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Photos: What LA’s schools chief learned visiting chronically absent kids at home

Cloud Mejia, 13, who goes by they/them pronouns, said that they couldn’t even keep track of how many days of middle school they missed last year. “I rarely got myself to go,” Cloud said. “It’s not that I didn’t want to go to school, I just don’t feel welcome there a lot of the time....
By Rebecca Katz | August 30, 2022
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Survey reveals extent that cops surveil students online — in school and at home

When Baltimore students sign into their school-issued laptops, the police log on, too. Since the pandemic began, Baltimore City Public Schools officials have tracked students’ online lives with GoGuardian, a digital surveillance tool that promises to identify youth at risk of harming themselves or others. When GoGuardian flags students, their online activities are shared automatically with school...
By Mark Keierleber | August 29, 2022
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Biden’s move to cancel student debt a boon for many teachers, child care workers

The federal government will forgive $10,000 in debt for college loan borrowers earning under $125,000, President Joe Biden said in a long-awaited announcement Wednesday. Pell grant recipients are eligible to see $20,000 of their debt wiped out. Biden, who made student debt relief part of his presidential campaign, also extended a COVID-related pause on student loan payments through the...
By Linda Jacobson | August 25, 2022
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Kids catch up best with grade-level work — but keep getting easier assignments

Mounting evidence supports an academic strategy known as acceleration, in which students who are behind are challenged with grade-level material while getting help with missing skills or knowledge. But new research finds its use in schools “is currently more talk than action.” Analyzing data from 3 million students assigned lessons through a widely used literacy...
By Beth Hawkins | August 24, 2022
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Four things Carvalho learned from following chronically absent students

After half of Los Angeles Unified students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year, superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted in April he would personally take on 30 chronically absent students to better understand the issue. In an interview earlier this month with LA School Report, Carvalho said he was able to have “regular contact” with...
By Rebecca Katz | August 23, 2022
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Poll: Support for schools shook by pandemic

The historically positive views toward public schools took a hit during the pandemic, according to poll results released earlier this month. In 2019, 60% of Americans graded their schools an A or a B. But after more than two years of disruption, 52% give those marks in the latest Education Next survey, which has measured...
By Linda Jacobson | August 22, 2022
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Back-to-school shopping inflation hits home for parents, teachers

Lavinia Aguião is feeling the pressure as a single mother and educator in Washington, D.C. as surging inflation cuts into her back-to-school shopping budget. “I feel like the most expensive thing is literally clothing, new backpacks and lunchboxes,” Aguião said of her search for supplies this month. Aguião is not alone in feeling the pinch....
By Joshua Bay | August 18, 2022
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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 research: Summer learning boosts math performance, college graduation

With August underway, America’s kids have begun nervously counting the days until vacation ends, while their parents are eyeing back-to-school sales and carpool schedules. But the education policy world is still soaking in the glories of summer — or, more precisely, summer school. New research released last month has offered persuasive new evidence of the...
By Kevin Mahnken | August 16, 2022
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Illuminate Education pulled from ‘Student Privacy Pledge’ after massive data breach

Embattled education technology vendor Illuminate Education has become the first-ever company to get booted from the Student Privacy Pledge, an unprecedented move that follows a massive data breach affecting millions of students and allegations the company misrepresented its security safeguards. The Future of Privacy Forum, which created the self-regulatory effort nearly a decade ago to...
By Mark Keierleber | August 15, 2022