Trump squeezed Brown U. for $50 million in job training. Here’s who gets the money CRANSTON, R.I. — Before he landed in prison three years ago for selling drugs, Joe worked on and off as a construction laborer. In his free time, he’d do little projects around the house, his youngest daughter by his side. “I always liked working with my hands,” said Joe, whose last name is being withheld at the request of prison leadership in order to protect his privacy. “And she liked to help.” So when prison leaders offered him a spot in a construction preapprenticeship program earlier this year, Joe, who is in his 40s, didn’t hesitate.

As part of a deal to restore its federal funding, the university is underwriting apprenticeships for people exiting prison and programs for early educators. Critics call the payments extortion and note Trump has cut federal support for workforce development.

The quest to build a better AI tutor It’s easy to get swept up in the hype about artificial intelligence tutors. But the evidence so far suggests caution. Some studies have found that chatbot tutors can backfire because students lean on them too heavily, get spoonfed solutions and fail to absorb the material. Even when AI tutors are designed not to give away answers, they haven’t consistently produced better results than learning the old-fashioned way without AI. Still, researchers who have produced these skeptical studies haven’t given up hope. Some are still experimenting, trying to build better AI tutors.

The quest to build a better AI tutor

It’s easy to get swept up in the hype about artificial intelligence tutors. But the evidence so far suggests caution. Some studies have found that chatbot tutors can backfire because students lean on them too heavily, get spoonfed solutions and fail to absorb…

Youth drug use is down, but overdoses have risen. One town’s schools have a possible solution FORT KENT, Maine — Michael Robertson struggled in school almost from the very beginning. But it was in seventh grade, when he started smoking cigarettes and drinking, that school seemed to become nearly unbearable to him. “There was always an excuse for why he couldn’t go to school,” said his mother, Danielle Forino. “Every morning, he would say he was too tired or didn’t feel good.” At 13 years old, he was prescribed Vicodin following dental work and, his mother said, quickly started abusing it. By his sophomore year of high school, in 2017, he couldn’t get through the school day without nicotine, she recalled.

A Maine town is launching a boarding school to help students battling substance use disorder stay on track toward graduation.

PARENT VOICE: Children with special needs are too often failed by our education system As a mom of a child with special needs, I often spend the majority of my day filing insurance forms for reimbursement. I can spend hours on the phone trying to find out why coverage was denied for my child’s therapy. Usually, it is due to an error, but there are other times when we are required to jump through hoops. I have been told that if my child is not demonstrating sufficient growth, coverage of her treatment will stop, even though there is research-based evidence that therapy is the only treatment for some of her conditions.

Our system for educating children with special needs is broken, and it is not serving our children well. We rarely hear about the costs imposed on families, because keeping these costs invisible prevents holding systems accountable.

Delaying kindergarten may have limited benefit When my son was about to turn 5, I was faced with a decision that may be familiar to parents of children whose birthdays are close to kindergarten enrollment cutoff dates. In my local school district, children must be 5 years old on or ahead of Sept. 1 before they enroll in kindergarten. With a late September birthday, my son was only a few weeks too young to make that cutoff. A friend of mine whose child had a similarly timed birthday was trying for early enrollment. Should I, too?

Many parents think holding back their children in kindergarten gives them a academic and social boost, but the effects don’t last very long, according to new research.

The heat is on: As climate change threatens student athlete safety, states try to adapt When George LaComb moved two years ago to a new high school in Orlando, Florida, he quickly noticed safety precautions that the football team at his previous, less affluent school never had. There was a designated recovery room, staffed by a full-time athletic trainer, giant ice baths to cool overheated athletes and indoor facilities to practice if outside got too hot. At his old school in another part of Orlando, the football team relied on one makeshift ice bath and a cafeteria table to rest on when injured. “There’s a vast difference between schools that have money and schools that don’t,” said LaComb, a senior at Lake Buena Vista High School and Florida state representative on the…

The heat is on: As climate change threatens student athlete safety, states try to adapt

When George LaComb moved two years ago to a new high school in Orlando, Florida, he quickly noticed safety precautions that the football team at his previous, less affluent school never had. There was a…

Urged to speak out, education researchers face a high-stakes choice It’s a bit like asking patients in intensive care to make the case for their own treatment. Federal education research — the system that tracks student learning and evaluates what works — has been battered by mass firings, contract cuts and cancellations, and stalled grant funding. Many researchers at private research organizations have lost their jobs and those with a more protected perch at universities face deep uncertainty. Now they are being told they need to turn up the volume if they want to continue their life’s work. Their predicament was the focus of the Association for Education Finance and Policy’s annual conference earlier this month in Chicago.

