Teachers play a critical role in developing students’ world views regarding marginalized communities. But educators are increasingly being silenced in their ability to deliver inclusive teaching. Since January 2021, 37 states have introduced measures to limit how race and discrimination can be taught in public school classrooms, and 14 have imposed laws or rules to enforce these restrictions. Across...

This article originally appeared in the April 2022 School Business Affairs magazine and is reprinted with permission of the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO). The text herein does not necessarily represent the views or policies of ASBO International, and use of this imprint does not imply any endorsement or recognition by ASBO International...

Parents and educators are asking: when is GreatSchools going to have new school data?  The answer is two-fold. First, it’s important to know we are not going to give parents information that doesn’t help them, or only helps some of them. Second, we have been consistently adding new data, but its type and source may...

This article first appeared in Idaho Capital Sun The more things change, the more they stay the same, or so the saying goes. In January 2021, I wrote a column called “Talking to your kids about recent mob violence.” The recent tragedies in Uvalde, Texas, and several other states bring on the sad occasion to...

Reading is freedom. It opens up the world.  In my day job as an education researcher, I know that too many kids never learn to read well. Kids who don’t learn to read fluently by 3rd grade will struggle as the material gets more complex.  That fact hit home this spring when I noticed my 8-year-old son had...

Enrollment in colleges and universities continued its steep plunge this spring, down 4.7% from a year ago. The nation’s higher education drop is worsening — but not for the reasons you might think. A newly released National Student Clearinghouse report shows total post-high school enrollment fell by about 685,000 students in spring 2022. In the wake...

It has been a long time since so many education issues have been so politically divisive, with sharp debates between conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats about mask mandates, student sexual identity, and the role of race in the curriculum overtaking the routine work of educating students. But as school districts have decided how to...

It has been the best of times and the worst of times for the California Teachers Association. When the COVID crisis hit, the union received a bunch of protections from the governor and the legislature, including a layoff ban and funding based on pre-COVID enrollment levels. Most districts kept schools closed until fall 2021, in...

Teachers and principals across the nation are breathing a bit easier as a second grueling year winds down. Yet, the carefree summer days on the horizon may simply postpone the reckoning that educators will face next fall: How to ensure COVID-era students bounce back next year, recovering lost learning and narrowing gaping disparities in achievement....

In the last three weeks, the United States has witnessed babies starving because of a nationwide shortage of infant formula and young students murdered in their elementary school. If you believe these atrocities will spark a comprehensive moral or policy response from our elected federal leaders, you are mistaken. Even if Congress acts, a neutered...