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.
In 2012, after child advocates spent years trying to reduce punitive suspensions in schools, Massachusetts passed sweeping education reforms under Chapter 222, kickstarting a longstanding policy shift away from exclusionary discipline methods. The law came as the nation moved away from the Zero-Tolerance policies of the 1990s and toward efforts to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. […]
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. In school lunchrooms around Lake Tahoe, students line up for a red, hairy fruit called a rambutan. On pozole day, they shout, “We want more!” And when the salad bar runs dry, they ask the staff to refill it — over and over. […]
Fourth grade literacy gains earned Mississippi national acclaim. But that achievement tapers off as students advance to higher grades. Lawmakers are putting millions toward changing that. Mississippi has seen the least progress across subject areas in eighth grade reading scores, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and performs near the bottom compared to […]
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. California librarians were stunned when a last-minute budget change stripped K-12 schools of a trove of research materials, potentially leaving thousands of students without resources to do reports, projects or homework assignments. Without notice to schools or librarians, the Legislature last week canceled […]
Students in all Illinois public schools will soon have to abide by rules barring them from using cellphones or other personal electronic communication devices during school hours unless they have been given specific permission to use them. Although many districts already have similar policies in place, Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday that will require all districts […]
The same day The New York Times published its investigation of labor rights leader César Chávez’s alleged actions of sexual abuse, Bakersfield College professor Oliver Rosales was scheduled to teach his class, History of Chicanos in the Southwest. His planned lecture happened to be on the farmworker movement. But on that day in March, he […]
Learning to read and write cursive was once a rite of passage for practically every American schoolchild. Until the early 20th century, children in the U.S. were generally taught to write in cursive or script, rather than the print writing typically taught to young children today. Some people at the time thought a person’s character could be […]
Ask a teen what they want to be when they grow up, and there’s a fair chance being an influencer is on their list. Digital media and the people who star in it have been cultural mainstays for teens’ entire lives, so creating social media, video or podcast content seems a natural, albeit nontraditional, career path. And […]
The first step to solving a reading delay is knowing it exists. Decades of research have found that all children learn to read by developing the same core skills. This applies to children with dyslexia, English language learners and those reading well beyond grade level. Per the science of reading, some kids just need more […]
More than a dozen Delaware public schools, mostly in New Castle County, are operating at less than 60% capacity, according to data from the Delaware Department of Education. Five of those are more than half empty. The phenomenon of half-empty school buildings has prompted Delaware’s House Speaker Mimi Minor Brown (D-New Castle) to question whether they […]
This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here. When students return to school this fall in the Salamanca City Central School District in Western New York, a new kind of teacher will be ready to greet them. The small, rural […]
Mary Derfel, assistant director of early literacy at North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Office of Early Learning, recently heard Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen describe the dream that shaped his childhood. “As a kid,” Derfel recalled Hansen saying, “I knew I wanted to go to the moon. What I learned is that I can’t get […]
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday vowed to pass legislation punishing public schools that do not remove graphic books from their shelves by knocking them down a notch in the state’s annual school performance ratings, which the state uses to seize control of underperforming districts. Flanked by easels displaying printed covers of books he found […]
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is seeking reelection this November, received a key endorsement on his education policies from the state’s largest union this week. Monday’s announcement marks the third time the Illinois Education Association, which represents more than 135,000 teachers, professors, and support staff statewide, has endorsed Pritzker for governor. The Illinois Federation of Teachers […]
To improve school attendance in a state with one of the nation’s highest absenteeism rates, Oregon education officials on Tuesday presented lawmakers with a plan to repeal existing attendance laws. The high-level presentation and 20-page report presented to the Senate Interim Education Committee described a strategy to replace existing attendance laws “rooted in compliance” with […]
Courtney Buuck thought there was some kind of mistake. When she learned that she received a $40,000 bonus payment on top of her base teacher’s salary last fall, she was in shock. Like other staff at United Schools of Indianapolis’ three charter schools, she was eligible for a bonus based on her year-end evaluation score. […]
Weeks before the first day of school, teachers across Mississippi say state leaders have made it more difficult for them to access money for classroom supplies. Educators have to complete training before they’re able to spend the money the state gives them for classroom supplies, but teachers say the live training has been hard to […]
