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It was March 2020 and the world was collapsing around Anne Kaiser as the coronavirus pandemic swept across the nation. But with the Maryland legislative session forced into an abrupt close, the state lawmaker knew there was one bill she and her colleagues needed to push over the finish line. The “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” […]

How should educators see the children in their care? Whether they’re teaching, coaching, mentoring or treating them, perceptions of children are more critical than ever because the world feels more anxious than ever. Schools, in particular, face a crucial moment and must rise to the occasion to support child development.  The reality of the last […]

Voters delivered powerful messages on Election Day, not all of them consistent: They want schools to focus on education, not culture wars. Vouchers got a boost in Oklahoma but were rejected in Wisconsin. The red wave never materialized, but neither did a blue one.  These post-election crosscurrents will be the topic of a webinar sponsored […]

Last spring, a group of elementary school students at Mary M. Walsh Elementary School in Springfield, Massachusetts, excitedly showed their families and other community members the results of the endangered species project they had been working on all year. They had not only learned about the animal they researched, but emerged with improved communication skills […]

Two months into the new school year — with few quarantines, fewer masks, and the flu and respiratory illness replacing COVID as the biggest health issues — student attendance still lags behind where it was before the pandemic. Like achievement scores, attendance rates appear unlikely to return to normal without some extra effort and spending. […]

Districts where students spent the most time in remote learning during the 2020-21 school year lost at least half a million more students than they would have if they’d stayed open, a new report shows. And those that offered mostly in-person learning during the first full school year of the pandemic not only lost fewer […]

Winning the lottery can be a dream come true — not only for the jackpot winners but for the states they play in. State revenue generated by lottery earnings often benefits charitable or civic causes — education, public employee pension funds, or the Special Olympics, for example. Throughout history, lotteries have helped pay for the […]

In recent years, there has been a lot of focus on the problematic ways that many schools have been teaching reading. Specifically, as journalist Emily Hanford pointed out, many teachers were omitting phonics instruction, having never been trained or directed to deliver it.  This oversight has led to reading difficulties in millions of kids. But […]

When it comes to education in prison, policy and research often focus on how it benefits society or improves the life circumstances of those who are serving time. But as I point out in my new edited volume, “Education Behind the Wall: Why and How We Teach College in Prison,” education in prison is doing […]

Wisconsin public school libraries will share in $52 million next year from the state’s Common School Fund, paid for with investments by the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, who leaves office at the end of this year, and State Superintendent Jill Underly announced the record payout to the fund for […]