solution to education problem

The global education challenge: Scaling up to tackle the learning crisis

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Alice albright alice albright chief executive officer - global partnership for education.

July 25, 2019

The following is one of eight briefs commissioned for the 16th annual Brookings Blum Roundtable, “2020 and beyond: Maintaining the bipartisan narrative on US global development.”

Addressing today’s massive global education crisis requires some disruption and the development of a new 21st-century aid delivery model built on a strong operational public-private partnership and results-based financing model that rewards political leadership and progress on overcoming priority obstacles to equitable access and learning in least developed countries (LDCs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). Success will also require a more efficient and unified global education architecture. More money alone will not fix the problem. Addressing this global challenge requires new champions at the highest level and new approaches.

Key data points

In an era when youth are the fastest-growing segment of the population in many parts of the world, new data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) reveals that an estimated 263 million children and young people are out of school, overwhelmingly in LDCs and LMICs. 1 On current trends, the International Commission on Financing Education Opportunity reported in 2016 that, a far larger number—825 million young people—will not have the basic literacy, numeracy, and digital skills to compete for the jobs of 2030. 2 Absent a significant political and financial investment in their education, beginning with basic education, there is a serious risk that this youth “bulge” will drive instability and constrain economic growth.

Despite progress in gender parity, it will take about 100 years to reach true gender equality at secondary school level in LDCs and LMICs. Lack of education and related employment opportunities in these countries presents national, regional, and global security risks.

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Among global education’s most urgent challenges is a severe lack of trained teachers, particularly female teachers. An additional 9 million trained teachers are needed in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.

Refugees and internally displaced people, now numbering over 70 million, constitute a global crisis. Two-thirds of the people in this group are women and children; host countries, many fragile themselves, struggle to provide access to education to such people.

Highlighted below are actions and reforms that could lead the way toward solving the crisis:

• Leadership to jump-start transformation. The next U.S. administration should convene a high-level White House conference of sovereign donors, developing country leaders, key multilateral organizations, private sector and major philanthropists/foundations, and civil society to jump-start and energize a new, 10-year global response to this challenge. A key goal of this decadelong effort should be to transform education systems in the world’s poorest countries, particularly for girls and women, within a generation. That implies advancing much faster than the 100-plus years required if current programs and commitments remain as is.
• A whole-of-government leadership response. Such transformation of currently weak education systems in scores of countries over a generation will require sustained top-level political leadership, accompanied by substantial new donor and developing country investments. To ensure sustained attention for this initiative over multiple years, the U.S. administration will need to designate senior officials in the State Department, USAID, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and elsewhere to form a whole-of-government leadership response that can energize other governments and actors.
• Teacher training and deployment at scale. A key component of a new global highest-level effort, based on securing progress against the Sustainable Development Goals and the Addis 2030 Framework, should be the training and deployment of 9 million new qualified teachers, particularly female teachers, in sub-Saharan Africa where they are most needed. Over 90 percent of the Global Partnership for Education’s education sector implementation grants have included investments in teacher development and training and 76 percent in the provision of learning materials.
• Foster positive disruption by engaging community level non-state actors who are providing education services in marginal areas where national systems do not reach the population. Related to this, increased financial and technical support to national governments are required to strengthen their non-state actor regulatory frameworks. Such frameworks must ensure that any non-state actors operate without discrimination and prioritize access for the most marginalized. The ideological divide on this issue—featuring a strong resistance by defenders of public education to tap into the capacities and networks of non-state actors—must be resolved if we are to achieve a rapid breakthrough.
• Confirm the appropriate roles for technology in equitably advancing access and quality of education, including in the initial and ongoing training of teachers and administrators, delivery of distance education to marginalized communities and assessment of learning, strengthening of basic systems, and increased efficiency of systems. This is not primarily about how various gadgets can help advance education goals.
• Commodity component. Availability of appropriate learning materials for every child sitting in a classroom—right level, right language, and right subject matter. Lack of books and other learning materials is a persistent problem throughout education systems—from early grades through to teaching colleges. Teachers need books and other materials to do their jobs. Consider how the USAID-hosted Global Book Alliance, working to address costs and supply chain issues, distribution challenges, and more can be strengthened and supported to produce the model(s) that can overcome these challenges.