During the school year, Mānoa Heritage Center hosts students of all ages learning about native plants, Hawaiian culture and history. But on a recent summer morning, teachers donned name tags, explored the gardens and diligently took notes as they became students for the day. On Thursday, 20 educators gathered for a professional development workshop, spending […]
On a warm Tuesday in late July, a blue van marked with a Transylvania County Schools logo pulled into a gravel driveway and let out a light honk. Seconds later, the door of a house swung open. Two children bounded down the steps and into the arms of the van’s passengers — school nutrition employees […]
A new partnership in Detroit will provide middle schoolers through adult learners with access to resources designed to help residents enter and complete college, with hubs expected to open on the city’s east and west sides this fall. Graduate 313, a partnership between the Jamie and Denise Jacob Family Foundation and Detroit College Access Network, […]
Walk into any college library and you will likely see students wearing headphones and listening to music. The idea that music can improve learning has been around for decades. The “Mozart Effect,” is the pop psychology myth, first hypothesized in a 1993 paper, that listening to classical music can help people retain and process new […]
Walk into any college library and you will likely see students wearing headphones and listening to music. The idea that music can improve learning has been around for decades. The “Mozart Effect,” is the pop psychology myth, first hypothesized in a 1993 paper, that listening to classical music can help people retain and process new […]
Upbeat on-hold music blared from Jerrica Mickens’ cellphone for nearly 50 minutes as she searched on her laptop for affordable housing for a parent in Detroit. Mickens was on a three-way call with a mother and a legal aide hotline the morning of April 21 in her Central High School office. As the two waited […]
Screen time limits for Los Angeles Unified School District’s youngest students begin in August. “My hope and expectation is that most families will see a dramatic reduction in screen time during the school day, but also in the evenings, as mandated by school,” said Nick Melvoin, who represents the Westside’s Board District 4. While LAUSD […]
On June 26, Children’s Aid was preparing to continue summer sexual health and youth development programming in schools, foster care settings and community organizations across New York City. By the end of the day, the federal funding behind that work was gone. The Trump administration terminated Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants nationwide with immediate effect, […]
A heavy, authoritative thud echoed through the Hawai‘i House chamber as Speaker Rilynn Kawaikoʻolilihilihiokalikolehua Perez brought down the gavel. Student delegates settled into their seats, shuffling papers and readying for another round of debate: ʻAha ʻŌpio was back in session. The big topic of the day was vaping, with a proposal on the floor to […]
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Soon after Patriots defended Charles Town at Fort Moultrie in 1776, the regiment received a flag embroidered with acorns, a battle drum and an early version of the crescent that would eventually adorn the state flag. Almost exactly 250 years later, the same flag will be on display at the State Museum starting Saturday, […]
Gov. Josh Stein, alongside the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Secretary Dev Sangvai and leadership at Broughton Hospital, announced the first ever health care apprenticeship program within state government on July 16. The Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities Skills, Training and Employment Pathways North Carolina (STEP-NC) is a partnership between NCDHHS, […]
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s newly released diaries have reignited the fight over whether he bears any responsibility for the disastrous pandemic-era school closures. Fauci’s critics, like Sen. Rand Paul, have seized on diary entries detailing his conversations with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio just prior to that city’s 2020 shutdown. But that criticism errs […]
More than a decade ago, Queens teacher Nicole Radosti Pipia’s fifth- and sixth-grade students seemed to love reading novels in school. “The Giver” by Lois Lowry was prized for its mystery. “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio taught them about kindness and acceptance. “Freak the Mighty” by Rodman Philbrick showed them the power of friendship. Now, she said, they don’t read […]
Parents pushing back against technology in the classroom have so far directed their anger toward major corporations like Google and Curriculum Associates, the company behind the widely used i-Ready platform. But the “techlash” took a turn last week when seven families in a Philadelphia suburb sued their school district in federal court for not allowing […]
At Pearl City High School, teacher Tammy Yoon is determined to teach students the basics of personal finance. How to write a check. How to calculate interest on a car loan. How to run a cost-benefit analysis on whether to attend college. The students even study pay stubs and discuss why take-home pay is less […]
Supporters of teaching high school students “soft” skills such as communication, critical thinking and teamwork usually tout how they can help succeed in a job or even help students get into college. Starting this fall, there’s a new, more tangible benefit — college credits. All seven schools in the University of Maine system, plus two […]
This summer, 81% of third graders at Nashville Classical East scored proficient in reading on our rigorous state test, the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. To put these results in perspective, four years ago, the third grade ELA proficiency rate was 40% – nearly 30 points below its pre-pandemic highs. Moreover, according to a Universal Reading […]
