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 a step toward giving math the attention early literacy has gotten, the Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would require schools to assess the math capabilities of all students in kindergarten through second grade each year, beginning in 2028-29. The bill would also require districts to provide math support, such as additional coaching […]
Sending children off to their first semester of life away from home can be a nerve-racking experience for many parents and guardians. The world somehow feels scarier today than it was when they went off to college — or at least, social media makes it appear that way. As a result, today’s parents understandably seek […]
Every year, New York City surveys families, teachers and students about their experience with the public schools. The questionnaires are designed to “support a dialogue among all members of a school or program’s community about how to make the school or program a better place for learning.” Unfortunately, they reveal a large disconnect between what […]
At a Board of Regents meeting Monday, state education officials announced that high school graduates in New York could soon start receiving a new type of diploma — one that reflects their skills and knowledge, rather than the number of credits they’ve earned. The new diploma is a central component of New York Inspires, the State Education […]
Indiana’s school choice program leaves its nearly 300,000 rural public school students with fewer options and fewer resources while funding the private education of others. More than one in four Indiana school students, or 28%, reside in rural areas. A recent analysis of each of Indiana’s 82 rural counties found that only eight, or fewer […]
It’s the same picture, every year, when my family visits India. My uncle is sitting right in the middle of the gathering, and yet the conversation never touches him. He has cerebral palsy and depends entirely on others for daily life. He rarely speaks. He rarely joins in. Then someone picks up a guitar. From […]
In one of the opening scenes of “Toy Story 5,” Jessie — a cowgirl doll — tries to find out why the twins who live across the street never want to play with her owner Bonnie. What she finds, when she peers through the window of the neighbor’s home, is the two young children on […]
The Texas State Board of Education will vote Friday on a set of new social studies standards that have drawn fire and fervor for espousing pro-American views and Christian values. If approved, the vote would typically mark the beginning of a long, and probably divisive, process to design curriculum based on the standards. But The […]
By some metrics, things are looking up for the Providence Public School District (PPSD). Students are coming to class more often. Their standardized test scores are rising. And more of them are graduating high school. These are a few of the accomplishments the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) highlights in a 62-page report released […]
BOSTON — Tatiyana Reaves got into trouble recently for writing a one-syllable word — and not the one you’d think. Taking a computer class at her Fayetteville, N.C., high school, she handed in a paper with the offending word: whilst. “[The teacher] called me over, and she was like, ‘I don’t want to see you […]
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 […]
This year, my son’s school sent out a book for the entire district to read, “The One and Only Ivan,” about a gorilla who lives in a cage in a mall on the side of a highway. While the book was deeply depressing, what was even more heartbreaking was the fact that my fourth grader, […]
States are in a tough bind as they contemplate how to address childcare needs. The extra federal money from the pandemic era is gone just as they are trying to swallow higher spending and cost shifts mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans passed last year. Some states have pulled back on […]
When Mississippi overhauled its literacy education in 2013, one of the most controversial pieces was a policy to retain third graders if they couldn’t pass the reading portion of the state’s English language arts assessment. Years later, as education officials across the country have taken notice of Mississippi’s literacy gains, more states have adopted their […]
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, he said. Ulukita went from easily passing middle school to failing freshman English and social studies. After […]
Missouri education officials are preparing to ask lawmakers for roughly $300 million more for public schools next year, setting up a potentially difficult budget fight as the state faces a projected revenue shortfall. The numbers are yet to be finalized, but the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s preliminary report shows that recent changes to […]
American education has spent decades searching for explanations for declining achievement. Poverty, inequality, school funding, curriculum, technology, teacher quality and the effects of the pandemic all matter. Yet one of the most consequential variables receives far less attention: what parents expect from their children and what happens when those expectations weaken. The issue is not […]
Math improvement rarely stalls because districts aren’t taking action. More often, it stalls because well-intentioned supports accumulate faster than schools can turn them into a coherent, actionable instructional plan. The instinct to seek additional support is understandable. Students need help immediately. Teachers deserve time and training. Families want progress they can see. So districts invest […]
The abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass is known for many things, but perhaps among the most significant is his views on education’s relationship to slavery. Douglass himself was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818. Douglass described in his 1845 autobiography how one of his enslavers, Mrs. Auld, began teaching him to read when he […]
When a student is in crisis, the hardest problems are easier to solve when someone already knows their story, and trust is already there. The heart of New York City’s Every Child and Family is Known initiative are the caring adults in schools who check in with students living in temporary housing, build relationships with […]
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is again joining a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education as it continues trying to end federal grants for school-based mental health services. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Tong joined a lawsuit about these same grants one year ago. That’s when the Department of Education initially discontinued the […]
California’s latest budget includes $116 million over three years to help schools identify and support students experiencing homelessness — the first time the state has dedicated funding specifically for this purpose. Homeless student advocates welcomed the investment after years of lobbying lawmakers to supplement the federal dollars California gets annually to address student homelessness. However, […]
