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☆ Harris Embraces Teachers’ Unions. Republicans Sense an Opening.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Dana Goldstein | Nicholas Nehamas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“While you teach students about our nation’s past, these extremists attack the freedom to learn and acknowledge our nation’s true and full history,” she said to applause and cheers. “Including book bans. Book bans in this year of our Lord 2024!”But Ms. Harris’s speech to members of the American Federation of Teachers also ignored several crucial education issues that could put her on shakier political ground — and that Republicans are already seeking to tie her to. There was no mention of the long-term negative effects of pandemic-era school closures, which local teachers’ unions pushed to extend. She did not address whether families should have greater access to charter schools, private-school vouchers or public funds for home-schooling — all options that the unions argue reduce funds for traditional public schools.

Persons: Kamala Harris, ” Organizations: White, American Federation of Teachers Locations: Houston

☆ A.I. ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flat
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

platform named Ed was supposed to be an “educational friend” to half a million students in Los Angeles public schools. In typed chats, Ed would direct students toward academic and mental health resources, or tell parents whether their children had attended class that day, and provide their latest test scores. Ed would even be able to detect and respond to emotions such as hostility, happiness and sadness. Alberto Carvalho, the district’s superintendent, spoke about Ed in bold terms. Los Angeles agreed to pay a start-up company, AllHere, up to $6 million to develop Ed, a small part of the district’s $18 billion annual budget.

Persons: Ed, ”, Alberto Carvalho, democratize, —, “, ” Mr, Carvalho, Carvalho’s, AllHere Locations: Los Angeles

☆ School Cellphone Bans Have Buzz, but May Be Hard to Enforce
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Dana Goldstein | Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Do bans apply only to classrooms, or also to hallways, bathrooms and cafeterias, where students are much more likely to be absorbed in TikTok or text messages? Do teachers have the freedom to override bans if phones are being used as part of a lesson? Should school districts purchase devices to lock or hide phones? Gavin Newsom of California after he announced that his state would be the latest — after Florida and Indiana — to pursue a school cellphone ban. Yet some districts with a comprehensive policy have had success, overcoming resistance and seeing a change in student behavior.

Persons: Gavin Newsom, Indiana — Organizations: California Locations: TikTok, Florida, Indiana

☆ A School With 7 Students: Inside the ‘Microschools’ Movement
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Dana Goldstein | Audra Melton | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

His teacher yelled at him, he said. And when Ms. Lopez picked him up from school, he would often immediately start to cry. This year at a new school, Nathanael, 7, was happier. He shared a teacher with only six other students — not in one classroom, but in the entire school. Nathanael attended a microschool, an increasingly popular type of super-small, largely unregulated private school, often serving fewer students than are enrolled in a single classroom at a traditional school.

Persons: Nathanael, Diana Lopez, Lopez, — Locations: Nathanael

☆ Holocaust Museums Debate What to Say About the Israel-Hamas War
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Dana Goldstein | Marc Tracy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At a Holocaust museum in Atlanta, staff members had typically ended their tours by saying that many survivors of the death camps immigrated to Palestine. But after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the guides noticed that some students would ask a simple but complicated question: Is this the Palestine that we’ve been hearing about? So staff members at the museum, the Breman, made a few changes, according to Rabbi Joseph Prass, the museum’s education director. Now, docents explain to visitors that many Holocaust survivors found refuge in “the British Mandate of Palestine” or “the area that would become the country of Israel.”

Persons: we’ve, Rabbi Joseph Prass, ” Locations: Atlanta, Palestine, Israel, British

The House of Representatives is one of Washington’s most raucous forums, a free-for-all of personalities with profiles to raise and points to score. But it turns out that the rough-and-tumble of steering a public school district — board sessions, P.T.A. meetings, battles over textbooks and discipline — may be sound preparation for the rough-and-tumble of testifying before the House. As public school leaders showed on Wednesday, mixing it up a bit can go far toward neutralizing a Congress with a craving for the spotlight. At earlier hearings, university presidents opted for strategies of conciliatory genuflection or drab, lawyerly answers.

Persons: ” David C, Banks, ” Organizations: Education, New Locations: America, New York City

☆ Live Updates: House Examining K-12 Schools in Latest Antisemitism Hearing
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

He can expect a grilling over concerns of antisemitism at city schools, including at his alma mater, Hillcrest High School in Queens. “That’s not an issue of taking sides,” Mr. Banks said. New York City is one of the most diverse school districts in the world with large number of Jewish, Arab and Muslim families. Mr. Banks, who has twice traveled to Israel, added that he was “profoundly moved” on a visit to Yad Vashem, the country’s official Holocaust memorial. After watching university leaders at the two prior hearings on antisemitism, Mr. Banks said his greatest takeaway was simply to be authentic.

