OTHER STORIES

How Schools Could Be Hit by Medicaid Cuts

WPost

Research: 15 Quick (and Mighty) Retrieval Practices to Teach Students

Edutopia

Kids Suffer as Nearly Half of U.S. Families Struggle to Meet Basic Needs

EdSurge

NYC Students Post Significant Gains in Reading and Math on State Tests

Chalkbeat

Trump Escalates a Fight Over How to Measure Merit in U.S. Education

NYTimes

States & Federal School Vouchers

Congress’ passage of the first federal school voucher program means every state will have to decide in the coming years whether to participate—including those that already have private school choice programs and others that have resisted setting aside public funds for private schools. The legislation sets up a K-12 private school scholarship program through which individual taxpayers can receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits for donations to the scholarship-granting organizations. Many Republican leaders hailed the expansion of school choice. Democratic state leaders said they were reviewing the provision, and some said they were examining how the funding could help low-income students or support public schools. EdWeek

Chronic Absenteeism

One of the most surprising ways that school has changed since the start of the pandemic is that students aren’t showing up. This article shares insights from a recent symposium on widespread absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism has come down a lot from its peak in 2021-22, but it’s still 50 percent higher than it was before the pandemic. High-income students and high achievers are also skipping school, and moderate absenteeism is increasing. Showing up has become optional. Many students say they skip because school is ‘boring,’ but mental health issues also contribute to absenteeism. Critically, today’s absenteeism could mean labor force problems tomorrow. Hechinger

Grade Retention

Third-grade retention policies have been shown to boost short-term academic outcomes for struggling students, but these benefits fade over time; however, the consequences for English learners may be different. An analysis of Texas’ third-grade reading retention policy shows multi-lingual students categorized as English learners (ML-ELs) benefited from the retention and instructional support on test scores and EL reclassification in subsequent grades, though longer-term outcomes like high school graduation showed no significant difference. ML-ELs in schools with higher spending on bilingual and accelerated instruction experienced stronger positive effects. Brookings