Washington

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Washington
Illustration concept of hands holding binoculars and looking through to see a graph and arrow with money in background.
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College & Workforce Readiness Learning Loss May Cost Students Billions in Future Earnings. How Districts Are Responding
The board that annually administers NAEP warns that recent research paints a "dire" picture of the future for America's children.
Mark Lieberman, March 15, 2024
6 min read
Teaching Video Teachers, Try This: A Lesson on Journalism, Misinformation, and Different Points of View
This elementary teacher taught his students a valuable lesson on how we can each experience the same situation a little differently.
Kaylee Domzalski, February 22, 2024
3:27
a person and a robot study a cylinder filled with AI elements
Kathleen Fu for Education Week
Ed-Tech Policy Q&A Need an AI Policy for Your Schools? This District Used ChatGPT to Craft One
The Peninsula School District in Washington state was one of the first school systems in the country to craft AI policy guidance.
Alyson Klein, February 19, 2024
5 min read
Conceptual image of substitute teacher in classroom, colorized blue.
Drazen Zigic/iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession Substitute Teachers Need Support, Too. See How One State Is Helping
Substitute teachers often feel unsupported and underprepared. Here's how one state is trying to change that.
Evie Blad, February 13, 2024
7 min read
In this Jan. 4, 2019 photo, workers and other officials gather outside the Sky Valley Education Center school in Monroe, Wash., before going inside to collect samples for testing. The samples were tested for PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, as well as dioxins and furans. A lawsuit filed on behalf of several families and teachers claims that officials failed to adequately respond to PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, in the school.
In this Jan. 4, 2019 photo, workers and other officials gather outside the Sky Valley Education Center school in Monroe, Wash., before going inside to collect samples for testing. The samples were tested for PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, as well as dioxins and furans. A jury this week ordered Bayer, the company that owns the manufacturer of PCBs, to pay $857 million to families affected by PCB exposure at Sky Valley.
Ted S. Warren/AP
Law & Courts Producers of Toxic Chemicals in Schools Owe Hundreds of Millions in Damages, Jury Says
Bayer, the company that owns Monsanto, owes more than $850 million to parents and children who suffered prolonged PCB exposure.
Mark Lieberman, December 19, 2023
3 min read
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DigitalVision Vectors<br/>
School & District Management What Superintendents Are Doing This Winter Break—and Planning for 2024
District leaders say they plan to rest and then refocus for the new year.
Caitlynn Peetz, December 19, 2023
3 min read
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Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Recruitment & Retention Video How to Support Early-Career Teachers: Advice From Native Educators
They were new teachers fresh out of a graduate program to create a Native teacher pipeline. Today, neither is still in that position.
Kaylee Domzalski, December 14, 2023
5:39
Vector illustration of a woman filling out an online form with letter grades
iStock/Getty
Student Achievement Students' Grades May Not Signal Actual Achievement, Study Cautions
Higher grades may give the false impression that students don't need extra academic support.
Evie Blad, November 10, 2023
4 min read
Image of an excavator in front of a school building.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Do K-12 Students Have a Right to Well-Funded School Buildings?
The answer in a recent state court case wasn't exactly a "yes." But it also wasn't a "no." Here's what could happen next.
Mark Lieberman, September 19, 2023
5 min read
Illustration of 2 hands cutting paper dolls with scissors, representing staffing layoffs.
iStock/Getty
Budget & Finance School Administrators Are on the Chopping Block as ESSER Winds Down, Enrollment Drops
The expiration of COVID relief funds and enrollment declines are prompting districts to cut administration—even as experts advise caution.
Caitlynn Peetz & Mark Lieberman, August 7, 2023
6 min read
Educators swap strategies and ideas on how to improve instruction in and access to AP courses at the College Board's AP annual conference in Seattle, Wash. on July 19, 2023.
Educators swap strategies and ideas on how to improve instruction in and access to AP courses at the College Board's AP annual conference in Seattle, Wash., on July 19, 2023.
Ileana Najarro/Education Week
Equity & Diversity The Surprising Thing That Gets Students to Stick With AP Courses
A school in Katy Independent School District in Texas runs an AP Ambassador program that offers AP course mentorship among students.
Ileana Najarro, July 27, 2023
4 min read
Educators at the College Board's AP annual conference learn about various AP program offerings intended to address access and equity to advanced coursework for underrepresented students in Seattle, Wash. on July 20, 2023.
Educators at the College Board's AP annual conference learn about various AP program offerings intended to address access and equity to advanced coursework for underrepresented students in Seattle, Wash. on July 20, 2023.
Ileana Najarro/Education Week
Equity & Diversity How to Make AP Classes Accessible and Equitable: District Leaders Share Strategies
Various presentations at the College Board's AP annual conference this month touched on equity concerns around the AP program.
Ileana Najarro, July 27, 2023
5 min read
Illustration of woman and steps made of cash.
Getty
Teaching Profession Teachers in 6 States Will Get Raises. More Could Join Them
Lawmakers in 23 states proposed bills to raise teacher salaries, but not all of the policies are straightforward pay bumps.
Libby Stanford, June 22, 2023
5 min read
Tacoma Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Garcia testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Why Are So Many American Youth in a Mental Health Crisis? Exploring Causes and Solutions, on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 8, 2023.
Joshua Garcia, the superintendent of the Tacoma district in Washington state, testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on June 8, 2023, about students' worsening mental health. Garcia highlighted the Tacoma Whole Child Initiative, through which schools shifted their focus from episodic responses in moments of crisis to a sustainable effort to support student well<ins data-user-label="Matt Stone" data-time="06/8/2023 3:23:55 PM" data-user-id="00000185-c5a3-d6ff-a38d-d7a32f6d0001" data-target-id="">-</ins>being.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Student Well-Being What a Superintendent Told U.S. Senators About Student Mental Health
The U.S. Senate HELP committee held a hearing on the youth mental health crisis.
Libby Stanford, June 8, 2023
6 min read