Thursday night fourteen-year-old Zaila Avant-garde won the 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee. With her win she became the first African American winner in the competition’s 96-year history. She is only the 2nd Black winner, the first being Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998. She also the first winner from her state. Zaila competed in the…
If you are a college sports fan, then you have undoubtedly heard the criticism about athlete compensation. College athletes don’t get paid, in spite of the fact that college sports are a multi-billion-dollar industry. Coaches, schools, and television networks make millions. Players receive a scholarship, and that is it. Scholarships are highly coveted, but well…
One of the most important aspects to remember in educational policy is that it’s not just about the laws themselves, but also how those laws are interpreted. That has been shown to be the case yet again with the Department of Education’s most recent guidance on Title IX. President Joe Biden’s Education Department affirmed that…
E-learning has dominated the education conversation for the last year and a half. That in and of itself is a sign of changing times. Virtual schools have normally only been in the news when there was a scandal to report. Obviously, virtual schools have seen an uptick in attention because of COVID-19. Because of that,…
In the early days of COVID-19 schools, like everyone else, were struggling to figure out how to adapt to pandemic life. With kids out of the building, instruction could not continue as normal. Most of them quickly came to the conclusion that work packets and textbooks were not enough. Thus began e-learning. As teachers began…
It is summertime! While typically summer vacation serves as the signal for a prolonged break from academic work, parents should consider doing things a little bit differently this year. It is probably best for kids to remain somewhat academically engaged. The learning loss from COVID-19 is real and more real for some students than others….
The school year is coming to an end. Next year, schools are largely planning to be open for full-time in-person instruction. While that is a welcome change to the impromptu distance learning that schools have been forced to engage in this year, it does have a drawback: People might forget the lessons from the storm…
It is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This is the time of the year where we acknowledge the contributions and heritage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. As is the case with every heritage or history month, we should do this year-round. I always try to share some history during heritage months. Typically,…
COVID-19 and the impromptu e-Learning movement that it caused was the biggest education story of last year. Within that story, there were two minor subplots: the digital divide and e-Learning absenteeism. People were quick to blame the latter on the former which is only natural. The digital divide has long established the gap in technology…
COVID-19 has shut schools down all over the country. As more people get vaccinated, they are slowly beginning to open back up. Some areas are still online only. Many are offering hybrid instruction, but nationwide most districts have already returned to some level of in-person learning. US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona expects every district…