1. Rust Belt Reading Revival
READ: Steubenville, Ohio has achieved near-universal third-grade reading proficiency by prioritizing early literacy, maintaining consistent leadership, and ensuring low teacher turnover. Chad Aldeman took to the pages of The 74 to praise the high-poverty district for its standout results and argued it defies the notion that only wealthy districts can deliver top results:
It’s not that the district has extra money or more staff. Steubenville spent $10,718 per student last year, which was about $1,500 less than the average Ohio district and well below many other districts in America. It also had slightly more students per teacher than other comparable districts.
Read more here.
2. Rethinking Math Education
READ: In his latest piece for Education Next, Joel Rose argued that a math education tied to grade levels has failed students and led to increased learning gaps. Rose said schools that shift to personalized, multimodal learning based on student readiness will dramatically improve outcomes and transform math education:
The tools and capabilities to move beyond an age-grade mindset are now within our grasp. Thoughtfully deployed, they can enable true differentiated learning, with multiple modalities unlocking the ability to differentiate learning pace in ways that far exceed what happens in most classrooms today.
Divorce can be sad, but sometimes it’s necessary. The courage to persevere through it can open up new opportunities for all involved. On the other side of this divorce is a new world where math classrooms are designed to meet each student’s needs, where teachers have a more sustainable and fulfilling role, and where families can become true partners in their child’s success.
Read more in Education Next here.
3. Busing’s Legacy
LISTEN: Was school busing really a failed integration policy? Jerusalem Demsas at The Atlantic interviewed economist Ethan Kaplan about a new study from Jefferson County, Kentucky, that suggests white students who were bused to underfunded black schools in 1970s Kentucky were significantly more likely to identify as Democrats and support redistributive policies and unions decades later. Kaplan attributes this not to racial empathy, but instead to the experience of witnessing poverty firsthand.
Read the full transcript here and listen to the episode here.
4. Religion and the Future of Charters
READ: As the Supreme Court prepares to hear St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, Nina Rees wrote for Education Next about the importance of the case, and why it could redefine the nature of charter schools in the U.S. A ruling for St. Isidore, Rees says, could redefine charters as private schools, risking public funding and reshaping the nation’s largest school choice strategy:
If the energies driving the school choice movement are funneled into private enterprises, public schools could be doomed to remain extensions of the district bureaucracies that have too long controlled them. At a time when the country needs more educational options, not fewer, this would be a major setback for parents and kids.
Read more in Education Next here.
5. Schools Defend Immigrant Students
READ: As Trump-era immigration policies intensify, schools are navigating heightened deportation fears by emphasizing student safety and inclusion, publicly advocating for their students, and forming partnerships with immigration and mental health non-profits to support their broader communities. Ileana Najarro and Caitlyn Peetz at Education Week spoke with school leaders who say they’re committed to doing everything they can to support the young people they serve:
“I can’t say to every student, ‘When you get home at the end of the day, your parents are going to be there,’ because I don’t know what might happen in a place of work or at the grocery store,” [Leyden High School District superintendent Nick] Polyak said. “But I can tell them that here, we love all of our students, and we want them here.”
Read more here.
6. Maine vs. Trump
READ: President Trump is taking Maine to court over a trans athlete’s pole vault win, threatening to cut school funding over the state’s inclusive sports policies. Maine has refused to comply with Trump’s executive order banning students assigned male at birth from participating in female sports, prompting the federal government to launch aggressive and unusual Title IX investigations. The dispute has fueled fears across the country about the implications for trans rights and education funding:
“This is really an administration that is trying to bully people and schools to do what they want by discarding all the protections and norms that usually accompany a civil rights investigation,” said [Seth] Galanter, who worked in the Education Department until January. “If they can do that successfully around trans kids, then they can do it around kids with disabilities, or English learner kids, or other kids who really need federal protection.”
Read more from Kalyn Belsha in Chalkbeat here.
7. Columbia Under Court Watch?
READ: The Trump administration may impose a consent decree on Columbia University due to what it says is a failure to act in good faith and address concerns about antisemitism on campus. The threat follows the cancellation of $400 million in federal funding and comes as Columbia is seeking to minimize public scrutiny and avoid further funding losses:
“This is the classic between a rock and a hard place,” said Armand Alacbay, senior vice president of strategy at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
A spokesperson for Columbia said, “The university remains in active dialogue with the federal government to restore its critical research funding.”
Read more Liz Essley Whyte and Douglas Belkin in The Wall Street Journal here.
Heads up: Imbroglio will take a short break and return on Saturday, May 10.