Annual high-level stock take at the G-7. The next U.S. administration can work with G-7 partners to secure agreement on an annual stocktaking of progress against this new global education agenda at the upcoming G-7 summits. This also will help ensure sustained focus and pressure to deliver especially on equity and inclusion. Global Partnership for Education’s participation at the G-7 Gender Equality Advisory Council is helping ensure that momentum is maintained to mobilize the necessary political leadership and expertise at country level to rapidly step up progress in gender equality, in and through education. 3 Also consider a role for the G-20, given participation by some developing country partners.

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• “263 Million Children and Youth Are Out of School.” UNESCO UIS. July 15, 2016. http://uis.unesco.org/en/news/263-million-children-and-youth-are-out-school.
• “The Learning Generation: Investing in education for a changing world.” The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity. 2016. https://report.educationcommission.org/downloads/.
• “Influencing the most powerful nations to invest in the power of girls.” Global Partnership for Education. March 12, 2019. https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/influencing-most-powerful-nations-invest-power-girls.

Global Education

Global Economy and Development

August 2, 2024

June 20, 2024

Elyse Painter, Emily Gustafsson-Wright

January 5, 2024

Four of the biggest problems facing education—and four trends that could make a difference

Eduardo velez bustillo, harry a. patrinos.

In 2022, we published, Lessons for the education sector from the COVID-19 pandemic , which was a follow up to,  Four Education Trends that Countries Everywhere Should Know About , which summarized views of education experts around the world on how to handle the most pressing issues facing the education sector then. We focused on neuroscience, the role of the private sector, education technology, inequality, and pedagogy.

Unfortunately, we think the four biggest problems facing education today in developing countries are the same ones we have identified in the last decades .

1. The learning crisis was made worse by COVID-19 school closures

Low quality instruction is a major constraint and prior to COVID-19, the learning poverty rate in low- and middle-income countries was 57% (6 out of 10 children could not read and understand basic texts by age 10). More dramatic is the case of Sub-Saharan Africa with a rate even higher at 86%. Several analyses show that the impact of the pandemic on student learning was significant, leaving students in low- and middle-income countries way behind in mathematics, reading and other subjects.  Some argue that learning poverty may be close to 70% after the pandemic , with a substantial long-term negative effect in future earnings. This generation could lose around $21 trillion in future salaries, with the vulnerable students affected the most.

2. Countries are not paying enough attention to early childhood care and education (ECCE)

At the pre-school level about two-thirds of countries do not have a proper legal framework to provide free and compulsory pre-primary education. According to UNESCO, only a minority of countries, mostly high-income, were making timely progress towards SDG4 benchmarks on early childhood indicators prior to the onset of COVID-19. And remember that ECCE is not only preparation for primary school. It can be the foundation for emotional wellbeing and learning throughout life; one of the best investments a country can make.

3. There is an inadequate supply of high-quality teachers

Low quality teaching is a huge problem and getting worse in many low- and middle-income countries.  In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the percentage of trained teachers fell from 84% in 2000 to 69% in 2019 . In addition, in many countries teachers are formally trained and as such qualified, but do not have the minimum pedagogical training. Globally, teachers for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects are the biggest shortfalls.

4. Decision-makers are not implementing evidence-based or pro-equity policies that guarantee solid foundations

It is difficult to understand the continued focus on non-evidence-based policies when there is so much that we know now about what works. Two factors contribute to this problem. One is the short tenure that top officials have when leading education systems. Examples of countries where ministers last less than one year on average are plentiful. The second and more worrisome deals with the fact that there is little attention given to empirical evidence when designing education policies.

To help improve on these four fronts, we see four supporting trends:

1. Neuroscience should be integrated into education policies

Policies considering neuroscience can help ensure that students get proper attention early to support brain development in the first 2-3 years of life. It can also help ensure that children learn to read at the proper age so that they will be able to acquire foundational skills to learn during the primary education cycle and from there on. Inputs like micronutrients, early child stimulation for gross and fine motor skills, speech and language and playing with other children before the age of three are cost-effective ways to get proper development. Early grade reading, using the pedagogical suggestion by the Early Grade Reading Assessment model, has improved learning outcomes in many low- and middle-income countries. We now have the tools to incorporate these advances into the teaching and learning system with AI , ChatGPT , MOOCs and online tutoring.

2. Reversing learning losses at home and at school

There is a real need to address the remaining and lingering losses due to school closures because of COVID-19.  Most students living in households with incomes under the poverty line in the developing world, roughly the bottom 80% in low-income countries and the bottom 50% in middle-income countries, do not have the minimum conditions to learn at home . These students do not have access to the internet, and, often, their parents or guardians do not have the necessary schooling level or the time to help them in their learning process. Connectivity for poor households is a priority. But learning continuity also requires the presence of an adult as a facilitator—a parent, guardian, instructor, or community worker assisting the student during the learning process while schools are closed or e-learning is used.