The school year starts again in less than a month, and a remarkable number of big districts in Colorado and elsewhere will open it without a permanent superintendent. Jeffco. Cherry Creek. Los Angeles. Miami-Dade. I’m guessing Denver will soon join this group of districts given the Denver school board’s growing frustrations with Superintendent Alex Marrero’s […]
I stand alone on a stage in front of 200 high school freshmen. They’re looking at their phones, talking to one other, laughing — paying attention to anything but me. I pick up my guitar, strum a chord and start singing, first in almost a whisper: “Who am I, mind on fire, born of you […]
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Elementary and middle school students posted their best scores yet on end-of-year standardized tests, though more than half still can’t calculate as expected for their age, according to state testing data released Monday. Third- through eighth graders continued to improve in both math and reading, though scores were still generally stronger in […]
The federal government last week proposed sweeping changes to Head Start, describing them as a way to expand access for children. For families of children with disabilities, the question is what support will still be there once a child enters the classroom. I’ve been around long enough to know that when it comes to meeting […]
Backpacks can be fashionable and functional, but they can also be too heavy — weighed down by digital devices, musical instruments, sports equipment and more. Some kids carry home a laptop or tablet and textbooks, too. It’s good to be prepared, but kids who walk to school or participate in extracurricular activities may be lugging more […]
It’s move-in week for college students across North Carolina. And once students have gotten settled into their dorms, their attention will turn to getting the classes needed to fulfill their chosen major. But which career paths are a safe bet in 2026? U.S. employers cut 23,000 jobs in July. Job creation for May and June […]
For all the noise and attention and — laudable — political energy behind it, the science of reading is not a thing. Or, rather, it is not a thing that schools can implement. The science of reading is a series of facts that, in combination, form a field consensus about how children best learn to […]
Kansas City-based Frontier Schools is on track to open Columbia’s first charter school in the fall of 2027. At this point, Frontier Schools has hired a contractor and is looking for possible locations for the charter school in the city. The Missouri Board of Education approved the opening of the STEM-based elementary school in April, allowing it […]
Here at The 74, we publish and syndicate more than 30 articles a week about how America’s education system is evolving in a bid to better serve its 74 million children. But with so much happening and changing every day, it’s easy for key headlines to slip through the cracks. That’s why our newsroom recently […]
New York school districts will soon begin revamping math instruction under a new law aimed at improving test scores — but the effort comes amid sharp debate over how math should be taught. “Back to Basics in Math,” passed as part of the state budget last month, requires school districts to use “evidence-based” methods in elementary […]
For years, the conversation around young children and screens has been dominated by a fear of too much time, too little interaction and too many missed opportunities for real learning. In many cases, those concerns are justified. After all, research consistently shows that children’s excessive or passive screen use, especially of entertainment-heavy content, can negatively […]
Temporary anxiety can often surface before the first day of school. Sometimes, that can help kids get in the right mindset for a big day. But when anxiety becomes a constant feature of children’s and teenagers’ days, that stress doesn’t switch off when they leave the classroom or finish an exam. It can become the […]
New Mexico First Judicial District Judge Bryan Biedscheid at the end of the day Thursday issued a ruling in the state’s pending case against social media giant Meta, ordering the company to pay $567 million for an abatement fund to address the harms it has done to the state’s youth. The case, which ended with […]
For nearly two years, teacher Isabelle Ouyang and her colleagues have dealt with the presence of construction workers, shuffling between classrooms, stress over schedules, and a host of disruptive renovations. Ouyang has, essentially, pardoned all that dust, because Philadelphia’s Kensington High School now has air conditioning. With a $17 million estimated price tag, it hasn’t […]
Shortly after being named America’s unhealthiest city in 2009, Huntington, West Virginia, gained national attention when British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver arrived to film the first season of his reality TV series Food Revolution. Episodes showed Oliver ridiculing the frozen food served in school cafeterias, curating new menus of made-from-scratch meals, clashing with school officials […]
After nearly two years out of the limelight, the Biden family has returned to the political conversation this summer. Joe Biden announced last month that he will soon release a memoir of his time in office. That volume follows on the heels of Jill Biden’s own book, which triggered controversy when some Democrats grumbled that […]
Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Wednesday to work on pathways for students to earn bachelor’s degrees in three years. Such a program could have college students take about 90 hours of classes instead of 120 to earn a degree, thus reducing the cost of higher education, shortening the time […]
As teenagers return to school this fall, a new report suggests that many of them are moving through adolescence without the experiences that help prepare them for adulthood, activities like a part-time job, a club, a team and a regular family meal. The clearest evidence is teen employment, which alone has been declining for nearly […]
For students starting at a new school, the first day holds many questions: Will they see any familiar faces? Who will they sit with at lunch? Who will they play with at recess? “I’m this much nervous,” said Iman Fair-Seldon, 5, holding her hands about 4 inches (10 centimeters) apart. Iman will start first grade next […]
Before Michaella Huck graduated from high school in 2018, she struggled with depression and anxiety and didn’t know where to get help. She’d hear stories of students who died on “suicide hill” in her Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro. It took a trusted adult for her to realize how educators could help save a […]
Your host in Osaka, Japan, slips on a pair of headphones and suddenly hears your words transformed into flawless Kansai Japanese. Even better, their reply in their native tongue comes through perfectly clear to you. Thanks to artificial intelligence, neither of you is lost in translation. What once seemed like science fiction is now marketed as a quick […]