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The article reports on the study of educators in five U.S. states which found that the Common Core State Standards have fostered instructional changes in classrooms, but offers less clarity on specific strategies that boost student achievement. These changes include emphasis on conceptual understanding in mathematics, assigned writing with use of evidence, and the use of nonfiction in reading. The research was conducted by the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.

The article discusses research conducted in part by Julia Burdick-Will of Brown University into the negative impact of violence crime rates on student achievement, particularly commenting on the lowering of schoolwide expectations in areas of violence in the U.S.

The article discusses "The Detrimental Effects of Missing School: Evidence From Urban Settings," a paper published by the think tank RAND Corp. in the February 2011 issue of the "American Journal of Education" regarding the correlation between student attendance and academic performance.