Friday News Roundup

Here’s your Friday News Roundup.

$200 Rent, District Supe as Landlord: Affordable Teacher Housing Is on the Rise (The 74)

There are school districts that expect their teachers to live inside the school district’s boundaries. The districts pay the teachers $60,000 a year while housing costs run that teacher 1/3 to ½ of that annual income.

Some school districts are committed to help teachers afford housing that better fits into their family budgets.

The 74 reported this week that districts in Harrison, Colorado and Kansas City, Missouri are building homes for their teachers and their families. Superintendents in those districts are actually considered the landlords in this setup.

The article goes on to say that housing costs have increased roughly 50% on average from 2019 to 2025 nationwide.

Kids’ Social Media Use Linked to Lower Reading and Memory Scores, Study Suggest (EducationWeek)

Is social media a learning tool or interference to a kids’ ability to learn reading, writing, and problem-solving skills?

According to EducationWeek,

“There may be a link between social media use during early adolescence and lower cognitive performance, a new study suggests.”

“The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, on October 13, found that 9- to 13-year-olds with rising levels of social media exposure performed poorer on reading, memory, and vocabulary tests compared with their peers who used little to no social media.”

“The findings come as hundreds of school districts have sued major social media companies claiming their products are eroding students’ mental health and ability to learn, and forcing schools to devote significant resources to managing the academic and behavioral fallout.”

There’s not doubt that our traditional school districts have no clue how to use social media for educational purposes.

The key is a balance between in-person learning and device-based (including social media) instruction.

Too many districts see the choice as an “either/or” instead of an “and.”

“Disappointing”: Ohio’s Science of Reading Switch Not Yet Bringing Results (The 74)

Ohio doubled down on the promise that many Republicans see with “the science of reading.” Early test results in the Buckeye State have been disappointing.

According to The 74, “Ohio’s drive to boost reading scores using the science of reading has had a rocky start in the two years since Governor Mike DeWine fought for the change, with scores going in the wrong direction.”

“Even with millions spent on new textbooks, and teachers required to take online science of reading training, third grade English Language Arts proficiency fell from 62% in the spring of 2023 to 61% earlier this year.”

What many Republicans (and Democrats at that) don’t understand is that there isn’t one remedy to creating strong readers. Readers become smarter and stronger by building a personalized learning plan, a plan that meets the needs of each learner at the exact time that need should be met.

Buying textbooks for an entire state, expecting all learners to fall in line with a state-approved curriculum, is just so 20^th century.

Play-Based Learning in Kindergarten Is Making a Comeback. Here’s What It Means (EducationWeek)

Finally, a piece of good news.

I’m a big fan of play-based learning. We don’t let our kids do it enough in this country.

EducationWeek reported earlier this week that,

“Decisionmakers in some states and districts have begun to heed concerns raised by…education experts about the direction kindergarten has taken. As a result, some schools are returning play to its prominent role in kindergarten.”

If you ever want to learn about the importance of play to learning, read Caroline Pratt’s book “I Learn from Children.” If you’re like me, that book will change the way you believe American education should be presented.

Are “Good” Schools Good for All Students? The Answer Seems to Be Yes (The 74)

The 74 cited this week a report from the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research that concluded, “low performing students experience the largest performance gains when attending districts where students generally excel.”

What that conclusion basically means is that “rising waters raise all ships.” Or, in other words, focus on all learners, support all of them while the work to define, plan, execute, and evaluate their own learning. Don’t track kids, meaning putting them in different levels of performance throughout the school.

Building school capacity means building capacity for all young learners.

Exclusive: As Feds Step Back, States Step Up Sharing Ways to Boost Student Achievement (The 74)

The traditional K-12 system is seriously under-performing. And this under-performing comes exactly at a time when the federal government is withdrawing from the K-12 landscape, and leaving states to fend for themselves.

One of those state struggling is Illinois.

“So when the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University announced it was planning a new state collaborative aimed at helping states identify, study and share their most effective school improvement policies, Illinois knew it would have something special to share.”

Other states participating in the Harvard project are Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas.

The 74 reports that,

“The effort comes as the most recent math and reading scores for high schoolers plummet to record lows, chronic absenteeism soars and more and more students graduate without the skills necessary to be successful in college or the workplace.”

Sharing practice is important. But the big question is whether “red” states can share practice with “blue” states, and vice versa?

Or, will it be a case whereby we have two different educational systems – one Republican and one Democrat – trying to improve reading, writing, and problem-solving skills for our kids?

That’s your Friday News Roundup for October 24^th. Til Monday. SVB