storytelling for Social Change: Better Partnerships

    Stanford Social Innovation Review | 11/09/2018

  • Who will determine the communications standards for the future of autonomous vehicles?

    AEI | 11/14/2018


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