Tag: sex education
USDA Moves To Feed Millions Of Children Over The Summer. See more national education news here
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new effort (on April 26) to feed millions of children this summer, when free school meals traditionally reach just a small minority of the kids who rely on them the rest of the year. The move expands what’s known as the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer, or P-EBT, program into the summer months, and USDA estimates it will reach more than 30 million children.
“If children and children’s learning and children’s health is a priority for us in this country, then we need to fund our priorities,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a Monday interview with NPR’s All Things Considered. “I think it’s an important day.”
Bill would allow Indigenous students to wear cultural clothing at graduation. See more state education and legislative news here
Indigenous students may soon not need to ask permission to wear traditional clothing or items at graduation.
A bill, HB 2705, currently in the Arizona Legislature prohibits public or charter schools from blocking students from wearing culturally-significant regalia. The proposal has passed the House with only two no votes and is expected to pass the Senate unanimously in the coming days before heading to Gov. Doug Ducey for his signature.
Number of Homeless Students Hits All-Time High. See more national education news here
A record-high 1.5 million students were homeless during the 2017-18 school year, 11 percent more than the previous year and nearly double the number a decade ago, according to new federal data.
To put that in perspective, imagine a school district bigger than New York City and Miami-Dade put together, made up of children who are trailing other students—even those in poverty—by 10 percentage points or more in math, reading, and science. Eighteen percent of them have learning disabilities. Nearly that many are still learning English. Virtually all of them experience stress and trauma.
Analysis Finds Big Differences In School Textbooks In States With Differing Politics. See more national education news here
A New York Times analysis of social studies textbooks from California and Texas reveals differences influenced by each state’s politics. NPR’s Audie Cornish speaks with Times reporter Dana Goldstein.
What School Could Be If It Were Designed for Kids With Autism. See more national education news here
A charming, bright 5-year-old stands out in his classroom at Maurice Wollin elementary school, on Staten Island, as an extremely social, kind, and curious child. He remembers more about his peers—names, significant events, likes and dislikes—than almost any other kindergartner at his school does.
But despite his genuine interest in his classmates and their well-being, he often struggles with interpreting their feelings and intentions—he has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Kicked. Punched. Whipped. As Schools Struggle to Support Students With Special Needs, Educators Report Abuse on the Job. See more national education news here
At a ceremony in 2014 to honor Brett Bigham with Oregon’s Teacher of the Year award, he slouched over in his chair — hoping blood wouldn’t seep through his shirt.
Just days earlier, Bigham wrote in a 2018 op-ed, he had endured a brutal beating in his classroom, one that sent him to the hospital. On this occasion, he wrote, a student bit him and whipped him with a television cable. It was far from the first time he endured physical violence or death threats on the job. It wasn’t the first time a classroom injury sent him to the hospital, either. …
Bigham’s story is likely an extreme example of the challenges special education teachers face as schools struggle to adequately support children with special needs, like those living with significant trauma or other conditions that affect their ability to regulate behavior.
Changing The Way We Teach May Increase Interest In STEM Subjects. See more national education news here
American high school students are not pursuing STEM subjects as much as they used to. This is happening for a few reasons but according to many Americans, 52 percent, this is because the subjects are too hard and when we look at factors like ACT Math scores being at a 20 year low, we can see that this is becoming a serious problem. The question is how do we fix it? Well, in a recent survey American high school students gave us the answer.
Lawmaker proposes sex education beginning in kindergarten
Arizona youngsters from kindergarten through high school would be taught sex education unless their parents specifically object under the terms of proposed legislation.
Rep. Juan Mendez, D-Tempe, said too many youngsters grow up with misinformation or no information at all about. The result, he said, is a health crisis of both disease and unwanted pregnancy.
Separately, Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix, is pushing to repeal a law that requires Arizona schools to portray homosexuality as anything but positive in their sex education courses.
But Josh Kredit, attorney for the Center for Arizona Policy, dismissed both measures as “dangerous.”
