AdLit News Headlines

Schools run by the Defense Department educate 66,000 children of civilian employees and service members. The network of schools run by the Defense Department has been performing well for years and continued to do so during the pandemic. These schools are typically on military bases, and they educate about 66,000 children of service members and Defense Department civilian employees.

Last year, this school system outperformed all 50 states on reading and math scores for both eighth graders and fourth graders. Before the pandemic, the military schools did well but were not ranked No. 1. The schools also have smaller learning gaps between white and both Black and Hispanic students than other schools have.

Tough regulation is needed to combat abusive practices.

For many former foster care students — young adults with few resources to navigate independence — housing instability is a major impediment to completing a college degree. Nationally, reports indicate that 20 to 40% of youth aging out of foster care lack stable housing. Housing-insecure students take fewer classes, earn fewer credits and are more likely to leave college before graduating, research shows.

Rather than sorting ninth graders with high test scores into Algebra 1 and giving those with lower test scores remedial instruction, a SC high school enrolled everyone into Algebra 1 classes. The experiment showed that detracking math classes could be a key component in narrowing achievement gaps between student groups.  

How children feel about themselves depends heavily on whether they have champions in their lives. These champions can leverage a child’s strengths, improve their self-perception, and motivate them toward positive change. I know this because my own champions helped me change my internal dialogue, little by little. 

Reports of racial and identity-based bullying are increasing in Massachusetts — and will continue to rise unless we take proactive steps. Enacting school-based policies that specifically address identity-based bullying is a critical first step.

Research casts doubt on longtime academic practice of segregating students with limited English proficiency.

World Literature Today will welcome Gene Luen Yang, the author of “American Born Chinese,” to receive the 2023 NSK Neustadt Lit Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature.

New research suggests daily mindfulness training at home helped reduce kids’ stress levels and negative emotions.

Listen to this edition of Conversations, where Kelly Yang talks with host Dan Skinner about the the fifth book in the Front Desk series, “Top Story.” 

Autumn is the perfect time to indulge in all things creepy and spine-tingling. Yet the season of ghosts and ghouls still has tons to offer those who prefer their fall reading to be on the sweeter side. These charming graphic novels for middle grade readers feature everything you’d expect from spooky season—haunted hayrides, magic, monster-hunting, and more—yet the stories are cozy, like a mug of hot cider. No matter the time of year, curl up with these titles and enjoy the gentle autumnal vibes.

AGILE is a World Bank assisted initiative of the Federal Government aimed at improving secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls aged between 10 – 20. The AGILE Project is currently implemented in seven Nigerian states: Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau; with an additional 11 states recently joining the project.

This past summer’s uproar over “Try That in a Small Town,” a song by country music star Jason Aldean, is over—but with the school year underway, the controversy over the song remains an instructive example of the repercussions of America’s dangerously fractured education system.

The PBS investigative strand ‘Frontline’ announced a pilot season of short docs crafted for young adults. Premiering on Sunday (October 15).

Students explore this immersive Times feature, engage in cross-generational conversations about the issues raised, and experiment with expert advice on healthy phone and social media habits.

The analysis of federal data—conducted by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University and Attendance Works—provides a new perspective on how unprecedented pandemic-era surges in absences have affected all students, even those with strong attendance.

Contemporary writers still offer adventure, fantasy and mystery, but today’s middle-grade readers also pick up graphic literature, plots with sci-fi or horror, and medieval tales of nonbinary heroes.

We train secondary teachers to be science or history or English teachers, and they have a deep knowledge of their content, but we don’t really teach them how to teach reading. There’s an increasing need for secondary teachers to be able to support adolescent readers. My long-term goal is to create a framework for reading classes that will help teachers help their students develop the skills and confidence they need to become readers.

The former Spice Girl is the author of Rosie Frost & The Falcon Queen, an adventure novel that reimagines the legacy of Anne Boleyn.

Schools are scrambling to rebound from the recent plunge in test scores — but they’re scrambling in the wrong direction. Educators have fixated on phonics to treat covid-19 learning loss. In doing so, they are shortchanging something of equal importance: the role knowledge plays in helping children become good readers.

On this list, there are stories of teens who feel misunderstood, teens standing up for themselves, and teens who are figuring out their place in the world. Whether the book is set in a modern-day small town, Regency-era London, or the fantasy world of the fae, these books all involve teenagers discovering who they are and what’s important to them.

New research from Gallup and Amazon found mentorship positively impacted young adults in their career outcomes, but professionals from low-income backgrounds were less likely to have those figures in their lives. The report offers three recommendations for potential role models.

All around the U.S. this fall, students and educators have been struggling with extreme heat. Schools have responded on many levels, from taking “indoor recess” to changing hours to even sending kids home. And for marching bands, this new climate is no longer just a question of comfort.

