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Coalition challenges residency requirements for public schools
More than 40 education advocacy organizations have teamed up to fight longstanding residency requirements that tie children to their local public schools — rather than letting them transfer to places that might serve them better. The No More Lines Coalition aims to end what it calls “discriminatory public school district boundary lines” in all 50 states by...
By Jo Napolitano | March 6, 2024
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Even as Caltech drops calculus requirement, other competitive colleges continue to expect hard-to-find course
When the prestigious California Institute of Technology announced in August it would drop calculus as an admissions requirement — students must prove mastery of the subject but don’t have to take it in high school — observers of an ongoing education equity debate might have thought it was the last holdout. According to a recent...
By Jo Napolitano | January 25, 2024
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Advanced high school math classes a game changer, but not all high achievers have access
High-achieving Black, Hispanic and low-income students who pass algebra in the 8th grade — a feat that can set children up for success in college and beyond — still end up taking far fewer advanced high school math courses than their white, Asian and more affluent peers, new research shows. Outcomes are starkly different for those who...
By Jo Napolitano | December 11, 2023
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KIPP middle and high school students have far higher college completion rates
A new study reveals vastly improved college enrollment and completion rates for students who attended both KIPP middle and high schools as compared to a similar group of children who applied for enrollment but were not selected in the network’s lottery system. KIPP middle and high school students were 31 percentage points more likely to...
By Jo Napolitano | September 13, 2023
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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After historic declines in math scores, schools look to bolster summer programs to help kids catch up
School districts around the country, reeling from dramatic drops in fourth- and eighth-grade math scores on the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, hope to recoup at least some of what’s been lost through summer programs. Flush with federal dollars, new and robust offerings have been open to a wide swath of students starting in...
By Jo Napolitano | June 29, 2023
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Unhappy anniversary: Year after invasion, mixed emotions for Ukrainians in U.S.
It’s been nearly 11 months since Anastasiia Puzhalina and her family arrived in Tacoma, Washington, after a white-knuckled journey out of Ukraine. With no home, no income and no idea of how their children would adjust to a new school, they were consumed with worry. But, a year after Russia invaded its neighbor, upending the...
By Jo Napolitano | March 15, 2023
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Students with disabilities often overlooked in gifted programming
Gifted programming, already uneven across the country and prone to racial discrimination, has yet another blind spot: twice exceptional students. These advanced learners, who may also receive special education services, can languish academically, their skills overlooked. The same holds true for low-income children, students of color and those learning to speak English. Experts say most teachers have only limited...
By Jo Napolitano | August 17, 2022
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New Study: Black, special ed students punished at greater rate through pandemic
Despite a dramatic decline in suspensions as students moved to remote learning during the pandemic, Black children and those in special education were disciplined far more often than white students and those in general education, according to a recent New York University study. The report also indicates students’ behavior may have worsened this past academic...
By Jo Napolitano | July 11, 2022
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Harris poll: Education political driver for parents ahead of midterm elections
A survey of more than 5,000 parents released today found education ranks high among their concerns ahead of the critical midterm elections — and that 82% would vote for someone outside their party if the candidate’s education agenda matched their own. The survey was conducted electronically in May by The Harris Poll on behalf of...
By Jo Napolitano | July 6, 2022
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The classroom as a radical space: Teacher, author and fierce intellectual, bell hooks transformed education, especially for women of color
From reimagining the classroom to tearing down imposter syndrome, author, critic and fierce public intellectual bell hooks inspired women of color across generations to create a world in which all are free to reach their potential. Born Gloria Jean Watkins in rural, segregated Kentucky, hooks graduated from Stanford University in 1974 with a degree in...
By Jo Napolitano | January 12, 2022