Imagine a world where a young child’s comprehension of a text written by Dr. Seuss could predict whether they will graduate from high school more than a decade later. This may sound as nonsensical as a plot from Dr. Seuss himself, but it’s not a work of fiction. Numerous studies show that students who cannot reach grade-level reading proficiency by third grade rarely catch up and face a greater risk of not graduating from high school. Alarmingly, a groundbreaking new report shows that, nationwide, children who were ages 1 through 4 when pandemic-related school and childcare disruptions began a ..read more

K-12 IT leaders have spoken in a new Incident IQ survey: 73% said that maintaining device access is one of their top goals for the year and a resounding 87% stated that sustaining 1-to-1 initiatives at their current levels is a top priority for 2024. In the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan, the U.S. Department of Education made a call to action to close the digital access divide and ensure students and educators have equitable, sustainable access to connectivity, devices and digital content. These efforts are moving the education industry in the right direction. However, more than 24 ..read more

Seattle Public Schools calls its closure plan, which could impact up to 20 buildings, “A System of Well-Resourced Schools.” Columbus City Schools’ proposal aims to reimagine and redesign education in Ohio’s largest city and district. They’re both examples of the tough choices superintendents and their teams are grappling with as declining numbers, school choice and other factors sap enrollment in many parts of the country. Seattle is moving toward consolidating 70 elementary schools—many of them under-enrolled—into 50 by the 2025-26 school year to provide “stability and consistency.” “Empty se ..read more

About a year ago, I was 16, seven months pregnant, and living in my car with my boyfriend. We showered at gas stations and bought grilled cheese sandwiches at Walmart. I worried that we wouldn’t be able to provide for the daughter I would soon have. Some days, I felt utterly defeated. Although I’ve always wanted to pursue an education, I felt that this was no longer possible for me. A year on, my boyfriend is now my husband, and we live together with our thriving 7-month-old daughter, Harloow, in a house with a fully stocked fridge. And I’m on track to graduate high school and plan to pursue a ..read more

Iowa’s new education savings account (ESA) program is influencing private schools to raise tuition rates, according to a new working paper published by Brown University. Why it matters: The program aims to make private schools more affordable for families, but researchers warn that it could be ineffective if they raise tuition anyway. Context: Last year, Iowa lawmakers passed a new law allowing parents to use over $7,600 annually per pupil towards private school education. Read more from Axios. The post Study finds Iowa private school tuition rose by 25% in wake of education savings accounts ..read more

From suburbs in the Northeast to major cities on the West Coast, a surprising subject is prompting ballot measures, lawsuits and bitter fights among parents: algebra. Students have been required for decades to learn to solve for the variable x, and to find the slope of a line. Most complete the course in their first year of high school. But top-achievers are sometimes allowed to enroll earlier, typically in eighth grade. The dual pathways inspire some of the most fiery debates over equity and academic opportunity in American education. Read more from The New York Times. The post The algebra p ..read more

Register Now Date & Time: Thursday, June 20th at 2 pm ET The landscape of educational technology has transformed dramatically in the last year, exploding with the rise of AI tools. As classrooms increasingly integrate digital tools, understanding these AI tools for student use is crucial. AI-powered tools facilitate personalized learning, productivity and efficiency, content creation, assessment, knowledge building, content review, tutoring, collaboration, communication, and developing technology skills for the future. It offers instant feedback, real-time support, and deeper understanding ..read more

Want to teach your high schoolers how to prep for an interview? How about translating languages in real time? Maybe you want a tool to summarize virtual or in-person meetings with staff. ChatGPT’s latest innovation can do that and more. Last week, OpenAI introduced GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”), marking the latest future-forward innovation in the AI space. The model is far more impressive than what most education professionals originally feared when ChatGPT was launched in November 2022. our new model: GPT-4o, is our best model ever. it is smart, it is fast,it is natively multimodal (!), and… — Sam ..read more

Maryland’s teacher workforce still remains majority white, according to data recently released by the state Department of Education, but advocates are hopeful that new laws could help turn that around. According to figures slated to be discussed by the state Board of Education on Tuesday, about 68% of teachers in classrooms during the 2023-24 school year are white. In comparison, about 20% of teachers are Black and about 5% are Latino or Asian. That is little changed from the last five years. State data shows that for the five school years starting in 2019-20, the average percentage of white t ..read more

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an appeal from a group of parents who claimed their suburban Washington-area school district was hiding transgender support plans involving their children. Three parents sued the Montgomery Country school district in Maryland over guidelines adopted in 2020 that allow schools to develop support plans for transgender students and “respect the students’ wishes to keep certain information confidential.” The Supreme Court’s decision, made without explanation, left in place an appeals court ruling that the parents lacked standing to sue because they ne ..read more