To recover from the negative impact of the pandemic, the school system will need to develop at the student level: (i) active and reflective learning; (ii) analytical and applied skills; (iii) strong self-esteem; (iv) attitudes supportive of cooperation and solidarity; and (v) a good knowledge of the curriculum areas. At the teacher (instructor, facilitator, parent) level, the system should aim to develop a new disposition toward the role of teacher as a guide and facilitator. And finally, the system also needs to increase parental involvement in the education of their children and be active part in the solution of the children’s problems. The Escuela Nueva Learning Circles or the Pratham Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) are models that can be used.

3. Use of evidence to improve teaching and learning

We now know more about what works at scale to address the learning crisis. To help countries improve teaching and learning and make teaching an attractive profession, based on available empirical world-wide evidence , we need to improve its status, compensation policies and career progression structures; ensure pre-service education includes a strong practicum component so teachers are well equipped to transition and perform effectively in the classroom; and provide high-quality in-service professional development to ensure they keep teaching in an effective way. We also have the tools to address learning issues cost-effectively. The returns to schooling are high and increasing post-pandemic. But we also have the cost-benefit tools to make good decisions, and these suggest that structured pedagogy, teaching according to learning levels (with and without technology use) are proven effective and cost-effective .

4. The role of the private sector

When properly regulated the private sector can be an effective education provider, and it can help address the specific needs of countries. Most of the pedagogical models that have received international recognition come from the private sector. For example, the recipients of the Yidan Prize on education development are from the non-state sector experiences (Escuela Nueva, BRAC, edX, Pratham, CAMFED and New Education Initiative). In the context of the Artificial Intelligence movement, most of the tools that will revolutionize teaching and learning come from the private sector (i.e., big data, machine learning, electronic pedagogies like OER-Open Educational Resources, MOOCs, etc.). Around the world education technology start-ups are developing AI tools that may have a good potential to help improve quality of education .

After decades asking the same questions on how to improve the education systems of countries, we, finally, are finding answers that are very promising.  Governments need to be aware of this fact.

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Senior Adviser, Education

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10 Challenges Facing Public Education Today

By:  Brenda Álvarez, Tim Walker, Cindy Long, Amanda Litvinov , NEA staff writers Published: August 3, 2018 First Appeared In NEA Today August 2018

Whether you’re a classroom teacher, school counselor, paraeducator, bus driver, cafeteria worker or school secretary, everyone who works in a public school faces a new school year ready to do the job they love. But they are also prepared to confront undeniable challenges. These challenges may differ district to district, school to school, but one thing is clear: the voice of educators is needed now more than ever and their unions are providing the megaphone. It’s not up to our teachers and school staff to shoulder this burden themselves. Administrators, parents, communities, lawmakers must do their part. But as the mobilization of educators that began earlier this year has demonstrated so powerfully - the “Educator Spring” as former NEA President Lily Eskelsen García calls it - the nation is finally listening to what they have to say.

Education Funding: Where's the Money?

When educators from around the country walked out of their classrooms last spring, their message was clear: Our students deserve better. By taking this action, they said no more jam-packed classrooms with 40-plus desks, no more decades-old textbooks held together with rubber bands, and no more leaky ceilings, broken light fixtures, pest infestations, and cuts to basic curricula that are essential to a well-rounded education.

“We are truly in a state of crisis,” says Noah Karvelis, an educator from Arizona, where cuts to public school funding have been deeper than anywhere else in the country.

It’s been more than 10 years since the Great Recession, but many states are providing far less money to their schools today than they did before the crash. Our schools are crumbling and educators are leaving the profession in droves, unable to pay off student debt or make ends meet on stagnant salaries.

As of the 2017 – 2018 school year, at least 12 states had slashed “general” or “formula” funding—the primary form of state support for elementary and secondary schools—by 7 percent or more per student over the last decade, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities . Seven of the states—Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Oklahoma—enacted tax cuts costing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars each year, instead of restoring education funding.

“To add to this heartache, new teachers in our state of North Carolina have never known anything different, and many even believe our current reality is normal,” says Todd Warren, a Spanish teacher and president of North Carolina’s Guilford County Association of Educators. “While the wealthy and corporate elite recovered from the recession of 2008, public school teachers and their students did not. North Carolina public school teachers make more than 11 percent less on average than we did 15 years ago when salaries are adjusted for inflation.”

