Named after the hundred-eyed watchman of Greek myth, Argus watches the education landscape: spotting new opportunities, pressure-testing the ventures we're building, and tracing every read back to the real-world signals behind it.
The evidence library: the raw signals the pipeline is watching across the education ecosystem. Every idea is built from these.
Two days before the sweltering July 4 weekend, Martina Meijer, a New York City elementary teacher who occasionally substitutes over the summer, covered a class. The city’s summer school program had just begun and that day temperatures reached 100 degrees. “Even though the AC was on, it wasn’t working very well,” said Meijer. “There was […] The post Too hot for summer school? appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Cori Space spent her freshman year of high school in Madison, Alabama, trying to keep up with her coursework while managing her celiac disease and other health problems that her school wouldn’t accommodate. For her sophomore year, her family opted for the Alabama Destinations Career Academy, a public, virtual school that promised a jump-start on […] The post Online career training is growing – does it work? appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
High school came with more responsibility and less accountability for Josiah Ulukita. Courses were much harder, teachers were less strict about attendance, and it was easier to skip school with friends or go on his phone during class, said 16-year-old Ulukita, who attends Kaimuki High School in Honolulu. He went from easily passing middle school […] The post A national divide over holding back students: Some states do it young, others wait until high school appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — As Pete Hall kicked off a four-day unit on gambling prevention in April, he asked his high school health class what comes to mind when they hear “sports betting.” Fantasy football. Money. Socially engaging. Power. Control. Students typed on their laptops as Hall read their answers aloud. “Adrenaline. Excitement. That sounds like […] The post Schools doubling down on education to protect boys from gambling problems appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
When Jodi Carreon’s son returned to school full time after the pandemic, she expected teachers would roll back the use of the laptops they had relied on while students were home. But soon after her son started second grade, Carreon realized he was still using a Chromebook throughout the day. Then the teacher sent a […] The post Schools try to block kids from accessing dangerous content and games online. Little kids are outsmarting them appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
SPOKANE, Wash. — One week after evacuating from the wildfires that devastated parts of this eastern Washington city, Mareesha Backman handed over her youngest son to a stranger and took her first deep breath of relief. Spokane Public Schools was hosting what has become a growing part of disaster response: a day camp for children […] The post When natural disasters strike, these camps give kids a safe place to recover appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
For as long as anyone remembers, no child care center on Kauaʻi has had a single opening for an infant or toddler. Not one. On this tropical island lush with vegetation, the child care landscape is desolate. Kauaʻi is the only major Hawaiian island that has gone without center-based infant and toddler care for most […] The post The island without child care for babies appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
For as long as anyone remembers, no childcare center on Kauaʻi has had a single opening for an infant or toddler. Not one. On this tropical island lush with vegetation, the childcare landscape is desolate. Kauaʻi is the only major Hawaiian island that has gone without center-based infant and toddler care for most of the […] The post The island without childcare for babies appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
ASHLAND, Ore. — When Ulysses McCready was in fifth grade, a group of Southern Oregon University music students hauled instruments to Orchard Hill Elementary School to help get local kids excited about joining the middle school band. It worked on McCready, who picked up the flute and soon fell in love with music. “That day […] The post Could a public campus really close? The fight to save Southern Oregon University appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
FOLSOM, Calif. — At Folsom Lake College’s main administrative building, a flyer on the wall tells undocumented students, “You can still go to college in California even with the current political climate.” “Keep going,” it says. “You are not alone.” Nearby is Alicia Alejo’s office at the Undocu-Falcons Center, where the student support specialist helps undocumented […] The post California encourages undocumented students to go to college. But some are losing hope appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
In James Bell’s math class at Chapman High School, sophomores are trying to pinpoint exactly where two lines cross. The students in this rural Kansas high school already solved for that meeting point in previous lessons, using graphs and other techniques. But this recent lesson shows them how to use a matrix — a box […] The post Blending algebra and geometry: An approach to high school math slowly gains favor appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
BENZONIA, Mich. — Maggie Bacon is seeking men. On a recent Friday, she attached flyers about an upcoming education and training fair to more than 500 pizza boxes, one of the ways she’s tried to persuade men in this northern Michigan town to enroll in college, a certificate program or even just a single course. […] The post Advertising, training fairs, free tuition: How one state is trying to get more men into college appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
