AdLit News Headlines

Middle and high school students fell behind during the COVID-19 pandemic, just as younger students did. But while elementary students were struggling to catch up in reading and writing, older students might be struggling with key concepts in English or falling behind on graduation requirements.

On this episode of How To!, we bring in Arthur Brooks, a Harvard University professor who studies the science of happiness and writes a column for the Atlantic called How to Build a Life. He also is the father to three adult children. He has some surprising tips and tough love for Karen to help her rebalance her relationship with her kids.

A large body of research shows that traditional science education, for both science majors and non-majors, doesn’t do a good job of teaching science students how to apply their scientific knowledge and explain things that they may not have learned about directly.

A recent study developed a series of cross-disciplinary activities guided by a framework called “three-dimensional learning” to support students’ thinking in how to apply their science knowledge to real world problems.

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office finds that public schools remain highly segregated along racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines. One reason: school district secession.

The research initiative at four schools in three states centers on strong school-family-community partnerships to improve student mental health outcomes.

Educator Jennifer Wolf puts book banning in context, from Nazi book burnings to school board races.

The recipients of this year’s Whippoorwill Award cover a wide range of rural people, places, and topics. The Whippoorwill is the only national prize for young-adult books that focus on rural themes, the organizers say.

The Biden administration issued new school discipline guidelines Tuesday aimed at cutting back on high rates of suspension and expulsion for students with disabilities by clarifying rules that the nation’s schools are required to follow.

Teaching middle school students to identify the theme of a text is a difficult task. There are many other skills that need to be taught prior to gaining a real, working understanding of theme. Here are some interesting ideas on teaching theme to middle schoolers for you to try in your own classroom.

Jason Reynolds is not only a prolific and bestselling author, he’s also the national ambassador for young people’s literature. He discusses his newest book “Ain’t Burned All the Bright” with Sunday Morning host Jane Pauley.

Dive into these YA fantasy graphic novels about assassins and knights, magic and romance, and the meaning of saving the world — or yourself.

Some alternative schools in Massachusetts are seeing increased enrollment among students who began working full-time jobs since the onset of the pandemic or who are anxious about returning to a traditional high school after a long period of remote or hybrid learning.

Growing freedom makes life more challenging to manage for the adolescent and, thus, for parents, too. Priorities for new experience change as youth unfolds. 

Having test-optional policies doesn’t mean that the most selective colleges significantly change who they admit.

Latinos students have made academic progress over the last two to three decades—including rising high school graduation rates and enrollment in post-secondary education. But policymakers must now work to address setbacks to this progress caused by the pandemic.

The Blue Ace scholar-athlete summer reading club is one example of the GHS athletic department’s determination to generate unity between its various sports teams. The reading club, which is currently in its second year, gives students an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the athletic department’s values through a pre-selected book they read during the summer. 

The more dynamic the job market and the more expensive college gets, the more important career education becomes. However, most US students don’t get the chance to match their strengths and interests to emerging career opportunities.

MajorClarity is a career and college readiness platform for middle and high school students. It allows learners to test drive possible careers and, as students gain a sense of their interests and strengths, build a career aligned course of study.

The post recently spoke with Melanie Conklin, the author of “The Perfect Mistake”, about why she wrote it, what inspired her and what she hopes kids (and parents) will take away from it. Here is an edited excerpt of that conversation.

Kids books are confronting scary topics including mental illness, sickness and death. And many of the illustrated characters features children of diverse backgrounds.

A new historical fiction series for young readers highlights “the importance of standing up for what you know is right.”

Is there a way to get back to civil discourse, which is not defined as mere politeness, but rather a process where individuals gather, listen to each other, debate, make up their minds, and determine a course of action?

David Armor discusses his analysis of the Black-White achievement gap, which has remained fairly constant from third grade through the end of middle school (eighth grade). The gap issue is less clear for the high school grades, since most statewide achievement testing programs do not test all of the high school years.

The International Literacy Association (ILA) announced the winners of its 2022 awards and grants, including its top honor and one of the literacy field’s most prestigious, the William S. Gray Citation of Merit, which was awarded to City University of New York’s Linnea Ehri.

Themes in this year’s stellar works of fiction for children and teens.

Those with the widest use of college-level courses show improved performance even in this crisis.

According to the university, the Adulting 101 program helps teenagers and young adults demystify the obscure reality of being an “adult” through engaging educational sessions.

With mental health needs growing, educators and others are experimenting with new ways to address students’ needs or reinvent old strategies.

Administrators say hiring students for certain roles, such as helping children in after-school programs, could lead students to a career in teaching.

Teachers can use clips from the movie Turning Red to explore with students the ways adolescence changes the brain.

The University of Arizona announced Monday that Native American students no longer would have to pay tuition or fees at its main campus in Tucson. The university hopes the new program better serves the state’s large Native population.

“We’re like jazz musicians in that we decide on a structure, but a lot is left up to improvisation,” says Griffin about working with Reynolds. Read more about how their new collaboration came together.

“Is the post-modern state now dedicated to segmented tribes split along divergent ideologies of schooling rather than rallying behind a common good?” The Supreme Court’s decisions this month involving public education have stirred new debate about the future of public, secular education in this country but such concerns are not new to advocates of publicly operated and funded public schools.

