AdLit News Headlines

“Run, Hide, Fight: Growing up under the gun,” a documentary produced by PBS News Student Reporting Labs, features stories produced by 14 young journalists from around the country about how gun violence affects the lives of young people.

The 2024 class of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellows includes more writers, artists and storytellers than in years past, though the so-called “genius grants” list also includes multiple scientists.

New spooky YA graphic novels–get ready for cute, goth vampire moms, ghost hunters and more.

Teachers can use these strategies to help keep students who are still learning English on track with their peers.

In her first children’s book, SNL star Kate McKinnon shows her affection for outsiders. It features Millicent Quib, a mad scientist with worms in her hair and oysters in her bathtub.

Poor dietary habits, like consuming ultra-processed or nutrient-poor foods, negatively affect sleep.

Schools need to take a harder look at how the evolution of AI could help or harm students with special needs because use of the technology in K-12 education is expanding faster than many experts predicted, suggests a new report.

Reading with your kids offers long-term benefits.

Authors John Schu, Jas Hammonds, Jonell Joshua and Elvira K. Gonzalez spoke at the Brooklyn Book Festival on representation in YA and children’s books.

Research shows that students perform far better academically and have fewer behavioral issues than their peers if their families are engaged in their schooling.

Teachers can move ‘Would You Rather’ questions beyond brain breaks, using them to boost engagement during all stages of instruction.

Advice on how to best work with immigrant students and English learners.

A survey of social studies teachers found that many find primary sources online for lesson plans. But a notable minority also rely on left-leaning materials, and a handful have turned to conservative options.

Some 37% of teens said they were unsure if their school had developed rules on AI use, according to a Common Sense Media survey.

Attempts to censor or restrict books from U.S. schools and libraries have risen since 2020, reports show.

Every state now allows schools to embrace competency-based learning—an education model that allows students to advance and graduate based on their mastery of academic concepts rather than the amount of time they spend in class.

Jarryd Hudock, an English and social studies teacher at Samuel Gompers School in Philadelphia, centers literacy skills and Black studies in his classroom.

Middle and high school classrooms that neglect questions of higher purpose work against the innate desires of teens, research shows.

With the new school year under way, B.A. Parker brings us the last in our book ban series. Parker reconnects with her high school English teacher to discuss what books she read back in the day are now off-limits. Then Parker checks in with a student fighting to keep books in the hands of teenagers in Texas. And we hear from a librarian in rural Idaho, with the same goal, but a very different tactic — she’s standing up to a new law by making her library “adults only.”

Researchers analyzed data from 621 public schools that consistently administered the MAP Growth Science assessment, designed by NWEA, from spring 2017 until spring 2024.

A new program will reserve $1,000 each year for a group of Maryland students. Once students graduate, they can use the money to pay for college or build wealth.

A new effort in Los Angeles public schools will deemphasize standardized testing and look for new ways to measure student progress, a small but ambitous rejection of a decades-old nationwide approach to student evaluation.

These tips can help teachers create a positive and lasting connection with families and students.

These short story collections center diverse characters and stories in creepy, readable tales.

Landmark new research shows Ice Age teens from 25,000 years ago went through similar puberty stages as modern-day adolescents. In a study published today in the Journal of Human Evolution of the timing of puberty in Pleistocene teens, researchers are addressing a knowledge gap about how early humans grew up.

Today, students aren’t reading as much and don’t seem to have the desire to. Teachers are concerned students can’t handle reading assignments and are not coming to college prepared to do the work. Recent studies have looked at some unsurprising key reasons: the prevalence of social media; the pandemic and online learning; schools expect less from students; people are reading fewer books than before. But another reason that hits home in Missouri and Kansas and across the country: persistent censorship and book ban challenges at the elementary and high school levels.

Community college is often touted as an affordable start for students who want to earn bachelor’s degrees. Yet only 13% of community college students actually go on to earn degrees from four-year institutions within eight years, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Education in 2023.

In a gut-wrenching account shared widely on social media, Jennifer Carter, who for more than 20 years has taught Spanish at the school in Winder, Ga., described her horrific experience of putting into motion her preparation for a moment she hoped would never come.

