July 2025 Research Rundown
By Madie Spartz
For July’s Research Rundown—our curated list of recent, relevant research we think is worth adding to the education equity conversation—we highlight articles on:
- How federal changes to Medicaid and SNAP will impact schools,
- An automatic enrollment policy in Dallas, and
- Student teaching placements’ effects on future teacher employment
Federal Policy on the Social Safety Net: Early Actions for States in Response to Recent Changes
Bellwether, July 2025
This memo from Bellwether provides important context on two federal programs, Medicaid and SNAP, how they are used in schools, and how states should consider responding to recent cuts and eligibility changes made by Congress. These programs, though not explicitly related to education, have implications for public schools. For example, Medicaid is the fourth-largest federal funding stream for public schools, and SNAP eligibility can determine whether a child’s school can provide them with free meals under a program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
The authors recommend that state policymakers build up their budget reserves in anticipation of federal cuts, including avoiding cuts to critical revenue streams, such as income tax. Furthermore, they recommend improving counts of economically disadvantaged children– something Minnesota is beginning to address but hasn’t taken definitive action on. They also recommend strengthening relationships between state education agencies and state Medicaid agencies, and expanding school-based Medicaid services, since more children will likely lose their health care.
Why This Matters in Minnesota
According to the memo, Minnesota is one of four states that contracts with a managed-care organization for school-based Medicaid services (as opposed to other states where the state agency reimburses districts), and that model could leave Minnesota worse off than other states based on the federal government’s changes. Furthermore, the anticipated reductions in Medicaid and SNAP eligibility put a strain on how Minnesota calculates the concentration of poverty in schools, a critical piece of our school funding formula.
Minnesota currently uses a process called “direct certification” in its poverty calculations, whereby students who are enrolled in Medicaid and SNAP are automatically included in the poverty count for their school. Fewer families eligible for Medicaid and SNAP could therefore mean less funding for the schools who educate them. This creates even more urgency for Minnesota policymakers to create a meaningful fix to accurately measuring students in poverty—with the outdated process of collecting annual lunch eligibility forms from families already becoming obsolete under universal school meals. A working group will convene this fall to explore our state funding stream for students in poverty, and this question should be a top priority.
Closing the Gaps: An Examination of Early Impacts of Dallas ISD’s Opt-Out Policy on Advanced Course Enrollment
Annenberg Institute at Brown University, June 2025
This study analyzed the effects of Dallas Independent School District’s opt-out policy for advanced coursework, where qualified students are automatically enrolled in advanced coursework and have to opt out if they’re not interested in those classes. This is functionally opposite from traditional methods of advanced coursework enrollment, where students must opt in—and which has led to underenrollment of students of color, particularly Black and Latino students. Dallas ISD first implemented this policy in the 2018-19 school year.
The researchers found the policy led to a significant increase in students taking Algebra 1 before high school. However, this increase was concentrated among Latino students and white students; enrollment for Black students remained unchanged. The authors attribute this to fewer Black students meeting enrollment criteria and more Black students leaving the district than their peers. It’s worth noting that although Black students met eligibility criteria at lower rates then their peers, those who did meet the criteria still were less likely to take advanced coursework. This indicates that the opt-out policy can be a powerful tool of reducing disparities in rigorous coursework, but it may not be sufficient on its own for all student groups.
Why This Matters in Minnesota
Like the district in the study and many around the country, Minnesota schools also struggle with disparities in advanced coursework enrollment. For example, in 2022, Black students made up 11% of the student population but only 5% of AP course enrollment. EdAllies has long advocated for an automatic enrollment policy similar to Dallas ISD’s opt-out policy, but Minnesota has yet to take action. This study re-affirms prior research that the policy holds promise for reducing disparities in rigorous coursework, and also suggests that other levers may be necessary to reduce them among specific student groups. Either way, it’s a critical reminder that passing a policy is just the first step in the process – implementation and effectiveness need to be continuously assessed to ensure policies are meeting student needs.
Clinical Experiences and (Unexpected Findings) on Job Placements: Experimental Evidence from Student Teaching Interventions
National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER), March 2025
This study by CALDER and American Institutes for Research tested two interventions for student teaching placements to see if they had any impact on teacher employment. The first intervention placed student teachers with more effective mentors and in more effective schools for their clinical experience. The second intervention provided student teachers, their mentor teachers, and their field instructor with detailed reports on performance in the clinical placement. While neither treatment had a significant effect on overall employment of student teachers, they did have effects on other aspects of their careers.
For the candidates placed with more effective mentor teachers and schools, they were more likely to be employed in “high income and low minority schools.” The authors suggest that this could result from the fact that placement schools in the “effective” group were more likely to have these characteristics, so states should ensure that effective student teaching placements include low-income, diverse schools. The group that received detailed performance reports were more likely to be hired in their placement school, but did not see changes in overall employability. This aligns with previous research that suggests teachers are more likely to work in schools that are similar to where they completed their clinical training.
Why This Matters in Minnesota
The research is clear that student teaching placement matters both to individual teachers and the teacher pipeline as a whole. Overall quality, school type, and level of mentorship at placement sites influence teachers’ skills and where they choose to work. This should be considered alongside the fact that in Minnesota as in much of the country, less experienced teachers are more likely to work at high-poverty schools. When designing student teaching placements, preparation programs in Minnesota should prioritize both diversity and quality of placements, which are not mutually exclusive, as the authors of this study point out. Furthermore, Minnesota should ensure that all student teachers receive robust feedback on their performance, as the study supports the fact that it can influence labor market outcomes for teachers.