When Imperial Valley College launched a new program training students to become plant operators and technicians in the emerging lithium industry, Corban Dillon enrolled in the inaugural class. He’d spent the first part of his career working for his family’s courier business in this part of southeastern California, but it faltered after the pandemic and […] The post In California’s ‘Lithium Valley,’ students are training for jobs that haven’t yet materialized appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
MONTPELIER, Vt. — All red brick and white trim and dating from as far back as the 1870s, the buildings that frame a grassy quad on a hill above Vermont’s capital city comprise the quintessential college campus. Behind the scenes, this holdover from the 19th century is where a group of business, college and government […] The post Business, government and education leaders try to reinvent college from scratch appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — For the last year, Niagara Falls High School senior Ciara Johnson has ripped up tile, torn out walls and built custom cabinets in her high school construction class. To get a taste of each of the trades, the students here have been renovating the former cafeteria kitchen in the old high […] The post As fewer young people choose college, this district wants to ensure they have career options appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
More than a decade of data from schools across the U.S. shows stark divides in who is held back: Boys are more likely than girls to repeat a grade, and Black boys are held back at nearly three times the rate of white boys. Overall, schools are holding back fewer students than they were more […] The post Who gets held back? Black boys, by a 3-1 ratio compared to white boys appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
The Hechinger Report is creating a print edition, and wants young artists to contribute. Find out more here. This spring, I spoke to a mom in suburban Washington, D.C., who was growing increasingly worried about a lack of filters on her kids’ school devices. During class this year, her kids watched Kendrick Lamar videos on […] The post Many game sites evade school web filters appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
It seemed like a win-win: a proposal to let community colleges in Illinois award bachelor’s degrees in certain subjects to rural residents and working adults who live beyond commuting distance of four-year universities. The change would not only make things “easier and more affordable for students,” according to backers including Gov. JB Pritzker; it would […] The post Facing political attack and falling enrollment, colleges take the fight to … each other appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
We want to know how artificial intelligence use is changing your class time and assignments. Students and teachers at all levels of education are using it, even as researchers work in real time to analyze its effects on learning, good and bad. A majority of students and instructors report using AI regularly, with equal numbers […] The post Help us understand how AI has changed the way you teach appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Like many parents, I remember visits to the pediatrician’s office in my daughter’s earliest years as overwhelming — a swirl of weights and measurements, rushed conversations about sleep training, breastfeeding and tummy time, all while trying to keep the featured attraction (my wiggly baby) from derailing everything. The visits felt especially cramped when someone handed […] The post Developmental screening outside the doctor’s office appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Had Florida’s high school marine biology students read the original draft of their textbook, they would have learned about research that found climate change is killing at least 150,000 people per year, and another 1 degree Celsius of warming would double that. Instead, they learned that “human health will also be affected by the increase […] The post How Florida quietly removed climate change content from textbooks appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
This story was copublished and supported by the journalism nonprofit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. MILWAUKEE — When a doctor told Domininck Tompkins that her 1-year-old’s lead level was too high, she immediately suspected her child was being poisoned at their home, a poorly maintained rental with chipping paint. A few weeks later, when her […] The post How children became this city’s lead detectors appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
In 2020, a 14-inch tall robot named Moxie was introduced to the world as a way to help children build social and emotional skills through conversations and interactive games guided by artificial intelligence. Kids became enthralled and attached to the oblong teal robot, referring to it as their best friend. Four years later, Embodied, the […] The post Don’t let AI raise your kids appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
The students booing artificial intelligence at commencements across the country are not just worried about jobs. They have learned an urgent lesson from the not-so-distant past. They know that the familiar promise of empowerment and creativity will continue to give way to the pathologies of the online surveillance economy: viral slop, commercial manipulation and addictive […] The post OPINION: The days of ‘good guy’ capitalists are over. College students are right to turn against the tech elites appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Each year, we get a pretty good idea of how kids across the country are doing with their math and reading skills. But writing? That’s a different story. Few states test students on how well they can write, and the country hasn’t published national writing test results for elementary-age children since 2002. Regardless, experts say […] The post Writing skills are getting more attention in school appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Over the past few years, Ginger Williams has watched the number of children learning English inch up at the six Head Start sites she runs across Snohomish County, Washington, just north of Seattle. The federally funded preschool program has long been required to provide special support for what it calls “dual language learners.” If a […] The post English-only proposal for Head Start would set kids back, say parents and program leaders appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