Teaching multilingual students about Greek and Latin roots in words can help them systematically build their knowledge of English.

Going from being among the oldest, most “senior” students to landing at the proverbial bottom rung of the academic and social ladder can feel like a swift and startling descent for even the most self-assured student. Tack on adolescents’ frequently awkward and turbulent physical transitions and surging hormones, plus the increased academic expectations in middle or high school, and the experience can quickly become overwhelming.

Current efforts to stifle scientific theories in school are reminiscent of the attacks on the teaching of the theory of evolution.

Wednesday’s violence at a Georgia high school and the arrest of a 14-year-old suspect follow a familiar pattern of previous school shootings. After every one, there’s been a tendency to ask, “How do we prevent the next one?” For years, school safety experts, and even the U.S. Secret Service, have rallied around some very clear answers. Here’s what they say.

Middle-grade stories should be focused firmly on kids, with adults pushed back to secondary roles. It’s okay for the adults to make quick appearances, but they shouldn’t be too important to the story. They shouldn’t be major drivers. But lately we’ve both noticed that fully-fledged adult characters who are intrinsic to the action are becoming more and more common in MG books. Why is this change happening in kidlit, and does it reflect larger changes in our culture?

Amid a surge in book bans nationwide, the librarian Amanda Jones was targeted by vicious threats. So she decided to fight back.

This is not your standard back-to-school story, about school supplies or first-day butterflies. It’s about how school-aged members of Gen Z — that’s 12- to 18-year-olds — are feeling about school and the future. And according to a new national survey, those feelings are a little worrying.

A new national report from USC researchers reveals pre-teen boys, teen girls, and Black families need more, targeted mental health supports.

Efforts have been launched to turn around plummeting student scores in U.S. history, civics, amid declining citizen engagement across nation.

Grade 3-8 teachers say nearly half of students always or nearly always have difficulty reading, according to a Rand Corporation report.

The suit challenges a Florida statute that gives parents and residents more say over the vetting of library materials for sexual content.

Detroit district high school students who are two or more grade levels behind in reading will receive cash gift cards as an incentive to attend after-school tutoring sessions.

According to a 2023 survey by the School Library Journal, graphic novels have risen in popularity at over 90% of school libraries. However, the same survey reported that a majority of librarians experienced opposition to graphic novels from parents, teachers and others who didn’t consider them “real books.” Yet, when teachers dispel preconceived notions about comics and graphic novels, they can unlock these books’ potential as educational tools.

These 15 engaging fiction series—middle school students love series—help them build literacy skills because they want to keep reading.

Young people are staying up late, consuming excess caffeine and crashing during school.

We asked kids across the U.S. to share their best tips on going back to school — and they delivered. Read on for advice from a second-grader all the way to a kid almost done with high school.

Linda B. Gambrell, professor emerita in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University and a past president of the ILA, died on August 6, 2024, at the age of 82. Considered a towering figure in the literacy field, Gambrell’s contributions as a researcher, educator, leader, and friend leave an indelible mark on the profession and the countless lives she touched.

In California about 1 in 4 students, or more than 1.45 million, were chronically absent in 2022-23, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year — a rate comparable to the national average. Although society may have largely moved on from COVID, educators say they are still grappling with the effects of pandemic school closures. After months to a year or more at home, school for many students has felt overwhelming, boring or socially stressful. More than ever, children and parents have been deciding it’s OK to stay home, which makes catching up even harder.

We asked middle and high school librarians what new titles they’re excited to share with students as they return to school. Here’s what they said. 

Kids should be allowed to have their quality friend time; it is a type of intimacy rarely replicated in adulthood. These 14 titles illustrate the significance of these tenets of complex tween friendships.

Your classes will probably be more like Abbott Elementary than Dead Poets Society, and that’s OK.

Ms. Colvin won national acclaim for starting Literacy Volunteers of America, a program that has taught millions of people to read and write.

Find out what connects ‘galaxy’ to ‘lactose’ and ‘sarcasm’ to ‘sarcophagus.’

The science, art, and politics of teaching an essential skill.

Online leaks have upended a prestigious math contest, fueling worries that honest kids will lose out.