AdLit News Headlines

California wages legal battle against districts that require parental notification when children change gender identities.

A PEN America report found that the number of books permanently removed from U.S. school libraries and classrooms has quadrupled — to 1,263 books in the last school year from 333 the year before.

The findings make “abundantly clear that teens are struggling to manage their phone use, which is taking a serious toll on their ability to focus and overall mental health,” said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media.

An English teacher and a school librarian in NYC launched an effort that is helping teens increase their reading stamina.

Reporters at The 74 fanned across America to find some of the nation’s most inventive and personalized high schools. Here’s what we learned.

As high school students navigate more rigorous academic tasks and denser curricular material, the occasional 3-to-5-minute break delivers a wide range of benefits.

Using a key concept from science class in history encourages high school students to analyze data with a willingness to make mistakes.

A new report(opens in a new window) from The Century Foundation examines the common challenges that make it hard to build a pipeline of bilingual educators, as well as potential policy solutions.

A growing number of high schools are offering class credit for climate action.

An Education Trust study of 300 books found many that did include people of color still have stereotypes or negative portrayals.

And it’s only getting worse.

Full of excitement and intrigue, these noteworthy first books will leave readers clamoring for the next installment.

The gun violence and poverty experienced by young people in some urban neighborhoods is well-documented in the media and popular culture. But these issues are as present, if not even more common, in rural areas. How can students break the cycles of abuse and neglect?

As high school students navigate more rigorous academic tasks and denser curricular material, the occasional 3-to-5-minute break delivers a wide range of benefits.

Topics like climate action and clean energy are some of the least likely topics to be found within sustainability school lessons, according to a Smithsonian-Gallup poll.

Kansas City schools rent homes to teachers starting at $400 a month to recruit more amid a national shortage.

How can librarians build a mental health book collection that is engaging, welcoming, and maybe even funny? For me, that was a tall order. The teen self-help titles I purchased for my high school library were hit or miss; sometimes they seemed condescending. What kinds of books would help destigmatize mental health topics?

In their new book, “Off the Mark: How Grades, Ratings, and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don’t Have To)” Jack Schneider and Ethan L. Hutt write about the influences of grades, test scores, and transcripts on schools and students as they map out ways that assessment currently undermines student learning and offer ways out of the predicament.

In a groundbreaking step for equity, CalTech announced Thursday that it will drop admission requirements for calculus, physics and chemistry courses for students who don’t have access to them and offer alternative paths to prove mastery of the material.

This academic year, education leaders are grappling with how to approach a drug use crisis unlike any they’ve seen before. Schools have the potential to reach millions of kids if they decide to talk to and teach students about the dangers of fentanyl.

Nearly 60 percent of Lahaina students haven’t enrolled in classes after the deadly fire, and families are yearning to rebuild their school network for educational and emotional support.

The president was joined by first lady Jill Biden, a longtime English professor, at Eliot-Hine Middle School.

New law expanding input from non-educators forces good but tough conversations in some districts, but sets up gridlock in others.

With the goal of inspiring students who may not be aware of opportunities in science and engineering, the Active Learning Labs (ALL) at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences hosted two outreach programs for local and international teens in July.

Developed and directed by ALL’s Melissa Hancock, Avery Normandin, and Nicholas LoRusso, the programs were designed to be as accessible to students as possible.

New requirements are good—if we learn from past mistakes.

Graphic novels – offering visual information married with text – provide a means to engage students without losing all of the rigor of textbooks. As two educators in math and physics, we have found graphic novels to be effective at teaching students of all ability levels. We’ve used graphic novels in our own classes, and we’ve also inspired and encouraged other teachers to use them. And we’re not alone: Other teachers are rejuvenating this analog medium with a high level of success.

Middle and high school teachers can boost engagement in social studies with project-based learning units for National History Day (NHD). Despite the name, NHD is much more than a day. It involves an extended project that challenges students to be curious, think critically, and communicate effectively.

New Jersey will require school districts to offer free menstrual products for grades six through 12 under a new law Gov. Phil Murphy signed Wednesday.

Three Gen Z advocates on how the pandemic-era trend continues to grow, pointing to the need for colleges to rethink their outreach strategies.

For decades, a nonprofit group called The Moth has produced workshops, events and a popular radio show where people tell transformative stories from their lives. And in 2012, the group started working with high schools, coaching students to turn their stories into polished orations.

This year the nonprofit has started sharing those student stories in a new spin-off podcast, called Grown(opens in a new window).

Puerto Rico has seen a string of natural disasters in the past few years – hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and landslides. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, things got even worse.

These disasters have taken a heavy toll on student mental health. They’ve disrupted everyday life and seriously impacted schools and learning for kids and teens on the island. Listen in as NPR’s “Consider This” reports on Puerto Rico’s concerning educational landscape.

Over the past three years, American interest in home schooling has soared. In this series, The Washington Post will explore how that rise is transforming the nation’s educational landscape and the lives of hundreds of thousands of children who now learn at home rather than at a traditional school.