Urged to speak out, education researchers face a high-stakes choice

It’s a bit like asking patients in intensive care to make the case for their own treatment. Federal education research — the system that tracks student learning and evaluates what works — has been battered by mass firings,…

OPINION: ICE operations cause deep psychological trauma for students, declining enrollment and diminishing job paths Educators nationwide are grappling with the impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on the homes of their students. Teachers face crying, worried children after their family members have been taken away. Traumas like these have long-term effects on the mental health, well-being and future opportunities of children in immigrant families. Yet, over the past few months, urban, suburban and rural communities have experienced a surge in ICE presence, arrests and deportations — affecting thousands of school-age children. It is crucial that we do more to protect these kids…

Over the past few months, urban, suburban and rural communities have experienced a surge in ICE presence, arrests and deportations — affecting thousands of school-age children. It is crucial that we do more to protect these kids.

Did New York blow $10 million on reading instruction that doesn’t work? In April 2024, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul made a bold promise: The state would revamp its approach to literacy and boost state reading scores by double digits. “We're turning the page on how we teach students how to read,” she said in front of a first grade class in Albany. The state would raise the share of third graders reading proficiently from 45 percent to 60 percent or higher, she said. She’d just signed budget legislation, branded “Back to Basics,” that was supposed to ensure that every school district adopts a strategy of teaching dubbed the “science of reading.” The approach reflects decades of research showing that, among other things, children learn best when they’re explicitly taught phonics: the relationship between letters and the sounds they make.

A New York State course intended to help educators use phonics and the science of reading effectively doesn’t do so and could impede students’ progress, literacy experts say.

On-demand college counseling, courtesy of AI BROOKLYN, N.Y. — At 16, Khloe Watson-Barrett already knows she wants to be a lawyer. She also knows she’ll soon have to run the gauntlet of the high-stakes college admissions process, now that she’s past the halfway point of her junior year in high school. “It’s nerve-wracking,” Watson-Barrett said of what she’s heard about applying to college. That unease is only aggravated for many high school students by a lack of access to one-on-one time with overburdened college counselors, who are often buried under questions about what tests to take, which deadlines to meet and how to fill out applications for financial aid.

Admissions-focused platforms could farm out routine questions and give overworked counselors more time to focus on individual students.

The AI ‘hivemind’: Why so many student essays sound alike Bruce Maxwell, professor of computer science at Northeastern University, was grading exams for his online master’s course in computer vision, a subfield in artificial intelligence that deals with images, when he first noticed that something felt … off. “I’d see the same phrases, the same commas, even the same word choices. I would say, ‘Man, I’ve read that before.’ And I’d go look for it,” said Maxwell. “The paragraphs weren’t identical, but they were so similar.” Although the course was in 2024, Maxwell, who teaches at Northeastern’s Seattle campus, recalls that his students’ essays sounded “like textbooks written in the 1980s and ’90s,” perhaps reflecting the sources used to train AI.

The AI ‘hivemind’: Why so many student essays sound alike

Bruce Maxwell, professor of computer science at Northeastern University, was grading exams for his online master’s course in computer vision, a subfield in artificial intelligence that deals with images, when he first noticed that something…

OPINION: Winning a prestigious award can make anyone’s day. But for a working-class student, it can transform a life Fulbright award notifications were trickling in, and as the Fulbright campus adviser at Lehman College in the Bronx, I was glued to the application portal and kept my phone close. I often see results before the students I advise do, but I try to wait for them to contact me.  As I dealt with tears of joy and of sorrow, I realized that one student, a buoyant, ambitious English major who had applied to become a Fulbright fellow, had not reached out. A grocery cashier with a packed schedule, she made survival her priority.

OPINION: Winning a prestigious award can make anyone’s day. But for a working-class student, it can transform a life

Fulbright award notifications were trickling in, and as the Fulbright campus adviser at Lehman College in the Bronx, I was glued to the application portal and kept my phone close. I…

Green schools = big savings In Warren County, Kentucky, the school district saved more than $2 million in utility costs since retrofitting five schools with solar panels and introducing other energy efficiencies. In Jamestown, Rhode Island, installing solar panels at two schools is saving the district more than $60,000 per year. After the school district in Boulder Valley, Colorado, retrofitted a middle school, energy costs dropped by approximately $10,000 annually. Those examples are from a new report commissioned by the Building Power Resource Center, a group that supports climate action. While investing in green buildings is good for the environment, the report makes the case that it’s also good financially, freeing up money schools can use for teachers, books and other needs.