Several years into California’s robust expansion of public transitional kindergarten, private preschool providers are facing challenges that could ultimately upend care for young children of all ages. The program, which comes at no cost to families, added a new, pre-kindergarten grade level to public school districts throughout the state. The 2026-27 school year marks the […]
Alaska saw an unprecedented wave of school closures this year. District officials grappling with severe budget shortfalls have opted to close 12 elementary and middle schools across the state — in Anchorage, Wasilla, Sutton, Seward, Sterling, Soldotna, Kasilof and Ketchikan. With those closures, hundreds of students and staff will bus or commute to new schools […]
While the U.S. celebrates over the Fourth of July weekend, four candidates will be vying for the top post of the nation’s largest teachers union. The National Education Association’s leadership election will decide the replacement for President Becky Pringle and other officers during the union’s annual representative assembly from July 3 to 7 in Denver. […]
New York City education officials are hitting pause on releasing comprehensive artificial intelligence guidelines after their draft policy from March sparked fierce backlash. Officials initially said their final guidance would be released in June, but backed away from that timeline during a Wednesday City Council hearing focused on AI in schools. Instead, the policy guidance […]
Stephania Zamorano has been an educator in New York City for 15 years. Since 2021, she has worked at Imagine Early Learning Centers, a childcare organization that serves nearly 600 children across 12 sites, soon to be 13, in the New York metropolitan area. Zamorano described her time at Imagine as quite different from her […]
PETERSBURG, Va. — For years, the schools here have been stuck in a very bad place. As Petersburg’s once-booming manufacturing base hollowed out, crime increased and residents’ health worsened. Along the way, places for kids to be kids disappeared, and many of them stopped coming to school. Over the last year, about a quarter of […]
During Pride month last year, almost 70,000 LGBTQ+ young people sought specialized help from 988, the national suicide and crisis hotline. That was the last time they were able to do so. As of today, it’s been a year since the 988 hotline’s LGBTQ+ youth services shut down. The Trump administration says it is working […]
A new legal challenge to Texas’ school funding system renews questions about what methods state leaders should use to ensure students in low-income districts and those attending campuses in more affluent communities receive an education on a level playing field. The Midland school district voted to sue Education Commissioner Mike Morath and state leaders this […]
In 2020, voters in California’s Alameda County made a remarkable decision. Rather than accept generations of underinvestment in young children, they chose to build something families had never truly had: an early childhood system designed to work. Parents, early educators, childcare providers, labor leaders, business leaders, advocates and community organizations came together around a shared […]
OKLAHOMA CITY — State leaders say they’re still pursuing solutions to reverse a yearslong decline in traditionally trained teachers entering the classroom, all while emergency certified educators continue to fill essential teaching roles. The number of graduates completing Oklahoma teacher preparation programs, including college degrees in education, has fallen by about 40% since 2013, state […]
A few years ago, education experts noticed that scores were climbing upwards on a number of Advanced Placement tests. The increases, measured on some of the program’s most popular assessments, were as significant as they were unexpected. In AP Chemistry, the share of students scoring a 3, 4 or 5 (generally interpreted as a passing […]
The Arizona Supreme Court effectively killed a ballot measure that would have brought significant oversight and an income cap to the state’s school voucher-like program in a ruling Tuesday. The battle over the measure brought high drama to the desert — and exposed cracks forming between conservatives over oversight of the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, […]
As schools reopen amid a national surge in measles cases, California students will continue to follow the state’s existing vaccination requirements, despite President Donald Trump’s latest effort to change the country’s childhood vaccine schedule. California has the authority to determine which immunizations are required for students to attend school. The state will continue to follow […]
Remember when Labor Day was the unofficial end of summer and schools started up again after that? Your kids probably don’t either. The 2026-27 school year started Wednesday in Frederick County, and the remaining 23 school systems will all be back in class within less than two weeks — almost a full week before they […]
The parents are not all right. Between financial strain and rising costs, balancing work and caregiving responsibilities, and navigating how to best support children’s well-being during trying times, parents — especially those with young kids — are feeling overwhelmed. Multiple surveys of American parents over the past few years have revealed that pressures are mounting. […]
With new state-level programs quickly redrawing the map of school choice over the last few years, a central question may determine the movement’s continued success: Does greater familiarity with charter schools, vouchers, or education savings accounts actually make people view them more positively? Two recent studies seek to provide an answer, assembling compelling evidence of […]