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The coronavirus closed schools in a flash. But detailed planning must guide students’ return to classrooms, groups urge

This will all end. State lawmakers will lift stay-at-home orders, office dwellers will return to their cubicles and — critical for America’s stressed-out parents — children will go back to their classrooms. For most schools, however, getting there will be easier said than done. Despite widespread uncertainty and the unique demands of online classes, a...
By Mark Keierleber | May 20, 2020
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Spring hiring: LAUSD says recruitment of new teachers is proceeding as normal, but across the country school districts are rethinking staffing plans amid a grim economy

Faced with a grim economy and uncertainty about what school might look like in the fall, several district officials say they are pausing or dramatically scaling back their hiring of new teachers for the upcoming school year. “We will definitely slow down hiring and limit it to essential positions,” says Kim Holland, the director of...
By Wayne D'Orio | May 19, 2020
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New results show America’s social studies scores have taken a downturn in geography and U.S. history

American education observers have gotten used to receiving bad news from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. They received a little more last month, as eighth-graders posted lower scores in geography, civics, and U.S. history in the 2018 NAEP than they did four years ago. Referred to as “the nation’s report card,” NAEP is the...
By Kevin Mahnken | May 18, 2020
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I know how much this pandemic has devastated undocumented families because I grew up in one

I can’t help but feel some guilt as I unpack the fresh produce sprawled out on my kitchen counter among my laptop and my son’s iPad with paired wireless headphones. I think about the family who is undocumented, where the parents don’t speak English, where they are struggling every day to survive so technology and...
By Ana Ponce | May 14, 2020
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Barack Obama, LeBron James, the Jonas Brothers headline nationally simulcast HS ‘Graduate Together’ event on Saturday evening

Former President Barack Obama will deliver a commencement address to graduating seniors nationwide as part of an hour-long multimedia Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 event aired simultaneously Saturday evening by more than 20 broadcast TV and digital streaming partners. Joining Obama in headlining the event are NBA star and school...
By Tim Newcomb | May 13, 2020
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Record-breaking coronavirus job losses devastate the least educated — and have already displaced highest degree holders worse than the Great Recession

An ominous reality was made clear in the Department of Labor’s new employment figures Friday morning: Unprecedented job losses hit the least educated the hardest, but even those with higher degrees weren’t protected from the downturn. And just months ago, the United States was celebrating “the longest economic recovery in history,” marked by record-low joblessness among...
By Kevin Mahnken | May 11, 2020
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New legal theory leads to court ruling that Detroit students have a right to literacy. Now, Michigan’s Governor has until Thursday to act

In recent days, dozens of Detroit parents — quarantined in COVID hotspots with one of the nation’s widest digital divides — have taken to their phones to demand Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer settle a lawsuit that found the state violated their children’s right to learn to read. Using the hashtags #RightToLiteracy and #settlethiscase, some are...
By Beth Hawkins | May 7, 2020
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DeVos releases Title IX campus sexual assault rule, courting controversy amid coronavirus pandemic

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released a new rule Wednesday on how K-12 schools and colleges must address campus sexual misconduct, bolstering protections for accused students as the department seeks to combat abuse “without abandoning fairness.” The regulations, which go into effect in August, make wide-ranging changes to schools’ obligations under Title IX, the federal law...
By Mark Keierleber | May 6, 2020
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Despite ‘COVID slide’ concerns, most educators oppose extending upcoming school year to stave off negative effects, survey finds

With school campuses closed nationwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, researchers have warned that students’ time away from the classroom could lead to disruptive learning loss — an anomaly dubbed the “COVID slide.” But most teachers oppose extending the upcoming academic year to confront academic setbacks, according to the results of a new survey. Sixty-five...
By Mark Keierleber | May 6, 2020
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Latino superintendents: ‘Going back to normal’ not their goal after coronavirus crisis

Richard Carranza, chancellor of New York City public schools, says he doesn’t allow people to talk about “going back to normal.” Normal, he said in a virtual convening hosted by the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, was a system in which social and economic privilege determined too much about the quality of a student’s...
By Bekah McNeel | May 5, 2020