Researchers at Duke University have developed an AI-driven app that can accurately detect a range of behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

In higher grades, multilingual students need to develop a grasp of academic English. Here’s how to help them acquire the skills they need.

Fostering a sense of connection and belonging is key to helping Black male students achieve academic success.

Some experts question the effects on students who already missed out on significant learning during the pandemic. For parents, there is also the added complication, and cost, of arranging child care for that extra weekday.

How exactly are young people supposed to feel about their ability to change a complex and changing world? When I speak with young people about how to bring about positive change, the answer is actually pretty simple. Do something. Anything. 

Educator’s View: Not all kids will become engineers or scientists. But collaborating & cultivating an inventive mindset are life skills everyone needs.

In New Hampshire, laws restricting K-12 instruction on ‘divisive concepts’ yet requiring students be taught about the Holocaust are colliding in the classroom.

From restorative grading to paid internships, an equity-centered approach to education creates rich learning opportunities for all students.

Fostering connections between subjects encourages students to think deeply about big problems and questions at the core of their work.

The new president of Dartmouth College, a cognitive scientist, explains what it will take to help the country’s suffering young people.

The topic is front and center in New York City, where a new state law requires class sizes to be reduced and some opponents, including former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, are criticizing it.

California wages legal battle against districts that require parental notification when children change gender identities.

A PEN America report found that the number of books permanently removed from U.S. school libraries and classrooms has quadrupled — to 1,263 books in the last school year from 333 the year before.

The findings make “abundantly clear that teens are struggling to manage their phone use, which is taking a serious toll on their ability to focus and overall mental health,” said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media.

An English teacher and a school librarian in NYC launched an effort that is helping teens increase their reading stamina.

Reporters at The 74 fanned across America to find some of the nation’s most inventive and personalized high schools. Here’s what we learned.

As high school students navigate more rigorous academic tasks and denser curricular material, the occasional 3-to-5-minute break delivers a wide range of benefits.

Using a key concept from science class in history encourages high school students to analyze data with a willingness to make mistakes.

A new report(opens in a new window) from The Century Foundation examines the common challenges that make it hard to build a pipeline of bilingual educators, as well as potential policy solutions.

A growing number of high schools are offering class credit for climate action.

An Education Trust study of 300 books found many that did include people of color still have stereotypes or negative portrayals.

And it’s only getting worse.

Full of excitement and intrigue, these noteworthy first books will leave readers clamoring for the next installment.

The gun violence and poverty experienced by young people in some urban neighborhoods is well-documented in the media and popular culture. But these issues are as present, if not even more common, in rural areas. How can students break the cycles of abuse and neglect?

As high school students navigate more rigorous academic tasks and denser curricular material, the occasional 3-to-5-minute break delivers a wide range of benefits.

Topics like climate action and clean energy are some of the least likely topics to be found within sustainability school lessons, according to a Smithsonian-Gallup poll.

Kansas City schools rent homes to teachers starting at $400 a month to recruit more amid a national shortage.

How can librarians build a mental health book collection that is engaging, welcoming, and maybe even funny? For me, that was a tall order. The teen self-help titles I purchased for my high school library were hit or miss; sometimes they seemed condescending. What kinds of books would help destigmatize mental health topics?

In their new book, “Off the Mark: How Grades, Ratings, and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don’t Have To)” Jack Schneider and Ethan L. Hutt write about the influences of grades, test scores, and transcripts on schools and students as they map out ways that assessment currently undermines student learning and offer ways out of the predicament.

In a groundbreaking step for equity, CalTech announced Thursday that it will drop admission requirements for calculus, physics and chemistry courses for students who don’t have access to them and offer alternative paths to prove mastery of the material.

This academic year, education leaders are grappling with how to approach a drug use crisis unlike any they’ve seen before. Schools have the potential to reach millions of kids if they decide to talk to and teach students about the dangers of fentanyl.

Nearly 60 percent of Lahaina students haven’t enrolled in classes after the deadly fire, and families are yearning to rebuild their school network for educational and emotional support.

The president was joined by first lady Jill Biden, a longtime English professor, at Eliot-Hine Middle School.

New law expanding input from non-educators forces good but tough conversations in some districts, but sets up gridlock in others.

With the goal of inspiring students who may not be aware of opportunities in science and engineering, the Active Learning Labs (ALL) at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences hosted two outreach programs for local and international teens in July.

Developed and directed by ALL’s Melissa Hancock, Avery Normandin, and Nicholas LoRusso, the programs were designed to be as accessible to students as possible.

New requirements are good—if we learn from past mistakes.

Graphic novels – offering visual information married with text – provide a means to engage students without losing all of the rigor of textbooks. As two educators in math and physics, we have found graphic novels to be effective at teaching students of all ability levels. We’ve used graphic novels in our own classes, and we’ve also inspired and encouraged other teachers to use them. And we’re not alone: Other teachers are rejuvenating this analog medium with a high level of success.