Green schools = big savings

In Warren County, Kentucky, the school district saved more than $2 million in utility costs since retrofitting five schools with solar panels and introducing other energy efficiencies. In Jamestown, Rhode Island, installing solar panels at two schools is saving the…

Child care centers tap retirees to fill staffing gaps DENVER — It was nap time at Family Star Montessori, and Sue Alexander, a retired accountant, settled onto the floor beside a little girl named Ophelia. The child leaned against her and announced: "I love squishy things." Alexander’s "squishy thing" — her arm — just earned her a new friend. Alexander is a member of the Early Childhood Service Corps, which trains adults ages 50 and older to work as substitute teachers in child care centers like this one in Denver and the surrounding suburbs. In addition to helping to staff an industry that chronically lacks workers, ECSC also offers personal fulfillment and community connection for its members in the years after retirement…

Child care centers tap retirees to fill staffing gaps

DENVER — It was nap time at Family Star Montessori, and Sue Alexander, a retired accountant, settled onto the floor beside a little girl named Ophelia. The child leaned against her and announced: "I love squishy things." Alexander’s "squishy…

How a Minneapolis child care center survived an ICE surge — and is moving forward MINNEAPOLIS — On a frigid February afternoon at a Spanish-immersion child care center, toddlers grabbed puffy coats out of cubbies as parents helped them pull on mittens and hats before heading home. In an office down the hall, Michael, the husband of the center’s director, stared intently at a computer monitor streaming footage from the building’s security cameras. During dismissal, he watches for any vehicles that might be carrying agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since January, when federal agents descended on the Twin Cities as part of Operation Metro Surge, he started leaving his own job early every afternoon to volunteer here.

How a Minneapolis child care center survived an ICE surge — and is moving forward

MINNEAPOLIS — On a frigid February afternoon at a Spanish-immersion child care center, toddlers grabbed puffy coats out of cubbies as parents helped them pull on mittens and hats before heading home. In an office…

Readers weigh in on our story about screen time for kids in school Last fall, I was contacted by a reader who was so concerned about the pervasive use of screens in their young child’s classroom, they had pulled their child out of their local school district. The parent wanted to know if, from my reporting, I had heard of districts that were either not using screens in grades K-2 or used them only sparingly. As I started researching, interviewing parents and watching school board meetings around the country, I found there are many districts and states grappling with how to best incorporate screen time in the early grades — or whether they should at all.

Readers weigh in on our story about screen time for kids in school

Last fall, I was contacted by a reader who was so concerned about the pervasive use of screens in their young child’s classroom, they had pulled their child out of their local school district. The parent wanted to know if, from my…

OPINION: There’s a ‘cascade effect’ from the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ban, and it’s hurting Black and Latino students As widely predicted, Black and Latino student enrollment is falling at elite institutions nationwide in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling restricting race-conscious admissions. Demographic changes are most obvious at top-ranked private universities, but key shifts are also taking place throughout the system, with serious repercussions for Black and Latino students. Researchers call the shifts a “cascade” effect. It works like this: First, underrepresented minority students who are not admitted to highly selective institutions instead attend state flagships or less selective institutions. Next, Black and Latino students who would otherwise have attended state flagships are displaced to regional, community, or for-profit colleges.

OPINION: There’s a ‘cascade effect’ from the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ban, and it’s hurting Black and Latino students

As widely predicted, Black and Latino student enrollment is falling at elite institutions nationwide in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling restricting…

After fights over social studies standards, conservative activists come for math Susan Gilkerson, a math teacher and school bus driver, stood before a South Dakota education board and issued a warning. The proposed math standards the board was considering — just 36 pages, less than half the length of standards adopted in 2018 — were so scant that teachers won’t know how to use them, Gilkerson said. The existing standards detail not just which math concepts should be taught but also the specific skills students need to demonstrate to show they understand them, said Gilkerson, who teaches in the rural Oldham-Ramona-Rutland district.