Students at innovative high schools offer advice on how educators can make learning more engaging and relatable.

To most adults, middle school behavior is an enigma. We’re often left scratching our heads at why one sideways glance from a peer or 70% on a math test can derail a student’s whole day. Parents and teachers might be tempted to conclude they’re being overdramatic.

Fagell offers insight into why middle school students seem so quick to fall apart and how parents and educators can equip them with the skills to face their challenges. (Spoiler alert: It doesn’t involve telling them to “get over it.”) 

The beloved writer of ‘Because of Winn-Dixie’ and ‘The Tale of Despereaux’ will release her new book in spring of 2024.

Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd speaks with Jordannah Elizabeth. Her book for middle school readers, “A Child’s Introduction to Hip-Hop: The Beats, Rhymes and Roots of a Musical Revolution,” takes readers on a journey through 50 years of music history. The book has illustrations by Markia Jenai.

Earlier this week, author John Green posted his thoughts on Hamilton East Public Library’s reshelving policy that resulted in “The Fault in Our Stars” being moved to the adult collection. But he wasn’t done.

Teachers can take steps to make sure that tests only measure students’ content knowledge rather than their reading comprehension.

To create interdisciplinary connections and help high school students prepare for the future, English teachers can incorporate thought-provoking STEM texts.

From the organization known for second-hand records and cookware comes a school devoted to personalized attention and ‘small wins.’

Grace’s student podcast entry, which explores her complicated relationship with budae jjigae and her own body, is the winner of the Best Mental Health Podcast Prize in this year’s Student Podcast Challenge. Her podcast is called Discomfort Food.

A new report from UNESCO, the education arm of the United Nations, raises questions about the practice. Though smartphones can be used for educational purposes, the report says the devices also disrupt classroom learning, expose students to cyberbullying and can compromise students’ privacy. As school leaders in the U.S. wrestle with whether or not to ban smartphones, The Conversation has invited four scholars to weigh in on the issue.

Linking lessons to what students find meaningful may require additional work to find out what sparks excitement and engagement, one educator says.

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Díaz Jr. said in a letter sent late Wednesday that high schools may teach Advanced Placement Psychology without running afoul of Florida law — including material on sexual orientation and gender identity. Amid confusion, many large districts had said they would stop offering the longtime course.

While New York City’s elementary schools undertake a sweeping shift in their approach to teaching reading, a parallel change is quietly unfolding at many high schools.

Whether a fan of paranormal mysteries or someone looking for a heartrending novel in verse, these eclectic reads offer something for everyone.

Duval County schools should open next month with something that was hard to find last school year: books. But when kids want books that schools don’t allow, there’s a place for them to look now, too.

Boston Public Schools anticipates an additional 2,000 students to enroll in summer learning programs this year compared with last year, thanks in part to the expansion of a program that combines enrichment activities with coordinating classroom lessons.

For many kids, getting to spend time with cousins brings the benefit of having friends during family gatherings. Cousins can also help children understand themselves and their extended families. Hand these 11 books to kids, tweens, and teens proudly sporting their “Cousin Crew” t-shirts this summer and throughout the year.

The number of high schoolers taking college classes has been surging for more than two decades. In what is called dual enrollment, students simultaneously earn high school and college credits from a single class. These advanced college-level courses are no longer just for gifted students who have exhausted the high school course catalog. Now they’re a tool to encourage more Americans to enroll in college by giving them an early taste of post-secondary education and a head start with a few credits.

Encouraging Latinx adolescents of Mexican origin to embrace their ethnic pride, cultural values, and connections to their cultural community contributes to positive development and better adjustment during adolescence, a new University of California, Davis, psychology study suggests.

Enrollment and test data can tell school leaders at all levels who participates, how they fare and which programs must cast a wider net.

Educators are calling on the K-12 system to prioritize college-going efforts for marginalized students. Here’s how they can begin navigating changes.

“We prepare our children to be academically smart. We teach them algebra, trigonometry, history and English, and all of those things [so] that they can be prepared to get a job. But we don’t teach them how to be emotionally intelligent — the things that’s needed to keep a job.” -NYC Mayor, Eric Adams

Education officials and activists are concerned about an increase in the number of American students who are absent for many days during the school year. Unless school leaders draw upon the knowledge of their students and families, they are unlikely to create effective solutions.

Their secret, they say: Remember that education at home is just as, if not more, important than education in the classroom.

There are plenty of stories about girls who fall in love with monsters, but what about monster girls themselves? Perhaps not surprisingly, YA fiction is also a great place to find girls who are monstrous in one way or another. 

Is your middle school student switching off this summer? Experts say the benefits to keeping that brain engaged are huge and the activities needn’t be academic. Some ideas for trying something new.

Large school systems including Denver, Philadelphia and Anchorage, Alaska, have been looking into later start times.

Share of young people seeking higher education slips since pandemic began.