Persons: David Banks, “ we’ve, ” David C, Banks, Claudine Gay, Liz Magill, Nemat, ”, “ That’s, “, we’ve, Yad Vashem, I’m Organizations: New, Columbia University, House Education, Work Force, Hillcrest High School, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, New York, Muslim Locations: New York City, —, Israel, Queens, America, Gaza, Yad, New York

If we really care about solving for antisemitism, and I believe this deeply, it’s not about having gotcha moments. And we’ve got to figure out how do we unpack all of it at the same time. But the ultimate answer for antisemitism is to teach, to expose young people to the Jewish community so that they understand our common humanity. This, this convening for too many people across America in education feels like the ultimate gotcha moment. It doesn’t sound like people are actually trying to solve for something that I believe we should be doing everything we can to solve for.

Persons: it’s, we’ve Locations: America

☆ House Republicans to Examine K-12 Schools in Latest Antisemitism Hearing
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

House Republicans will hold a hearing on Wednesday morning looking for the first time into accusations of antisemitism in elementary and secondary schools since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. District leaders from three politically liberal regions across the country — New York City, Berkeley, Calif., and Montgomery County, Md. — are expected to testify before members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The House, which is controlled by Republicans, has already held two contentious hearings on antisemitism in higher education, which helped lead to the toppling of Claudine Gay, Harvard’s president, and M. Elizabeth Magill, the president of the University of Pennsylvania. But the district leaders — David Banks, chancellor of New York City schools; Enikia Ford Morthel, superintendent of Berkeley schools; and Karla Silvestre, the school board president in Montgomery County — face different issues than college leaders.

Persons: —, Claudine Gay, Elizabeth Magill, David Banks, Enikia Ford Morthel, Karla Silvestre Organizations: Hamas, Education, Workforce, Republicans, University of Pennsylvania, New Locations: Israel, York City, Berkeley, Calif, Montgomery County, Md, New York City

☆ Live Updates: House to Examine K-12 Schools in Latest Antisemitism Hearing
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

☆ House Republicans’ Next Target: Reports of Antisemitism in K-12 Schools
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Dana Goldstein | Sarah Mervosh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

School district officials have faced off with students, parents, school board members and teachers about issues related to the Israel-Hamas war — but until now, not members of Congress. For the three public school leaders, who are likely to face a similarly tense environment, “it’s hard to imagine a less welcome invitation,” said Justin Driver, a professor at Yale Law School who is an expert on how constitutional law applies to schools. The three school districts, all diverse, have robust American Jewish communities. They are also in staunchly liberal areas, making them ripe targets for the Republicans who run the committee. And they have had their share of controversies.

Persons: ”, Justin Driver Organizations: —, Education, Workforce, Yale Law School, Republicans Locations: Israel, — New York City, Berkeley, Calif, Montgomery County, Maryland

☆ Watch These Cute Videos of Babies (and Learn Something, Too)
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-31 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The answer, believe it or not, is yes. It is the account of Dan Wuori, an education policy consultant, who posts videos of babies and toddlers figuring out the world, often with parents as loving coaches. Mr. Wuori provides the color commentary, explaining key concepts in child development. “Listen to the way he describes each,” Mr. Wuori points out. And to the warm and happy tone he uses as she looks on adoringly.”

Persons: Dan Wuori, Wuori, Mr, ” Organizations: Twitter Locations: ”

☆ No More No. 2 Pencils: The SAT Goes Fully Digital
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

With adolescent anxiety surging and attention spans challenged, high school students will take a revamped version of the SAT on Saturday, which has been designed in part to reduce stress, according to the College Board, which administers the test. The exam will be briefer — two hours and 14 minutes instead of three hours — and students will have more time for each question. The reading passages will be much shorter, and test-takers will now be able to use an online graphing calculator for the entire math section of the exam.

Organizations: College Board

☆ Here’s What It’s Like to Take the New SAT
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Students will take a new SAT on Saturday. It's all digital, and the reading and writing sections do away with page-long reading excerpts with eight to 11 questions. Now, there are short passages followed by just one question each. Try your hand at five sample questions.

