Rhode Island

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Rhode Island
Pencil drawing a checkmark in a box. U.S.A. ballot measures voting in elections.
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States 5 Ways You Didn't Know the Election Will Affect K-12 Schools
Voters will weigh ballot items that affect funding for electric school buses, tax revenue for state education budgets, and more.
Mark Lieberman, October 31, 2024
8 min read
Vector illustration of a woman sitting indian style with her arms spread wide and a rainbow above her head.
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Student Well-Being In Their Own Words These Students Found Mental Health Support in After-School Programs. See How
3 students discuss how after-school programs benefit their well-being.
Lauraine Langreo, May 17, 2024
6 min read
An empty elementary school classroom is seen on Aug. 17, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York. Nationwide, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened after COVID-forced closures. More than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year.
An empty elementary school classroom is seen on Aug. 17, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York. A White House summit on May 15, 2024, brought attention to elevated chronic absenteeism and strategies districts have used to fight it.
Brittainy Newman/AP
School & District Management Schools Successfully Fighting Chronic Absenteeism Have This in Common
A White House summit homed in on chronic absenteeism and strategies to reduce it.
Caitlynn Peetz, May 15, 2024
6 min read
Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education, speaks during a presentation of the proposed state spending plan during an announcement in Indianapolis on Jan. 4, 2023.
Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner speaks about a proposed state spending plan on Jan. 4, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana tracks students' 3rd grade reading progress and the tools and supports districts are deploying.
Michael Conroy/AP
Reading & Literacy Applying the 'Science of Reading': 3 State Leaders on Putting Policy Into Practice
Officials discussed how their states have attempted a multifaceted approach to reading improvement.
Sarah Schwartz, February 22, 2024
4 min read
Principal Jonathan A.C. Apostol stands for a portrait at Monett Middle School in Monett, Mo., on Sept. 29, 2023.
Principal Jonathan A.C. Apostol stands for a portrait at Monett Middle School in Monett, Mo., on Sept. 29, 2023. The school started investing in student mental health services before the COVID-19 pandemic, and its new building includes a designated area for mental health counselors that doubles as a calming space for students.
Michael Noble Jr. for Education Week
Student Well-Being Rural Districts Get Creative Amid a Spike in Students’ Mental Health Needs
Rural districts don't have the same resources as more urban districts to scale up mental health services despite similar levels of need.
Libby Stanford, October 16, 2023
8 min read
Students in the auto technology class work on a vehicle at the Regional Occupational Center.
Students work on a vehicle in an auto technology class at the Regional Occupational Center in Bakersfield, Calif.
Morgan Lieberman for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness How Career Prep Programs Went From 'Dumping Ground' to Top Priority
More Americans think kids should come out of school prepared for careers, and career prep has emerged as a rare area of bipartisan accord.
Libby Stanford, April 10, 2023
8 min read
A multiple exposure of a wooden gavel and a long row of columns from a courthouse.
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Social Studies Students Deepen Access to Civics Education In Hard-Fought Legal Battle
The case didn't establish a federal right to education, but will spark changes in Rhode Island and could spur challenges in other states.
Catherine Gewertz, June 15, 2022
5 min read
Kara Klever holds a sign in protest in the hall outside of the Blue Room as Governor Kevin Stitt signs a bill into law that prevents transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams at the Capitol Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Oklahoma City, Oka. The bill, which easily passed the Republican-led House and Senate mostly along party lines, took effect immediately with the governor's signature. It applies to female sports teams in both high school and college.
Kara Klever holds a sign in protest as Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signs a bill into law that prevents transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams.
Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman via AP
States Beyond 'Don't Say Gay': Other States Seek to Limit LGBTQ Youth, Teaching
Legislators want to ban lessons on LGBTQ communities and require teachers to tell parents when students want their pronouns changed.
Stephen Sawchuk, April 6, 2022
9 min read
Students wearing masks leave the New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math (NEST+m) school in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, Dec. 21, 2021, in New York.
Students wearing masks leave the New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math (NEST+m) School in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, late last year in New York.
Brittainy Newman/AP
States States Are Dropping School Mask Requirements. Here's the Latest and What's Ahead
By the end of this week, only five states and the District of Columbia will still mandate universal masking in schools.
Stacey Decker & Holly Peele, February 28, 2022
2 min read
Image of a mask being held by two hands.
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States What's Up With Mask Requirements in Schools? 6 Things to Know
There's been a flurry of recent activity around masks in schools. Here's what you need to know.
Stacey Decker & Holly Peele, February 14, 2022
1 min read
Scales of justice and Gavel on wooden table and Lawyer or Judge working with agreement in Courtroom, Justice and Law concept.
Pattanaphong Khuankaew/iStock
Law & Courts Students Lose Appeal on Right to Civics Education, But Win Praise From Judges Anyway
A federal appellate court panel commended Rhode Island students for the novel effort, but said Supreme Court precedent stood in the way.
Mark Walsh, January 12, 2022
3 min read
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Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week and iStock/Getty
Education Funding State K-12 Spending Is Inequitable and Inadequate. See Where Yours Ranks
There's a $17,000 per student difference between the highest- and lowest-spending states. High-poverty schools suffer especially.
Mark Lieberman, October 28, 2021
4 min read
Students line up to have their temperature taken as they return for the first time as their school, The Learning Community, reopens to in-person learning after it closed for the pandemic a year ago, in Central Falls, R.I., on March 29, 2021.
Students line up to have their temperature taken as they return for the first time as their school, The Learning Community, reopens to in-person learning after it closed for the pandemic a year ago, in Central Falls, R.I., on March 29, 2021.
David Goldman/AP
Law & Courts Families Sue Rhode Island's Governor to Overturn His School Mask Mandate
The families say mask-wearing threatens to cause serious and long-lasting damage on their children's physical and emotional well-being.
Linda Borg, The Providence Journal, September 17, 2021
2 min read
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Recruitment & Retention This District Built a Better, More Reliable Supply of Substitute Teachers. Here's How
A Rhode Island school district tackles one of the biggest staffing challenges for school administrators. So far, it's working.
Elizabeth Heubeck, September 2, 2021
6 min read