But it’s the students who suffer the most from budget cuts, particularly poor students. Public education has been a pathway out of poverty for families for generations, but that pathway is blocked when schools are unable to offer a decent education.Too often, low-income students end up in schools with the lowest funding, fewest supplies, the least rigorous curriculum, and the oldest facilities and equipment, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights .

On average, school districts spend around $11,000 per student each year, but the highest-poverty districts receive an average of $1,200 less per child than the least-poor districts, while districts serving the largest numbers of students of color get about $2,000 less than those serving the fewest students of color, the study says.

No more, says Todd Warren.

“There are enough of us to say, ‘Enough!’” says Warren. “It is time to leverage our power now.”

Join millions of voices fighting for our nation's public school students and educators. Take the #RedforEd Pledge!  

Keeping School Safe

A 2018 survey by the Pew Research Center conducted two months after this year’s February school shooting in Parkland, Fla., showed that 57 percent of U.S. teenagers are worried that a shooting could take place at their own school. One in four are “very worried” about the chance.

Those numbers are staggering but hardly surprising given the rash of school shootings that have captured headlines this year, and in previous years. Since the shooting at Colorado’s Columbine High School in April 1999, more than 187,000 U.S. students have been exposed to gun violence in school.

Educators understand if students don’t feel safe at school, achievement suffers. It’s the paramount duty of everyone in the community–and the politicians who represent them–to help create safe learning spaces.

Arming teachers and school staff is not the answer. According to an NEA survey , seven in 10 educators said arming school personnel would be ineffective at preventing gun violence in schools and two-thirds said they would feel less safe if school personnel were armed.

Educators across the U.S. stood up to reject the idea that more weapons would help save student lives. As of May 2017, only one state had passed a law that mandated arming teachers and staff.

“We don’t want to be armed. We want better services for our students,” says Corinne McComb, an elementary educator from Norwich, Conn. “More psychologists and counselors who can be present for the students more than one day a week or month. We need services for families. We have the money, we can do this.”

The Pressure is On

Kathy Reamy, a school counselor at La Plata High School in La Plata, Md., says the trend is unmistakable.

“Honestly, I’ve had more students this year hospitalized for anxiety, depression, and other mental-health issues than ever,” says Reamy, who also chairs the NEA School Counselor Caucus. “There’s just so much going on in this day and age, the pressures to fit in, the pressure to achieve, the pressure of social media.”

It doesn’t help, adds Denise Pope of Stanford University, that schools have become “a pressure cooker for students and staff…and student and teacher stress feed off each other.”

According to a 2018 study by the University of Missouri, 93 percent of elementary school teachers report they are “highly stressed.”

The causes and convergence of teacher and student stress has been a growing concern over the past decade. Research has consistently shown that stress levels in newer educators especially is leading many of them to exit the profession within five years.

Teachers need adequate resources and support in their jobs in order to battle burnout and alleviate stress in the classroom . If we do not support teachers, we risk the collateral damage of students.

“People are finally seeing what negative stress does to the body, what that does to the psyche, and what it does to school engagement,” says Pope. “Schools and communities know stress is a problem and they want solutions.”

A Better Way Forward on Discipline

Think back on the days when you were in middle school and high school. Remember the awkwardness, anxiety, and angst that hung over you like a cloud? Your students, no matter their behavior, are probably grappling with the same troubling emotions, says Robin McNair, the Restorative Practices Program coordinator for Prince George’s County in Maryland.

“When you look beyond behavior, when you truly look at the person behind the behavior, you’ll often find a cry for help,” says McNair, whose work in Restorative Justice Practices (RJP) aims to drastically reduce suspensions and expulsions, increase graduation rates, and transform student behaviors.

RJP has proven to be the most effective way for educators to break the school-to-prison pipeline, a national trend where children—mostly low-income and children of color—are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems through harsh “zero tolerance” discipline policies for even minor infractions.

In the 2013 – 2014 school year, the most recent nationwide data available, black students were three times more likely to receive both in-school and out-of-school suspensions than white students.

Rather than casting out students after wrongdoing, RJP seeks to reintegrate them into the classroom or school community to make amends and learn how to handle problems more positively.  

Simply put, students are better off in school than they are when they’re kicked out and left to their own devices in an empty home or apartment, where court involvement becomes more likely. But all students who participate in RJP—even those not directly involved in a conflict—report feeling safer and happier.