☆ Ann Arbor School Board OK’s a Resolution Supporting a Cease-Fire in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In the United States, some labor unions, city governments and town councils have weighed in on the Israel-Hamas war, issuing statements in support of a cease-fire — often over vociferous objections from some of their own members and constituents. On Wednesday night, the school board in Ann Arbor, Mich., became one of the first public school districts in the country to vote in favor of such a statement. Supporters of the resolution, including Palestinian American and Jewish board members, said that the statement was an urgent moral necessity amid a humanitarian crisis. But the vote — 4 to 1, with two members abstaining — was divisive in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan and sizable Arab and Jewish populations.

Persons: — Organizations: Palestinian, University of Michigan Locations: United States, Israel, Ann Arbor, Mich

☆ Ann Arbor School Board Set to Vote on Israel-Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The public school district in Ann Arbor, Mich., is looking to hire a new superintendent. But over the past month, the Board of Education has debated many hours over whether to support a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war. The closely divided board is now set to vote on that resolution on Wednesday, and could become one of the first public school systems in the country to pass such a statement. Supporters of the proposed resolution, including the board’s Palestinian American president and a Jewish trustee, have said that the statement is an urgent moral necessity amid a humanitarian crisis. A few opponents of the resolution have said that they oppose a cease-fire because Israel has the right to defeat Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, after the Oct. 7 attacks.

Organizations: of Education, Palestinian Locations: Ann Arbor, Mich, Israel, Gaza

☆ What Costs $1,000 Per Student and Might Help Children Learn to Read?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The study, by Sarah Novicoff, a Stanford graduate student, and Thomas S. Dee, a professor of education, compared schools that participated in the program to a similar set of schools that did not. It has not yet been peer reviewed. Timothy Shanahan, a literacy expert and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Chicago, said the paper’s results left him “very cautiously optimistic.”He noted that education reforms that focus on the early grades often show positive results, but as students age into more conceptual learning, improvements fade out. “Will the schools build on this in any way?” he asked. The intervention also took place during difficult years, with high rates of student absenteeism, mental health challenges and school staff shortages.

Persons: Sarah Novicoff, Thomas S, Timothy Shanahan, “, ” Organizations: Stanford, University of Illinois Locations: Chicago

☆ For Republican Governors, Civics Is the Latest Education Battleground
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lisa Phillip, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at an Orlando charter school, appreciates many of Florida’s new guidelines for teaching civics. And she doesn’t mind teaching about “the influence of the Judeo-Christian tradition” on the nation’s founding documents. The subject prompted her students at Central Florida Leadership Academy to reflect on how the country’s politics, they believed, fell short of the basic morality in the Ten Commandments. This fall, Ms. Phillip is one of thousands of social studies teachers adjusting to a hotly debated overhaul of civics in several conservative states. The revamp is led by Republican governors — Ron DeSantis of Florida, Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia — who have also restricted how race and gender are discussed in schools.

Persons: Lisa Phillip, innately, Phillip, — Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem, Glenn Youngkin, Virginia — Organizations: Central Florida Leadership Academy, Republican Locations: Orlando, Florida, South Dakota

☆ Why Is the College Board Pushing to Expand Advanced Placement?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the past two decades, the College Board has moved aggressively to expand the number of high school students taking Advanced Placement courses and tests — in part by pitching the program to low-income students and the schools that serve them. “Why are we holding it for some?”Left out of that narrative is one of the most sobering statistics in education: Some 60 percent of A.P. exams taken by low-income students this year scored too low for college credit — 1 or 2 out of 5 — a statistic that has not budged in 20 years. Nevertheless, the College Board, citing its own research, says its A.P. program helps all students, regardless of scores, do better in college — a claim that has helped persuade states and local districts to help pay for the tests.

Persons: ”, David Coleman Organizations: College Board, College Board’s

☆ By the Numbers: How Schools Struggled During the Pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The NewsThe federal Education Department released a new trove of data on Wednesday from the 2020-21 school year, the first full academic year during the coronavirus pandemic. It adds to the understanding of how the education system responded to Covid-19, and demonstrates how many schools struggled to handle the cascade of challenges. A Statistic That Sums It Up: 88 PercentThat’s the percentage of the country’s 97,600 public schools that operated in hybrid mode during the 2020-21 school year, with few students receiving a full year of in-person learning. The new statistics come from the Civil Rights Data Collection, a mandatory survey of all public schools in the United States that is administered by the Education Department and is typically conducted every other year. Because of pandemic delays, the last collection of data covered the 2017-18 school year.

