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‘Where are the rest of you?’ With as many as 600,000 students skipping kindergarten during the pandemic, districts plead with parents not to delay

Like many preschool parents last spring, Sara Mauskopf tried to keep her 4-year-old daughter, Bryn, interested in Zoom sessions with her classmates. “She didn’t hate it,” said Mauskopf. “Kids will just sit in front of the screen, but they’re not engaging and not getting much out of it.” With two younger siblings at home, Bryn...
By Linda Jacobson | October 6, 2020
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Barrett’s SCOTUS confirmation would give conservatives a supermajority on education issues from race-based admissions to school choice, but could create a ‘desert for equity,’ experts say

Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s pick to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, is the product of a Catholic education who served as a trustee for a religious school participating in Indiana’s publicly-funded school choice program. The background of the conservative federal appeals judge could draw scrutiny at a time...
By Linda Jacobson | October 5, 2020
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First-ever report spotlights California, New Jersey, D.C. as best in nation for creating prenatal-to-3 policies that set children up to excel in early education

Only California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia have implemented all of the state policies that research shows contribute to young children’s health and well-being during their first three years, according to a comprehensive new “roadmap” released earlier this month. “The more that kids come [to school] prepared, that sets their trajectory throughout their...
By Linda Jacobson | September 29, 2020
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New report estimates school closures’ long-term impact on the U.S. economy at more than $14 trillion

This year’s school closures won’t just result in the loss of students’ academic skills; it could negatively impact the economy for the rest of the 21st century, new research predicts. In the U.S., for example, the closures could ultimately amount to a loss of almost $14.2 trillion over the next 80 years, according to the study,...
By Linda Jacobson | September 28, 2020
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‘Confusion reigns’ for parents seeking child care and pre-K. But some experts don’t see Biden’s sprawling early-childhood plan as a fix

Few education policies have attracted bipartisan support quite like expanding young children’s access to preschool. Red states, such Alabama, are just as likely to have popular state-funded programs as blue states like New Jersey. But for all the talk about universal preschool in recent years, the numbers show most states remain far from realizing it....
By Linda Jacobson | September 17, 2020
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Los Angeles superintendent calls $150M COVID-19 testing effort ‘necessary and appropriate,’ but what he really wants is a national plan

While the Los Angeles Unified School District is not opening its schools anytime soon, the system’s massive COVID-19 testing and tracing initiative could be the “missing piece” that will allow students to return to classrooms and keep them there, said Superintendent Austin Beutner. The $150 million-per-year program — involving multiple research and health care partners...
By Linda Jacobson | September 2, 2020
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Charters were quicker to provide instruction, regular contact during closures, reports say. But that’s also how they ‘keep the kids,’ one expert explains

Charter schools appeared to follow a more routine class schedule and stay in closer contact with students and families following shutdowns than district schools, according to a new analysis out Tuesday from Public Impact and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. But similar percentages of both charter and district schools distributed devices to students, and districts...
By Linda Jacobson | August 31, 2020
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With nation focused on reopening schools, Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as running mate could renew attention on integration

Their heated exchange over school busing during a Democratic presidential debate last year was one of the more dramatic moments of the primary season. But now former Vice President Joe Biden and California Sen. Kamala Harris share the ticket and could make education a more defining issue in their effort to unseat President Donald Trump....
By Linda Jacobson | August 14, 2020
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As distance learning pushes parents into pods, some look for ways to make the model more inclusive

Tyneisha Gibbs and a few friends in East Orange, New Jersey, were in the midst of organizing a child care co-op called Umi-verse when the coronavirus hit the U.S. But this summer, when it became clear that families were facing the prospect of another three months or more of school closures, they saw an opportunity....
By Linda Jacobson | August 12, 2020
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Amid pandemic downturn, new research shows Great Recession hurt student test scores, widened achievement gaps & reduced college attendance

Despite a boost from federal stimulus funds, drops in state funding for education during the Great Recession effectively ended a 50-year upward trend in national reading and math scores, according to a paper appearing Tuesday in the journal Education Next. A $1,000 cut in per-pupil spending also led to a decline in the college enrollment...
By Linda Jacobson | August 5, 2020