• Education News Unleashed

    COVID & Schools: New Research Shows Younger Children Most Scarred By Lockdowns

    COVID & Schools: New Research Shows Younger Children Most Scarred By Lockdowns Receive stories like these directly to your email. Subscribe to Newsletter. This is our weekly update on how the pandemic is shaping schools and education policies. It has been reviewed by AEI Visiting Fellow John Bailey. You can find the complete archive by clicking here. Sign up for Newsletter to receive this weekly summary and daily updates in your inbox. Younger Children Experiencing the Greatest Impact from COVID Lockdowns: According to The Guardian, recent research conducted in the UK reveals concerning findings. Teachers reported aggressive behavior such as biting and hitting, as well as difficulties in class and…

  • Education News Unleashed

    Parents Get Training To Support Children’s Learning

    Educators working to address childhood adversity often find themselves facing a dual challenge: developing the ability to focus and exhibit self-control in both children and their parents. In Washington state’s Innovation by Design Initiative, organizations like Childhaven are striving to break the cycle of intergenerational hardship by promoting executive function skills such as attention, impulse control, decision-making, and resilience in adults and children simultaneously. Vicki Nino Osby, the senior vice president for program operations at Childhaven, explained that many of the children they serve come from homes where their parents also experienced toxic stress and trauma during their own upbringing. This makes it even more challenging for parents to instill…

  • Education News Unleashed

    Maine Rallies Behind Rules For Athletics

    Youth athletes are increasingly expressing their concerns about unruly fans, overbearing coaches, and the pressures associated with elite travel teams. In response, superintendents, sports officials, and parents in Maine have come together to support a major initiative that aims to create more positive athletic experiences for young people. This initiative, called "Sports Done Right: A Call to Action on Behalf of Maine’s Student-Athletes," is being hailed as a national model. To learn more about this initiative, you can visit the Maine Center for Sport and Coaching’s website. Over 400 individuals from across the state gathered in Augusta earlier this month for the release of "Sports Done Right." The report, which…

  • Education News Unleashed

    Massive Fund To Offer Retirement Plans For K-12 Teachers

    TIAA-CREF, a pension fund with a value of $200 billion, is looking to expand its reach into the state-run pension plans for teachers, which is a massive market. This decision comes after the company’s tax-exempt status was revoked due to a federal tax law change. Previously, the tax exemption prevented the fund from offering retirement plans to elementary and secondary teachers in public schools, except those at private schools. However, now all of the nation’s 3 million public school teachers can benefit from the fund. Tom Pinto, a spokesperson for the New York City-based company, stated that they are exploring opportunities that were previously unavailable to them due to their…

  • Education News Unleashed

    Home Instruction For An Epileptic Student Solves Idaho School

    Linda Royse, a student in Moscow, attends a unique one-room school. However, it is different from the traditional rural one-room schools that are still found in some communities. Linda’s school is actually a spare bedroom in her parents’ home, which is a modest tract home owned by Donald Royse, a barber, and his wife Mary. Linda, who is fourteen years old, suffers from severe epileptic seizures. These seizures began nine years ago when she fell from a church stage and ruptured a major blood vessel in her brain. Despite taking a powerful medication for her epilepsy, Linda’s seizures have become more frequent and more severe over time. Linda is one…

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    Court Showdown Over Fla. Vouchers Nears

    The Florida Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether the state’s original school voucher program, known as Opportunity Scholarships, violates the state constitution. This case has gained national attention as educators and families eagerly await the court’s decision. The main issue at hand is whether these vouchers, which are available to students enrolled in Florida’s lowest-rated public schools, go against the prohibition on using public funds in religious institutions. A ruling is expected prior to the start of the new school year in August. However, the implications of this decision extend beyond the 720 students currently utilizing Opportunity Scholarships to attend private schools, whether religious or secular. Both…

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    5-Year Study Faults Placement Practices For LEP Students

    The types of educational services provided to children with limited English proficiency are primarily determined by local conditions and the resources available in the school district. This is what a study conducted by the U.S. Education Department found, as it tracked the progress of LEP elementary-school students over a five-year period. The study concluded that factors such as school and classroom size, as well as the number of LEP students, have a greater influence on the placement of these students than their individual academic needs or English proficiency levels. However, the study did note that English proficiency does play a minor role in assigning services, particularly in the earlier grades.…

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    Young Mothers At University: ‘I Breastfed At 5am While Writing Essays’

    At the age of 19, I started attending university with my newborn baby who was only 12 weeks old at the time. While my peers were busy making friends and acquaintances, I was preoccupied with breastfeeding my child and worrying about how expensive diapers were. Life as an Oxford student and mother was nothing I had ever expected, and it was made worse by the fact that one of my fellow students thought my "baby" was a play doll. While it is no longer uncommon for pregnant women to receive scholarships or for mothers to pursue a higher education, student parents are still largely ignored and forgotten. I tried to…

  • Education News Unleashed

    Teacher Who Groped Schoolboy Jailed

    A man who worked as a teacher at a primary school in Blackpool, Lancashire, has been sentenced to a year in prison for sexually assaulting a nine-year-old boy during a physical education lesson in June 2004. Anthony Watson, who worked as a geography, IT and PE teacher at the school, initially denied the boy’s claims, but later pleaded guilty to the crime, as well as nine counts of possessing indecent images of children. Following his arrest, police found over 500 pornographic images of children on laptops in Watson’s home, and he admitted to a sexual fascination with pre-teenage boys. Dennis Watson, the prosecuting lawyer, stated Watson’s actions during this case…