Organizations: federal Education Department, Civil, Education Department Locations: United States

☆ Publisher Scholastic Backtracks on Isolating Works on Race and Gender
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The children’s book publisher Scholastic, which had begun separating some books about race, gender and sexuality at school book fairs, said this week it was halting the new practice after pointed criticism from some authors, educators and parents. The company had designated 64 titles as optional for the fairs in response to dozens of recent laws in states restricting what content students can be exposed to in schools. Among the books included on the list were biographies of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson of the Supreme Court and the civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis; a novel about a Lakota girl; and a picture book about different family types, including families with adoptive or same-sex parents. The list of the separated titles was called the “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice” catalog. Book fair organizers have had the ability to opt out of all or some of those titles.

Persons: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, John Lewis Organizations: Scholastic, Supreme

☆ Amid Reading Wars, Columbia Will Close a Star Professor’s Shop
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the urgent debate over how U.S. schools teach children to read, few figures have been as central as Lucy Calkins, the Columbia University professor and curriculum entrepreneur. For four decades, her organization, the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, and her widely purchased curriculum inspired passion among many educators. Critics said Dr. Calkins downplayed phonics and overlooked a large body of scientific research on how children become skilled readers. Now her group has been dissolved by Columbia University’s Teachers College, according to a recent announcement. It marks the end of an era for Teachers College and perhaps another setback for balanced literacy, the embattled movement in which Dr. Calkins is one of several prominent leaders.

Persons: Lucy Calkins, Critics, Calkins Organizations: Columbia University, Teachers College Reading, Columbia University’s Teachers College, Teachers College

☆ Florida Expected to Approve Classical Exam as a Competitor to the SAT
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Classic Learning Test is the college admissions exam that most students have never heard of. An alternative to the SAT and ACT for only a small number of mostly religious colleges, the test is known for its emphasis on the Western canon, with a big dose of Christian thought. But on Friday, Florida’s public university system, which includes the University of Florida and Florida State University, is expected to become the first state system to approve the Classic Learning Test, or CLT, for use in admissions. “We are always seeking ways to improve,” said Ray Rodrigues, the chancellor of the State University System of Florida, noting that the system, which serves a quarter million undergraduates, was the largest in the country to still require an entrance exam. Ron DeSantis to shake up the education establishment, especially the College Board, the nonprofit behemoth that runs the SAT program.

Persons: ”, Ray Rodrigues, Ron DeSantis Organizations: ACT, University of Florida, Florida State University, State University System of, Gov, College Board Locations: State University System of Florida

☆ Little Rock Will Offer A.P. African American Studies Despite State Objections
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The same legislation weakened teachers’ tenure protections, which has raised the stakes in the confrontation with the state over African American studies. African American Studies will allow students to explore the complexities, contributions and narratives that have shaped the African American experience throughout history, including Central High School’s integral connection,” the district said. African American studies is a rigorous, fact-based class protected under the law, and not an example of ideology or opinion. Huckabee Sanders pointed out that the state already offered an African American history course and that the A.P. African American studies and were planning a joint response.

Persons: “ A.P, ”, Reisma, Huckabee Sanders, Ivory Toldson, Toldson, Ron DeSantis, Black Organizations: Little Rock School District, Little Rock Central High School, American Studies, Central, Educators, Arkansas Education Association, The Arkansas Department of Education, Gov, U.S . National Guard, Rock Central High School, NAACP, Little, Nine, Howard University, College Board, Republican Locations: Arkansas, American, Florida

☆ Arkansas Warns School Districts Not to Offer A.P. African American Studies
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

African American Studies has had a tumultuous journey since its official rollout in February, when it emerged that the College Board had revised the course’s content. African American studies is interdisciplinary, encompassing concepts from history, sociology, politics, legal studies, arts and culture. But the College Board removed or watered down key subjects and concepts from the course framework, such as critical race theory and mass incarceration. The College Board said it “rejects the notion that the A.P. African American studies course is indoctrination in any form.” And it pointed out that more than 200 colleges have already agreed to provide credit for the class, including the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, the state’s flagship public postsecondary institution.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, —, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jacob Oliva, DeSantis, Alexa Henning, Huckabee Sanders, “ Organizations: American Studies, College Board, Gov, Florida Republican, Board, Republican, Arkansas Department of Education, Twitter, The, University of Arkansas Locations: Florida, Arkansas, Fayetteville

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