Local librarians and teachers talk about the benefits of summer reading. Wicked Local reporters share their current recommended reads.

This week, The New Yorker brings you a selection of pieces about adolescence and teen-age yearning.

A retired kindergarten teacher is warming hearts on TikTok as people learn just how great her impact on students has been.

Virtual tutoring companies want to become a more permanent fixture in schools. Their impact so far is unclear.

Schools around the country are trying to staff up counselors and therapists, but experts say Alabama’s creation of a bridge role could be a promising model. Mental health service coordinators set up mental health awareness events, hold small group sessions with students and connect families with professional services.

Play-based learning can help older students remember new material and transfer their learning from one context to another.

When Schwab spoke to CBS News, she admitted that most of her popular works of fiction thrive because of their grittier takes on young adult fantasy. In a genre already crowded by formulaic world building, Schwab takes intense pleasure in treading a thin line between the delightful horror a dangerous monster can produce and the hope her readers come to her for. 

Summertime is a feast for the senses: there’s the feel of a warm breeze, the taste of campfire s’mores, the squeals of kids at the area pool… and the smell of a good summer book. In honor of this time of year, we spoke with four teachers/librarians about their thoughts on summer reading and the ways they encourage avid and reluctant readers alike to dip their toes in the water and dive into some good books.

Adopting high quality instructional materials is just the beginning. Deliberate and continued professional learning enhances implementation success.

In the vitriolic national debate about what can and can’t be taught in public schools, parents’ rights and public funding of religious education, it’s easy to forget that many students at many schools across the country routinely do amazing work.

British author Malorie Blackman has become the first children’s and young adult writer to be awarded the PEN Pinter Prize. The 60-year-old has written more than 70 novels, including the popular Noughts And Crosses series.

Principals are more than twice as likely as after-school program personnel to say the primary focus of after-school programs for elementary, middle, and high school students should be providing academic support, according to a new Education Week Research Center survey.

The authors will join Bell Multicultural High School (Washington, D.C.) students to make the case for defending the right to read and the joy in claiming that right. The discussion will take place at the largest library event in the world, the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibitions, held in Washington, D.C., June 24-27. 

An alternative program at Camden’s Woodrow Wilson High School is giving students who fell behind a chance to catch up to their classmates. On Friday, 31 who completed the program will get diplomas.

To better prepare students for the more demanding work they’ll face in high school, districts and schools should focus on building a transition action team and developing a statement of need.

Middle grade English students can struggle to focus during independent reading time. They need structure to not only continue reading their book but also to improve their reading comprehension and other skills. Different activities and reading strategies can help keep them engaged and also give you a better understanding of their reading needs.

On the 150th anniversary of the Awards, a winner and two honor books were selected in each of three categories, picture books, fiction and poetry, and nonfiction, the Horn Book announced today.

Adolescents in the U.S. are chronically sleep-deprived, in part because most schools start too early. This summer, California will become the first state in the nation to require later start times.

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois struggled for a solution. One state excels at both.

As the year ends, high school teachers and administrators can assess their schools’ traditions, celebrations, and student leadership practices.

New research has found further evidence of the relationship between teenage well-being and online engagement. The study, from Trinity College in Dublin, contributes to mounting international evidence on the dangers of high levels of social media use. However, the opposite end of the spectrum isn’t all that better. In today’s connected world, a low social media presence is also associated with poor mental health among adolescents.

These findings support the goldilocks hypothesis – there is a point between low and high social media use that is “just right” for young people. This is the first time the goldilocks theory has been examined in Irish teenagers and young adults.

A new UC Davis study of young Adolescents suggests that intelligence is malleable. The study suggests that low achievers can improve their grades with specific learning methods.

In classrooms throughout Fernbank Science Center, 45 middle school girls are lost in another world, one they’ve created in Minecraft. For the past two weeks, the DeKalb County students have participated in a program called Girls Who Game. Through a partnership with Dell Technologies and Microsoft, Girls Who Game works to provide equitable opportunities for girls. It exposes students to creative problem-solving, communication and collaboration. Maybe a new career path.

Overall, high school applications are down amid declining enrollment, but more students are getting accepted into top-choice schools. The bigger concern is that prestigious schools enroll few Black and Latino students.

Roanoke, VA public schools has more than 1,630 students eligible for EL services, which is nearly 12% of about 14,000 students in the division. The number of EL students has grown by 50% over the past nine years. With that increase the number of teachers and the amount of government funding allocated for English learning have grown, as well.

Adolescents with ASD had numerically higher rates of self-harm among both boys and girls then the adolescents without ASD, respectively.

When students get to middle and high school without strong reading skills, the results can be devastating. In response to a recent Chalkbeat survey, dozens of parents and educators described secondary students who refuse to read out loud for fear of being teased, who can’t understand math word problems or science vocabulary, and gradually give up on school altogether. They worried such students face poor job prospects and bleak futures.

Read the pet profiles written by students at Booker T. Middle School in Newport News. According to the shelter’s executive director Alison Fechino, the group’s engagement and development director asked teachers at Booker T. for help recently. The teachers allowed 7th grade students to write profiles for the pets as part of an extra credit public service announcement assignment. As of Thursday afternoon, the shelter has 91 dogs in the building, it’s down to two open cages and the shelter also has 46 dogs in foster care, said shelter director Amanda McQuarry.