Since the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government has provided an unprecedented $190 billion in desperately needed funds to help schools return to and sustain in-person learning, keep students and educators safe, and address the deep and wide-ranging impacts of COVID-19 — from academics to student well-being, and everything in between. States and school...

It’s not unusual for federal education data to be a school year or two behind. But it doesn’t often come with a red warning label urging “abundant caution.” That’s how the U.S. Department of Education released chronic absenteeism data last month for the 2020-21 school year. But more recent data, available from just four states, suggests the...

Since the start of the pandemic, we at the Center on Reinventing Public Education have had our eyes locked on the experiences of and outcomes for students with disabilities. As we noted in our inaugural State of the American Student report, students with disabilities lost out on critical therapies and foundational learning and socialization opportunities during...

The staging is classic for a campaign ad in late-September: a close-up of a disappointed-looking woman sitting at a kitchen table. The speaker is a mother of five in Wichita, and the target of her reproach is Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly. A Democrat, Kelly was America’s first governor to order K-12 buildings closed in the spring of...

National testing data released this morning reveals severe damage inflicted on student math and reading performance, reaffirming COVID-19’s ongoing educational toll. Even as some states have shown evidence of academic recovery this year, federal officials cautioned that learning lost to the pandemic will not be easily restored. Eighth-grade math scores on the National Assessment of...

To compensate for the painfully slow internet in their Pomona home, Yesenia Miranda Meza’s sons kept their cameras off during pandemic remote learning – causing tension with their teachers. Because Miranda Meza couldn’t afford a faster connection, the family was constantly at odds balancing the demands of online work and schooling.  “I can’t be here...

As the nation witnesses unprecedented declines in academic achievement, one of the largest education philanthropies has announced it will fund $1.1 billion in K-12 math initiatives over the next four years. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s investment marks the beginning of a decade-long strategy to prioritize math gains, particularly for Black, Latino and low-income...

On the day she made a decision leading to suspension from her “dream” journalism teaching job at an L.A. Unified high school named for slain reporter Daniel Pearl, Adriana Chavira had no second thoughts and taught her classes as usual. But the chain of events stemming from publication of a November, 2021 student newspaper article...

In yet another data point on missed learning during the pandemic, ACT scores from this year’s high school graduates dropped to their lowest level in three decades, according to a report released Wednesday. Exam-takers averaged 19.8 out of a possible 36 total points on the college admissions test, the first time since 1991 that nationwide results dipped...

After the police in more than a dozen South Carolina communities fielded calls last week alerting them to active school shootings, officers rushed to campuses where students and educators hid in fear for their lives. Ever since the mass school shooting in May at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school, families nationwide have been on high...