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Teacher Spotlight: Suzanne Nagata on focusing on mindfulness, encouraging students to lead their own learning, and finding her progressive fit at Citizens of the World Charter School

This interview is one in a series spotlighting Los Angeles teachers, their unique and innovative classroom approaches, and their thoughts on how the education system can better support teachers in guiding students to success. Suzanne Nagata was not aware of the kind of a unique educational upbringing she had until after she graduated from UC...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | February 18, 2020
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America’s young people don’t vote. In a new book, Professor John Holbein explores what our schools can do to produce better citizens — and maybe even get them into the voting booth

How do you get America’s youngest voters to actually turn out on Election Day? It’s a question that experts have asked for the last half-century, and one that may determine the outcome of the 2020 elections. Abundant survey data indicates that voters under the age of 40 don’t favor the prospect of a second term...
By Kevin Mahnken | February 18, 2020
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Remote-controlled high-tech microscope brings cutting-edge science to Tennessee HS. And now, more underserved schools are getting in on it

The world of 4K microscopes is generally limited to high-level research universities. These ultra-high-definition scopes allow for enhanced detail that make a regular microscope look downright analog. But a push by the National Science Foundation and a nonprofit organization called US Ignite is opening 4K science research for under-resourced high schools across the country, bringing...
By Tim Newcomb | February 14, 2020
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After improved college eligibility and stronger math scores, Khan Academy touts its Long Beach Unified partnership to launch district programs nationwide

How has California’s third-largest school district, serving mostly low-income Latinos and blacks, been propelling its students to college by raising their SAT scores and boosting their state test scores? Chris Steinhauser, superintendent of Long Beach Unified School District for the last 18 years, will tell you that forging the first formal partnership with Khan Academy...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | February 12, 2020
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Educators using 2019 diversity report to show districts how they can better support teachers of color

In West Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Kimberly Eckert felt as if she had been beating the same drum for years: Teaching is a challenging profession. Being a person of color in the United States is challenging, in a whole different way. Put them together and, for many, the obstacles are insurmountable. Eckert had been tasked with strengthening...
By Bekah McNeel | February 11, 2020
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Trump budget proposal would merge federal education programs into single block grant, cut billions in school spending

The Trump administration announced a proposal Monday to cut billions of dollars in education aid, in part by merging dozens of federal education initiatives, from charter school expansions to educating homeless children, into a single grant program. The move, which is practically assured not to win House approval, is part of the fiscal 2021 budget proposal...
By Mark Keierleber | February 10, 2020
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Inside the quest for better data about how many high school graduates, particularly students from low-income neighborhoods, are going on to achieve college degrees

School districts in high-income neighborhoods assume almost all their graduates will succeed in college. But often, their alumni fall short of expectations. Districts serving students in low-income neighborhoods cite their success in enrolling more students in college. But the number of their students who actually persist to earn degrees can be dismayingly low as well....
By Richard Whitmire | February 10, 2020
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Teacher Spotlight: STEM Prep’s Daniel Lieu on removing racial barriers to STEM careers for his students, balancing rigor with caring and sharing snacks

This interview is one in a series spotlighting Los Angeles teachers, their unique and innovative classroom approaches, and their thoughts on how the education system can better support teachers in guiding students to success. Daniel Lieu is just 22 years old but he’s already certain that he chose the right profession as a STEAM teacher,...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | February 5, 2020
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Middle school marvel: For her science project, this 14-year-old invented a way to eliminate a car’s blind spot. Now she’s won $25,000 — and Volvo is intrigued

Alaina Gassler’s 2019 science project started small, designed for her middle school in Pennsylvania. Soon, though, her project to remove blind spots from cars was winning county and then regional science fairs — and now, Gassler has taken top honors at the largest middle school science fair in the country, the Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied...
By Tim Newcomb | February 4, 2020
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At national literacy summit, state education chiefs warn of reading stagnation

Reading instruction in American schools is so rife with poor curriculum and pedagogical dogma that a prominent academic likened it to “the equivalent of chemistry departments teaching alchemy.” “We’ve had about 130 years of bad practice,” David Steiner, director of the Institute for Education Policy at Johns Hopkins University, told the audience at a national...
By Kevin Mahnken | February 3, 2020