This story was originally published by Grist and is reprinted with permission. This fall, 54 million K-12 students are headed back to the classroom for another year of lessons in all the classic subjects: math, English, history, biology. But there’s another subject that’s been sneaking into school curricula: plastics. A new report from the nonprofit […] The post When plastic companies write the lesson plans appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Nine research sessions disappeared from the agenda of one of the nation’s most important early childhood education conferences less than a week before it was set to begin after an unprecedented intervention by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the conference sponsor. The removals affected almost a fifth of the 48 sessions at […] The post HHS removes nearly one-fifth of sessions from early childhood research conference appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Stepping into the schoolyard at the Adolph S. Ochs public school in Manhattan’s bustling Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, you’re greeted by a canopy of trees. Painted sea turtles and birds adorn the pavement. Summer school kids run along the track encircling the green turf field, tossing balls back and forth. Other kids shoot hoops or decompress […] The post The movement to remake school playgrounds as urban climate oases appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Even as job seekers fret about artificial intelligence and tech behemoths announce massive layoffs, Matt Walsh is finding it surprisingly hard to help technology companies hire certain kinds of workers. That’s what Walsh’s recruiting firm, Blue Signal, does. And in specialties including semiconductor production, “the unemployment rate is probably negative 20 percent,” the CEO of […] The post As college graduates fret over finding jobs, a record shortage of workers is projected appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Glass doors lead to the light-filled lobby of a redbrick and limestone chapel at one end of a grassy quad, where lectures and receptions were held and students testified about their faith. Original artwork hangs on the walls on the way to the music department, chaplain’s office and recital hall, along with brass “leaves” listing […] The post Threats of more closings have colleges and students worrying about how to save themselves appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Soon after Alma Guerrero’s youngest child started Head Start in Washington’s Skagit County, one of his teachers pulled the mother of three aside. The boy wasn’t talking, unlike other toddlers his age who are typically using simple words and phrases. Had Guerrero noticed that too? That observation ultimately led to speech therapy for her son, […] The post ‘It wouldn’t be Head Start anymore:’ Providers blast federal proposal to alter preschool program appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Before Kris and Matthew Ferderer could take their 9-month-old daughter, Elliott, home for the first time, they had to receive specialized training to manage her oxygen equipment, feeding tubes and a catheter that delivered medication directly to her heart. Elliott, now 6, was born with a rare heart defect requiring a transplant before she was […] The post States turn to parents to fill a home care workforce gap appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Before Kris and Matthew Ferderer could take their 9-month-old daughter, Elliott, home for the first time, they had to receive specialized training to manage her oxygen equipment, feeding tubes and a catheter that delivered medication directly to her heart. Elliott, now 6, was born with a rare heart defect requiring a transplant before she was […] The post When parenting can draw a paycheck appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Universities across the country are investing in artificial intelligence literacy. Students are attending workshops, experimenting with generative AI tools and earning certificates meant to show that they are ready for an economy shaped by AI. The problem is that we don’t know if these programs help students solve workplace problems, if they open doors to […] The post OPINION: Knowing how to use AI tools is not the same as knowing how to apply them responsibly. Colleges must do more appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
For years, policymakers, educators and employers have debated whether career pathways — programs that connect high school students to postsecondary education and careers — actually work. We’ve framed the conversation as apprenticeship versus college, workforce training versus liberal arts and careers versus academics. While new findings from Rodel and RTI International — in one of […] The post OPINION: We need to ask better questions about how and if career pathways are working appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Harrison Keller was starting only his second year as president of the University of North Texas last fall when he was abruptly confronted with a big problem. Enrollment was down. And the source of the crisis made it much worse: In the wake of Trump administration moves to deny and revoke visas, deport international students […] The post As international enrollment falls, U.S. students face program cuts and higher prices appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
