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☆ 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

☆ Florida Schools Try to Adapt to New Rules on Gender, Bathrooms and Pronouns
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Dana Goldstein | More About Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The new bureaucracy is an offshoot of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s increasingly muscular push for “parental rights” in education, with new laws and regulations that broadly restrict classroom instruction on gender and sexuality, including in high school, and prevent transgender students and staff members from using group bathrooms that match their gender identity. Teachers will also be barred from asking students for their preferred pronouns and could lose their professional certification for violating the new laws. Course lists and classroom libraries are also under the microscope, with districts seeking to excise material that touches on gender and sexuality, including in classics like “Romeo and Juliet.”Here is how some Florida school districts are interpreting the new laws. They Have a Form for ThatThe new regulations have created a bureaucratic tangle, with several counties sending parents forms that must be filled out if they want their child referred to by something other than their legal name.

Persons: Ron DeSantis’s, Romeo, Juliet Organizations: Gov Locations: Florida

It was the sixth lawsuit against Northwestern University in nine days, and the allegations had become, somehow, both familiar and even more appalling. A young alumnus of the football program, Simba Short, said he had been restrained and sexually abused in a well-rehearsed hazing ritual. That he had witnessed a teammate struggling to breathe after he was sexually abused while being held underwater. That players had been forced to drink until they vomited, and that coaches could have intervened, but did not. Short’s experiences troubled him so deeply that he attempted to harm himself and was hospitalized in 2016, according to the complaint he filed in Chicago on Thursday — only the latest to allege a pattern of sexually abusive hazing and racism in the university’s sports program.

Persons: Simba Short Organizations: Northwestern University, Big Locations: Chicago, Lake Michigan

☆ The U.S. Population Is Older Than It Has Ever Been
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Low birthrates are the main driver of the nation’s rising median age, experts said. Still, since the beginning of the Great Recession, in 2007, fertility has remained very low compared with previous generations. Across industrialized nations, women of the millennial generation have been more likely to prioritize education and work in their 20s, leading to them marrying older and have fewer children, according to researchers. Among states, Maine (44.8 median age) is the oldest, with New Hampshire (43.3) not far behind. Utah (31.9), the District of Columbia (34.8) and Texas (35.5) are the youngest, according to the Census Bureau.

Persons: ”, Andrew A, Beveridge, ” Birthrates Organizations: Social, of Columbia, Census Locations: United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Maine, New Hampshire, Utah, Texas

☆ What the New, Low Test Scores for 13-Year-Olds Say About U.S. Education Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

What’s NewLike the results of recent tests of younger students, the math and reading performance of 13-year-olds in the United States has hit the lowest level in decades, according to test scores released today from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the gold-standard federal exam. The last time math performance was this low for 13-year-olds was in 1990. Performance has fallen significantly since the 2019-2020 school year, when the coronavirus pandemic wrought havoc on the nation’s education system. The federal standardized test, known as NAEP, was given last fall, and focused on basic skills. The 13-year-olds scored an average of 256 out of 500 in reading, and 271 out of 500 in math, down from average scores of 260 in reading and 280 in math three years ago.

Organizations: Progress Locations: United States

☆ Florida Schools Question Content on Gender and Sexuality in A.P. Psychology
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, Florida has been a leader among conservative states that have passed laws restricting how gender, sexuality and race can be taught in kindergarten through 12th grade. Few organizations have had a more difficult time navigating these limitations than the College Board, whose Advanced Placement program offers 40 courses that are available across the country. teachers in Florida, we are heartbroken by the possibility of Florida students being denied the opportunity to participate in this or any other A.P. Psychology stands in marked contrast to its response to Florida’s efforts last year to influence the curriculum of A.P. classes whose content, as interpreted by schools and teachers, might run counter to new conservative regulations on how race, gender and sexuality are discussed in the classroom.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Board’s, “, ” What’s, DeSantis Organizations: Republican, College Board, American Psychological Association, American Studies, Board, Florida Department of Education Locations: Florida

☆ Congress Ended Pandemic Cash for Parents, but Some States Have Embraced the Idea
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For a brief period during the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government gave most parents monthly cash — up to $300 per child — with no work requirements or restrictions on how the money could be spent. But a growing number of states are moving forward with their own programs, often with Republican support. Last week, Colorado became the ninth state in two years to guarantee some form of cash income to its poorest parents. The law, which passed with bipartisan support, will be the second most generous in the country, providing parents making less than $35,000 per year with up to $1,200 annually for each child under 6. Minnesota’s program, which became law last month, is the most generous, guaranteeing families earning $35,000 or less with up to $1,750 in cash annually for each child under 17.

Persons: Joe Manchin III Organizations: West Virginia Democrat Locations: Colorado

Over the past three decades, Lucy Calkins helped create a set of strategies for teaching children how to read, known as balanced literacy. It was widely adopted in the United States, including in New York, the country’s largest public school system. But doubts about the approach persisted, and now it seems that using balanced literacy has given a generation of American students the wrong tools. Dana Goldstein, who covers family policy and demographics for The Times, discusses the story of balanced literacy and how Professor Calkins is trying to fix the problems that the technique created.

Persons: Lucy Calkins, Dana Goldstein, Calkins Organizations: The Times Locations: United States, New York

☆ Florida Rejects Dozens of Social Studies Textbooks, and Forces Changes in Others
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Sarah Mervosh | Dana Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Florida has rejected dozens of social studies textbooks and worked with publishers to edit dozens more, the state’s education department announced on Tuesday, in the latest effort under Gov. Ron DeSantis to scrub textbooks of contested topics, especially surrounding contemporary issues of race and social justice. But as part of an extensive effort to revise the materials, Florida worked with publishers to make changes, ultimately approving 66 of the 101 textbooks. Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, has campaigned against what he has described as “woke indoctrination” and a leftist agenda in the classroom. Last year, the state rejected dozens of math textbooks, saying that the books touched on prohibited topics, including critical race theory and social emotional learning, which have become targets of the right.

☆ One chart shows how employment has changed throughout the US economy almost 3 years after the start of the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The US labor market has been above its pre-pandemic February 2020 employment level for a while. Some sectors are still below pre-pandemic employment almost three years since the official start of the pandemic. While leisure and hospitality isn't back at its pre-pandemic employment level, it still has been experiencing large monthly job gains as workers are needed to meet demand. Air transportation was 11.7% above its February 2020 employment level in December. It continued to expand throughout the pandemic and was 30.8% above its pre-pandemic employment as of December.

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