OTHER STORIES

Trump Signs $79B Education Funding Bill into Law

K12Dive

Principals Need PD, Too. Here’s What They List as Top Priorities

EdWeek

Educators Sue to Keep Immigration Agents From Schools and Bus Stops

WPost, Chalkbeat

Kindergarten Readiness Varies by Income. Cities Are Stepping in to Help.

Hechinger

AI Is Supercharging Cyberattacks. What Schools Need to Know

EdWeek

Rising Behavioral Problems

Teachers are reporting a rise in misbehavior, even among the youngest children. Students are more disruptive and defiant. They sometimes lash out physically at classmates and teachers. This has been variously blamed on: the pandemic, changing school environment, reduced recess, and increased screen time. Many schools are trying new methods to bring classrooms under control, with districts and states sharply divided over the right approach. Some schools are focusing on rewarding positive behavior and practicing social skills. Other schools use restorative practices that emphasize group conversations and building community. In contrast, other states are bringing in more consequences and exclusionary discipline, even for the youngest kids. Hechinger

How Boys Pull Ahead in Math

Boys and girls now start kindergarten on roughly equal footing in math, but boys consistently gain ground during the kindergarten year and continue pulling ahead through fifth grade. The growing math advantage for boys is stable across nine cohorts and persists regardless of pandemic disruptions, challenging claims that early schooling disadvantages boys academically. In fact, elementary schooling in math appears to favor boys. In reading, girls enter kindergarten with a sizable advantage that remains largely unchanged through elementary school. In other words, gaps in reading favoring girls are “fully baked” at school entry, suggesting schools neither widen nor close those gaps. Brookings

DC’s Effort to Boost Math

The District of Columbia is using many different methods in its push to boost math achievement: increased rigor, extra supports, deeper data analysis, math field trips, funding increases, and quick pivots when interventions don’t work. Different metrics show overall improvements in the city’s K–12 math performance in recent years. However, a lot of work remains to see more math gains across all student groups. For instance, the 2024 NAEP results showed economically disadvantaged students’ average score was 45 points lower compared to other students. Black students’ average score fell 65 points lower than that for White students — a gap that was not significantly different from that in 2003. K12Dive