McNair suggests that educators strive to create a tight-knit community, even a family, in their classrooms from day one so that students not only know each other, but genuinely care about each other.  

“ Restorative practices aren’t only for use after a conflict or incident. These practices allow us to proactively build community within a classroom and within a school by nurturing relationships between teachers and students,” McNair says. “When students know that you care about them they are more likely to follow the rules and more likely to stay in the classroom and do the work,” adds McNair.

Learn more about restorative practices in schools.

Chronic Absenteeism

According to the U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), about 8 million students missed more than three weeks of school during the 2015 – 2016 school yea r, up from 6.8 million the previous year.

Chronic absenteeism is typically defined as missing 10 percent or more of a school year. This translates   to roughly 18 days a year, or two days every month. Chronic absenteeism is usually a precursor to dropping out. And dropouts often wind up before the court.

Educators like Lois Yukna have created innovative ideas designed to keep kids in school. Others can learn from what Yukna is doing.  

For more decades, Yukna was a school bus driver in Middlesex County, N.J. Today, Yukna is a school attendance officer in New Jersey’s Woodbridge Township School District. Her job now is to make sure that once students get to school, they stay.  

When students don’t attend school regularly, Yukna works closely with students, parents, and the courts to turn the situation around.

“Something needed to be done because the main goal is to educate students, and they can’t be educated if they’re not in school,” says Yukna.

Yukna and a guidance counselor in the Woodbridge district put their heads together to come up with something that would emphasize restorative practices instead of suspension and encourage students to return to and stay in school.

Supported by NEA grants, the program exposes about 100 students “to a world of possibilities through internships, mentorships, and achievement incentives.” Parents have classes on nutrition, health, and the impact of social media and family dynamics on learning. “They learn how to motivate their children to come to school and do their best,” Yukna says.

In the first year, approximately 85 percent of the students improved in at least one area: academics, attendance, or attitude. In the second year, all of the students improved in each area. Best of all, of the participants who were seniors, 100 percent graduated in 2017.

—Contributed by Joye Barksdale

Getting in Front of ESSA

In the last few years, schools and states nationwide have spent a lot of time designing new plans to coincide with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), passed by Congress in 2016.  

Now that ESSA state implementation plans are done, what should educators expect in the new school year?  

Expect to see more schools identified for improvement under the law’s expanded accountability system. Some states, like Washington, have already released their list of schools, which were identified through multiple measures of academic and school quality indicators, not just test scores.

The challenge here is that while the accountability system was expanded, the money to help support the additional schools identified for improvement was not. These schools will be put on tiers of support. The greatest amount of money will go to the highest priority and trickle down.  

As the school year continues, district leaders will need to create ESSA implementation plans, leaving schools identified for improvement with the task of building their own site-based plans. Since the plans must include educator input—not only teachers, but also paraeducators, nurses, librarians, counselors, and other education support professionals—this is the period during which the voices of NEA members will be critical.  

“Get in front of it,” recommends Donna Harris-Aikens, director of NEA’s Education Policy and Practice department. “It is possible that the principal or superintendent in a particular place may not be focused on this yet.”

To learn what’s available at their schools, educators can use NEA’s Opportunity Checklist, a short, criteria-based tool to quickly assess what’s available at their school, and the Opportunity Audit , a tool that is rooted in the seven NEA Great Public Schools (GPS) criteria, which addresses the research and evidence-based resources, policies, and practices that are proven to narrow opportunity and skills gaps.

While some may be discouraged by the thought of placing more schools on an improvement plan, the truth is that despite some funding challenges, ESSA remains a promising opportunity.

Supporting Undocumented Students

If the last several months are any indication of the challenges educators will face around the immigration status of students, they should expect uncertainty and fear.

It’s been an emotional roller coaster for Dreamers—young people brought to the U.S. as children, who have received the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, protections over the five years of the program. In September 2017, President Donald Trump rescinded DACA. Five months later, he vowed to work with Congress to protect undocumented immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. In April, he tweeted “DACA is dead” and “NO MORE DACA DEAL.”

“We have a lot of students on hold,” says Hugo Arreola, a campus lab technician for the Phoenix Union High School District in Arizona. A DACA recipient himself, he sees his students and community in turmoil. “Many are afraid to renew their DACA applications, student anxiety is up, and people are still scared. The environment is very tense.”