OAKLAND, Calif. — It’s a Friday morning at Oakland Unity Middle School, a public charter school nestled between residential buildings in East Oakland, and Austin Razavi is announcing the morning advisory prompt. “I’ll give you 10, 15 seconds to think about it,” Razavi said to the group of 15 mixed-grade middle school boys who had […] The post Key to helping boys in school: Make them feel safe to be themselves appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Scientists rarely announce that one of their long-held ideas has failed. But that is exactly what Ron Avi Astor, one of the nation’s leading scholars of school violence and a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said before fellow researchers at the annual meeting in April of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). […] The post A leading school shootings researcher says he was wrong appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
In too many classrooms in America, the scene is the same: children staring at tablets, headphones on, silent. Some are working through reading programs. Some have already finished and found their way to something else entirely. The teacher circulates. The education technology industry calls this personalized learning. Somewhere, a dashboard is registering all this as […] The post OPINION: Walking away from education technology isn’t the answer to the latest backlash appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Something essential has been missing from the national conversation about what it will take to improve and sustain early childhood education. We are not producing nearly enough leaders with the specialized expertise to turn good policy ideas into lasting systems that work. Early childhood policy decisions are made every day by people who care deeply […] The post OPINION: The leaders who are shaping early childhood education need better, more professional preparation appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Forget fun runs, PTA bake sales and Saturday morning car washes. The future of public school fundraising may soon look more like a payroll deduction. Or perhaps door-to-door campaigns each tax season asking filers to earmark donations to support nearby public schools. When President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul known as the One Big Beautiful Bill […] The post Private schools have benefited from vouchers. Now public schools aim to cash in appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
CHICAGO — Midway through her graduate nursing program, Yesenia Raithel Vargas made a desperate plea to a Facebook group for other moms in Chicago: Does anyone know a licensed therapist willing to let her sit in on sessions and work with their clients under their supervision? It was a strange ask in the therapy world, […] The post Top-level nurses can’t finish their degrees because of a severe shortage of mentors appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Imagine a student who starts taking college courses while still in high school through a dual-enrollment program. By the time they arrive on campus as a first-year student, they already have credits completed. They are the first in their family to attend a four-year institution. Focused. Capable. Working part-time to help support things at home. […] The post OPINION: The real college crisis isn’t enrollment. It’s completion, and it’s time to start asking why appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
The research behind the influential “science of reading” movement was built over decades through federally supported research spanning cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology, linguistics and classroom studies. Education research organizations say a proposed 100-page sweeping overhaul of federal grant rules, which would add a new review by political appointees, could make it harder to produce similar […] The post Education researchers warn political review of federal grants could reshape what gets studied appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
For years, early childhood leaders have been asked to solve structural problems with predictable answers: Improve quality. Expand access. Support families. Retain educators. Strengthen transitions into kindergarten. All of it matters, but none of it can be fully accomplished with our fragmented system, one in which Head Start, child care, public pre-K, special education and […] The post OPINION: How a small town in rural Maine built a public school that serves a whole community, including infants and toddlers appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Artificial intelligence makes many tasks faster and easier. But a new study suggests that students may learn more when AI makes them slow down. In an experiment involving more than 6,000 middle schoolers in Tennessee, students learned slightly more math when an AI tutor walked them through their mistakes and then required them to demonstrate […] The post Slow math: Kids may learn more when AI makes them review mistakes appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — During the first year and a half of her son’s life, Valerie Gregory did everything she could to help him thrive: She read to him, talked to him, showed up for wellness checks, and whenever possible took him to a weekly playgroup, where both mother and son had the chance to socialize […] The post Most kids miss recommended screening for autism, speech delays appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
The nation was distracted by other things when a quiet warning sounded: Support was diminishing for American academic research that had led to breakthroughs and innovation. That familiar-sounding worry came not this year, but near the end of World War II, in a pivotal government study by the wartime Office of Scientific Research and Development. […] The post Once globally preeminent, U.S. universities are sliding into decline appeared first on The Hechinger Report .
Morgan County, Tennessee, is a rural community shaped by strong relationships, deep attachment to place and a shared commitment to its future. Its public lands and tourism economy are part of that story, as are the intergenerational ties, civic commitment and local institutions that hold the community together. Like many rural areas, Morgan County also […] The post OPINION: Why investing in rural education can bolster local economies and help students build a future close to home appeared first on The Hechinger Report .