After fights over social studies standards, conservative activists come for math

Susan Gilkerson, a math teacher and school bus driver, stood before a South Dakota education board and issued a warning. The proposed math standards the board was considering — just 36 pages, less than half the length…

Southern states boost early reading, but gains stall in middle school When Mississippi reformed its reading curriculum in 2013, scores for the state’s elementary school students soared. Inspired by the “Mississippi miracle,” other Southern states followed suit. But the miracle has hit a wall: middle school. Results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama have seen notable improvements in fourth grade reading over the past decade, but far smaller gains in eighth grade. (Graphs at the bottom of this story.) Mississippi led the way by retraining teachers in the science of reading…

Southern states boost early reading, but gains stall in middle school

When Mississippi reformed its reading curriculum in 2013, scores for the state’s elementary school students soared. Inspired by the “Mississippi miracle,” other Southern states followed suit. But the miracle has hit a wall:…

OPINION: Teachers are being deprived of chances to learn Black history and bring lessons back to the classroom  As an English teacher in 2016, I spent a summer in the archives of the Brooklyn Historical Society learning about abolition and women’s suffrage efforts. I held original bills of sale of young Black girls from the 1840s in my hands, and I left inspired to teach high school juniors about the legacy of enslavement. Another summer, I looked at 160-year-old whip indentations on the sides of live oak trees in Savannah, Georgia, as I learned how the Gullah/Geechee people have protected their African linguistic, culinary and spiritual traditions since the time of enslavement, due to their relative isolation in the Sea Islands off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina.

OPINION: Teachers are being deprived of chances to learn Black history and bring lessons back to the classroom 

As an English teacher in 2016, I spent a summer in the archives of the Brooklyn Historical Society learning about abolition and women’s suffrage efforts. I held original bills of sale of…

Faster, thinner: Colleges are swiftly trimming a B.A. degree to three years PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Quinn McDonald planned to spend the typical four years working toward a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Then he heard about a place where he could get the same degree in three. “It was the idea of being able to save a year” that grabbed his attention, said McDonald — a savings of not only time, but tuition. And he could start earning a salary faster than if he spent four years in college. So, last fall, McDonald joined the inaugural class of one of the nation’s first in-person programs approved to award bachelor’s degrees with fewer than the usual 120 credits, at Johnson & Wales University.

Faster, thinner: Colleges are swiftly trimming a B.A. degree to three years

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Quinn McDonald planned to spend the typical four years working toward a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Then he heard about a place where he could get the same degree in three. “It was the idea of…

Behind ideological attacks on higher ed, surprising bipartisan reforms are happening It’s rare in an era of partisan division to hear a veteran of the Clinton and Obama presidencies agreeing with a right-leaning economist who worked for George W. Bush. Yet these prominent voices from opposite ends of the political spectrum teamed up to mostly praise a law passed by the Republican Congress and signed by President Donald Trump. The purpose of the law: to protect college students from borrowing federal money to enroll in programs that give them little or no financial payoff when they graduate. This new rule is “the greatest step forward in increased accountability” for colleges since the creation more than a decade ago of the federal…

Behind ideological attacks on higher ed, surprising bipartisan reforms are happening

It’s rare in an era of partisan division to hear a veteran of the Clinton and Obama presidencies agreeing with a right-leaning economist who worked for George W. Bush. Yet these prominent voices from opposite ends…

IPads in kindergarten, YouTube videos at snack time: Parents are pushing back on screens in the early grades  CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — A few months before her daughter started kindergarten, Claire Benoist saw a Facebook post that stunned her. Another family with an incoming kindergartner was wondering if it was true that children in the Croton-Harmon School District, 45 miles north of New York City, receive an iPad when they start school. Other parents confirmed this: Kindergartners are often on their own iPads during school, playing games and watching television shows and YouTube videos. “It had never occurred to me that screens would be used in such a way,” Benoist said.

IPads in kindergarten, YouTube videos at snack time: Parents are pushing back on screens in the early grades 

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — A few months before her daughter started kindergarten, Claire Benoist saw a Facebook post that stunned her. Another family with an incoming kindergartner was…

DOGE tore down the Education Department’s research and statistical agency. Now some in the Trump administration are pushing to rebuild it A year ago, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency swept into the Department of Education and devastated its research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Nearly 100 contracts for major statistical collections and research studies were canceled. Roughly 90 percent of IES staffers were laid off, stalling many of the agency’s core functions. IES had been one of the rare parts of the department with bipartisan support. Modeled after the National Institutes of Health, it was established in 2002 during the administration of former President George W. Bush to fund innovations and identify effective teaching practices.

DOGE tore down the Education Department’s research and statistical agency. Now some in the Trump administration are pushing to rebuild it

A year ago, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency swept into the Department of Education and devastated its research arm, the Institute of Education…

Politicians say left-wing professors push their views. New poll shows students don’t see it that way. Conservative politicians warn of “woke” college campuses, where liberal professors teach their opinions and stifle any dissent. Their concerns have led them to get involved in the day-to-day operations of public colleges and universities as never before, including through the creation of taxpayer-funded, right-leaning civic centers.  But most college students don’t share those concerns, our recent reporting found. And a new poll by Gallup echoes what students told us. The poll, which included responses from nearly 4,000 college students, found that about two-thirds of all students — including two-thirds of Republican students — said that their professors encouraged students to share their views “even if it makes others uncomfortable.” Just 3 percent of Republican students said they felt they didn’t belong at their college because of their political leanings.