“It’s hard being in this limbo,” says Karen Reyes, a 29-year-old teacher of deaf pre-kindergartners in Austin, Texas. A former Girl Scout who has lived in the U.S. since the age of 2, Reyes attended U.S. public schools from kindergarten through graduate school, eventually earning a master’s degree in Deaf Education and Hearing Science from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

“One moment you have your hopes up, thinking a deal might happen, and then there’s a tweet and people think you’re back to square one,” she says. That’s not the case, she explains. “But they don’t realize all the work we’ve done, the allies we’ve made, and the foundation we’ve built. We’re not back to the beginning. We’re just on a detour.”

Arreola and Reyes are active union members helping to inform, engage, and empower the immigration community in their respective hometowns.

Through Arreola’s unions, the Arizona Education Association and Phoenix Union Classified Employees Association, and local allies, he’s involved in various workshops, information forums, and trainings that help inform people of their rights. “It starts in the local area and making sure you have representatives who understand the realities of the situation and how this impacts their area,” Arreola explains.

Reyes has been involved with citizen drives, sponsored by her local union, Education Austin, and United We Dream.  

Educators can take steps in their own communities to fight the uncertainty and fear undocumented students face.    Go to NEA Ed Justice to learn more about Safe Zone school board policies and NEA’s toolkit for “Know Your Rights.”

Seeing Past the Hype of New Technologies

Every few months it seems educators get inundated with stories about the next big thing in classroom technology—a “game changer” set to “revolutionize” teaching and learning. Sound familiar? It should. Education technology, for all its benefits (and there are many), tends to be subject to egregious hype. A lot of money, after all, is to be made and many school districts— eager to demonstrate that their schools are on the “cutting edge”—can make some rather questionable purchasing decisions.  

Just recall the 2013 decision by Los Angeles Unified School District to proceed with a $1.3 billion plan to put an iPad loaded with a Pearson curriculum in the hands of every student. Technical glitches and lack of teacher training were just a couple of problems that eventually crippled the initiative.

Educators know better than anyone that healthy skepticism or at least caution about the latest classroom technology will end up serving their students best. It’s a stand that gets teachers branded as resistant to change, a convenient and unhelpful label. It has more to do with what’s best for student learning.  

Technology will continue to advance and more “game-changers” are invariably lurking around the corner. Maybe they can revolutionize the classroom, but it’s the educator who is best suited to determine how and why new tech should be used to best serve students.

Pushing Back Against Privatization

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos may be privatization’s most visible and stalwart proponent, but school privatization has been a threat to public education for more than 20 years and is financed and championed by a network of corporate interests. Their goal: to use their financial muscle and propaganda to undermine the mission of public schools and position the nation’s students as commodities upon which to draw a sizeable profit.  

Still, DeVos’ appointment to lead the nation’s education agenda in 2017 was a huge boost just as charter schools and voucher programs were losing a little steam. (Vouchers have been voted down at the ballot box every time they’ve been attempted through referendum.)

DeVos is a vocal advocate of cutting education spending and freeing up federal dollars to expand charter and voucher programs nationwide. Charter schools have expanded dramatically since their introduction in 1992, and currently serve about 5 percent of the nation’s students.  

They “are destructive and misguided schemes that use taxpayer dollars to “experiment with our children’s education without any evidence of real, lasting positive results,” says former NEA President Lily Eskelsen García.

Educators and activists are making a huge difference in their states by lobbying lawmakers to reject vouchers (often rebranded by their advocates as “education savings accounts” or “tuition tax credits” ).

In 2018, New Hampshire educators led the way in defeating a plan to establish so-called “education savings accounts,” which would have diverted a massive chunk of taxpayer money from public schools to fund the private school education of some students. Private schools would have to accept public funds but provide “no access to financial records, student achievement data, and no say in how the school is run,” says Megan Tuttle, president of NEA-New Hampshire. “The absence of public accountability for voucher funds has contributed to rampant fraud, waste, and abuse in current voucher programs across the country.”

NEA: Vouchers Cost Kids

Voucher proposals have been defeated in other states but their proponents are nothing if not relentless. Which is why, according to David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, activists must stay alert to the ongoing effort to push school voucher initiatives and to hold them up to public scrutiny.

“There’s a need to be vigilant in every state where governors and key legislators support these bills,” Sciarra says.  

Join the fight against school vouchers at vouchers.nea.org

Electing Better Lawmakers

Did you yell at the TV when you heard Betsy DeVos confuse proficiency and growth during her confirmation hearing? Are you disturbed by out-of-touch lawmakers like Arizona’s John Allen, who said teachers work second jobs so they can afford boats and big homes? Do you cringe at the fact that some Kansas lawmakers have tried to skirt the state supreme court’s ruling that they must remedy the woeful underfunding of schools?

