Before COVID, 40 to 60 percent of students were showing signs of disengagement in learning, according to national surveys. The pandemic exacerbated students' disengagement, especially among the most vulnerable youth. Although researchers do not yet fully know the extent of disengagement during COVID and the long-term consequences of this…

States' annual testing data for spring 2021 showed that unfinished learning in the wake of COVID-19 is most pronounced--and most troubling--in math. In Texas, nearly 40 percent of students failed the state's math exam in 2021. In Indiana, only 37 percent were proficient in math, down from 48 percent in 2019. Many states saw similar results. What…

Teachers have long struggled with the tension between ensuring a rigorous education for all their students and the reality that students arrive at the start of a school year with vastly different skills and conceptual understandings. The tension can be even more acute in math, which relies heavily on students mastering foundational concepts in…

Although it affects as many as one in five individuals in the United States and 80 percent of all children labeled as learning disabled, dyslexia remains poorly understood in educational circles. It was the science supporting the clinical diagnosis of dyslexia that led Laura, a physician, and others to start a public charter school in Baton Rouge…

Health education offers a natural curricular home for important life skills and ways students can optimize physical, social, and emotional health. Although many schools have implemented social and emotional learning (SEL), health education provides a broader framework by encompassing the connections between physical and emotional health and the…

A number of states have taken steps toward promoting student wellness, with many of their state boards of education in the middle of the action. This article contains some examples of states leading on student wellness by addressing physical fitness, social and emotional learning (SEL), and mental health supports. The Every Student Succeeds Act…