Politicians say left-wing professors push their views. New poll shows students don’t see it that way.

Conservative politicians warn of “woke” college campuses, where liberal professors teach their opinions and stifle any dissent. Their concerns have led them to get involved in the day-to-day…

As business costs rise, child care programs are increasing tuition to survive It’s becoming markedly more expensive to run a child care business. And as public funding fails to keep up with inflation, those costs are getting passed on to families that in many cases can’t afford to pay more. Those are some of the main findings of a new report by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which earlier this year surveyed more than 7,000 early childhood educators from a variety of early learning programs across the country. The cost for food and supplies has increased the most, providers say, followed by maintenance for facilities and liability insurance.

As business costs rise, child care programs are increasing tuition to survive

It’s becoming markedly more expensive to run a child care business. And as public funding fails to keep up with inflation, those costs are getting passed on to families that in many cases can’t afford to pay more. Those…

Are microschools a solution to falling public school enrollment? One district thinks so GREENFIELD, Ind. — Seventh grader Taitym Lynch plans most of her school day herself, mapping out a schedule each morning on her school laptop. She typically starts with math when her brain is sharpest, logging into an online platform her school uses for math lessons. Next she often tackles science with her “class guide,” a teaching assistant who walks her though topics like animal food chains. Lynch chooses to have lunch around noon, and finds time to take breaks in the woods that surround her school, Nature’s Gift. Lynch, 13, came to Nature’s Gift this fall after years in a traditional public school.

Are microschools a solution to falling public school enrollment? One district thinks so

GREENFIELD, Ind. — Seventh grader Taitym Lynch plans most of her school day herself, mapping out a schedule each morning on her school laptop. She typically starts with math when her brain is sharpest, logging…

TEACHER VOICE: We don’t have a math problem in Arkansas or in the United States. We have a culture problem For 23 years, I’ve taught high school math. And for 23 years, I’ve been told by people that they either are a “math person” or they are not. I get it: Math isn’t easy. Movies and TV shows make it look effortless for a select few. But math is hard work. If you don’t do the work, and if you don’t have a teacher who can help you build the math skills you need, you may struggle with math. Then you might internalize these challenges into the idea that you’re not a “math person.” …

TEACHER VOICE: We don’t have a math problem in Arkansas or in the United States. We have a culture problem

For 23 years, I’ve taught high school math. And for 23 years, I’ve been told by people that they either are a “math person” or they are not. I get it: Math isn’t easy. Movies and TV shows…

Educators ‘climatize’ their classes to prepare students for work and life on a warming planet About four years ago, Holly Bailey-Hofmann’s English 101 class at West Los Angeles College got a complete makeover. She’d signed up to be part of a pilot program for professors interested in infusing their curriculum with lessons about climate change and community resilience. The program only required her to “climatize” one module of the syllabus, but she loved the work so much she overhauled the whole class. The goal for her students remained the same pre- and post-makeover: learning to write effectively and conduct academic research. Now, though, she teaches reading, writing and research by assigning research studies and nonfiction essays about climate change — including pieces about how…

Educators ‘climatize’ their classes to prepare students for work and life on a warming planet

About four years ago, Holly Bailey-Hofmann’s English 101 class at West Los Angeles College got a complete makeover. She’d signed up to be part of a pilot program for professors interested in infusing…

Conservative-leaning civic centers now teach courses at public colleges COLUMBUS, Ohio — One glossy insert stuck out from the orientation packet handed to hundreds of Ohio State University freshmen last August. It advertised a tempting offer: Students could earn a $4,000 scholarship — close to a third off in-state tuition — if they enrolled in one civics-oriented course and attended three events each semester outside of class. It seemed straightforward, but missing in the fine print was the controversial nature of the center giving the scholarships, sponsoring the lectures and crafting the new courses. It was the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, created by Ohio’s Republican-dominated legislature with the explicit goal of enticing students to take courses taught by a newly hired group of conservative philosophers, political scientists and historians.

Conservative-leaning civic centers now teach courses at public colleges

COLUMBUS, Ohio — One glossy insert stuck out from the orientation packet handed to hundreds of Ohio State University freshmen last August. It advertised a tempting offer: Students could earn a $4,000 scholarship — close to a…