  The reality is that too few elected officials at the local, state, and federal level have the in-depth knowledge of public education that only comes from working as an educator. And it shows in their policies and their budgets.  

  As if educating students every school day weren’t enough, it’s also on you to make sure officeholders understand the issues you face in the classroom and how to make progress solving them.

  The key is to show up and speak up.

  “We have to make our voices heard by the people who are making decisions that affect our classrooms,” says Maryland music teacher Jessica Fitzwater.

“Elected officials need to understand that it’s not just dollars and cents, students’ entire lives will be impacted by these decisions,” she adds.  

That means showing up and sharing your story at school board meetings, lobby days with state lawmakers, and town halls when your members of Congress are back home. Check your state association website and attend your next local association meeting to find out how to get involved.  

And if your elected leaders still aren’t listening, throw your support behind people who will.

  This November brings a critical opportunity to elect (or re-elect) pro-public education candidates who are not beholden to those who want to privatize education, and who are willing listen to educators and parents.  

Educators are reliable voters. But you can inspire others to head to the polls for pro-public ed candidates as well.

  Latwala Dixon, a math teacher at Columbia High School in Lake City, Fla., says talking to people about the importance of voting in past election cycles has made her even more passionate about the issues that affect her as an educator and a citizen.

  “I tell a lot of people, if you don’t use your right to vote, you will lose it,” Dixon says. Some of the people she speaks with—friends, acquaintances, colleagues—have responded enthusiastically, but others indicate they do not believe their vote makes a difference.

“So what you’re only one vote? Your vote counts,” Dixon says emphatically. “What if all of you ‘only one vote’ people got out there and voted? It could really turn the tide.”

Here’s another “tide turning” way to make sure elected leaders invest in schools—become one yourself! If you’re considering a run or supporting a colleague who is running for office, check out NEA’s candidate training program for members at SeeEducatorsRun.org .

NEA staff writers

NEA Today August 2018

Reference s

• 1 How do Biden and Trump Compare on Public Education?
• 2 The Road Ahead
• 3 Platform for the Schools Our Students Deserve Post COVID-19
• 1 ESSA Advocacy in Action: Handbook and Practice Guides
• 2 NEA LGBTQ+ Resources
• 3 Opportunity Dashboard Indicators in ESSA

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K-12 education reform: Top issues and solutions

Public education hasn’t changed much in 3 decades. We desperately need to innovate.

If you walked into a typical public K-12 classroom today, it would not look significantly different from your own classroom 15, 20, or even 30 years ago. 

Perhaps the chalkboards would be replaced by whiteboards, and teachers may now have microphones hanging around their necks. However, the classroom setup and teaching methods would be very similar: students passively learning from desks in rows facing the front of the room, where the teacher lectures from a state-mandated, standards-based curriculum, focusing on subjects and information likely to be on end-of-year exams.

The most troubling similarity across the decades:  large gaps in student learning proficiency that persist and continue to widen. After decades of trying to make standardized education work, communities, parents, and educators are pushing for solutions and policy reforms that support variety and innovation. This guide explores the primary challenges in K-12 education and offers solutions that could lead to transformative outcomes. 

First, let’s unpack the biggest challenges that should be addressed.

Issue 1 : One-size-fits-all approach

In 1989, 49 governors and President George H.W. Bush convened with the predetermined goal of improving the quality of American education. Their primary means for achieving this goal was the standardization of learning expectations to be monitored via yearly testing. 

In the 35 years since the summit, federal and state legislatures have relied on a one-size-fits-all education model. Governments have focused more on  what schools are teaching rather than  who they are teaching. However, the idea that every school can and should be teaching the same things, in the same way, has failed miserably. For example,  two-thirds of high school students report being disengaged, and  some inner-city schools have zero students testing at grade level in math and reading. 

One-size-fits-all teaching methods don’t factor in individual students and their unique needs and learning styles. This can lead to disengagement, frustration, and poor outcomes.

Issue 2 : Lack of individualized education

Research suggests students are more likely to thrive in environments that offer personalized learning experiences tailored to their interests and abilities. In one study, students in schools  using personalized learning methods outperformed their peers in math and reading over two school years, and students who lagged when they first entered personalized learning environments reached or surpassed national averages by the end of those two years.

Increased engagement is a key benefit of personalized learning. When students feel like their needs matter and are given the reins to their own learning,  they’re more likely to stay engaged and master difficult concepts.

With standardized instruction and testing, personalized learning takes a back burner because schools and teachers worry about losing funding and programs if their students don’t perform well on end-of-year tests. Parents also get caught up in grades and test scores because in traditional education systems scores can determine a child’s future. 

Unfortunately, the obsession with tests and grades takes a toll. When students leave high school, often the most prominent skills they’ve acquired are how to take tests and how to meet academic requirements — neither of which prepares them for life in the real world. They have  no understanding of their own aptitudes, strengths, or talents , and  they feel they lack the social and emotional skills to navigate adult life .  

When learning is individualized, it empowers children to explore their natural gifts and talents, hone them, and discover ways to use them to benefit themselves and others. 

Issue 3 : Inadequate preparation for the real world 

The current public education system is heavily focused on  test scores and  college preparation . To that end, high schools emphasize academic subjects like math, reading, and science. Students leave high school knowing how to  memorize information ,  take tests , and do the kind of  math and chemistry most of them will never use again. 

In the meantime, most students feel  unprepared socially and emotionally for life after school. Their traditional K-12 education hasn’t equipped them with essential life skills such as financial literacy, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, resilience, and effective communication. 

As New York high school biology teacher  Selim Tlili put it: “Education policy has increasingly centered on expanding access to college and helping students become ‘college ready.’ Rather than helping students become competent and self-sufficient adults, as school used to do, high school now focuses on the development of abstract skills that will purportedly serve them in college.”

Many students leave their K-12 education  feeling unprepared for the workforce and adult responsibilities . They’ve been taught to pursue college for so long that they lack awareness and information about alternative postsecondary career paths that don’t require degrees. According to a  2023 study by ECMC , only 13% of high school graduates felt they were prepared to choose a path after high school. Of students who chose to pursue a degree, 64% of them cited a lack of information about other pathways as a barrier to choosing anything else. 

Sign up for Stand Together's K-12 newsletter and get stories, ideas, and advice from changemakers who are transforming education across the country.

Reform 1 : Embrace individualized education

To address these pressing issues, K-12 education reform efforts should prioritize increasing access to individualized learning experiences that cater to each student’s unique needs and interests. Personalized education options, such as self-directed learning, can empower students to take charge of their educational journey, leading to increased engagement and success.

VELA, part of the Stand Together community, believes that sustainable change in education will come from the ground up. Through a vibrant network of education changemakers, VELA catalyzes a dynamic alternative education ecosystem by supporting community-driven innovation and accelerating the exploration of new frontiers in education.

Self-directed learning is an innovative model that allows students to set their own educational goals and pursue their interests at their own pace. Examples of such pioneering initiatives include  The Forest School , which emphasizes leadership skills, communication, and team dynamics, and  Life Skills Academy , which focuses on giving children space and resources to develop holistically.  One Stone school takes this innovation a step further by letting its high schoolers create their own curriculums. 

Reform 2 : Offer a diverse range of learning options 

K-12 education reform should prioritize expanding educational options and access for all students. By offering diverse learning opportunities, educational institutions can better meet the needs and interests of every learner.

A wide array of choices empowers families to create the best educational experience tailored to their children’s needs. Some may choose the local public school, while others might prefer a one-room microschool or a mix of public school and specialized after-school programs. There’s no single right way, and the possibilities for these learning options are endless.

Surf Skate Science brings science to life through surfing and skating for students in third grade through 10th grade. At  Uncommon Construction , students gain a real-world education while they work together to build a home in one semester.  Electric Girls empowers young women to pursue STEM subjects by allowing them to choose and complete apprentice-like projects. 

Education innovations are happening rapidly in the private education sector — fueled largely by disillusioned educators and parents. Scholarship programs like  North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship and educational savings accounts like  Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account provide ways of financing and accessing tailored education options — whether public or private.  Love Your School offers personalized support to families seeking alternative education models, empowering them to make informed choices and pursue the best education path for their children.

Reform 3 : Drive meaningful educational reform via advocacy and policy changes 

Advocating for policy changes that promote education freedom and innovation can drive meaningful education reform. Grassroots activists, educators, and organizations in the Stand Together community work to champion new education policies and initiatives, fostering a more inclusive and individualized K-12 education experience.

Populace studies the science of individuality, including the importance of teaching people based on their unique abilities and interests.  yes. every kid. ,  Available to All , and  Americans for Prosperity are advocacy organizations focused on informing policymakers, education stakeholders, and the public about the need for education reform. 

Building strong relationships between educators, students, families, and communities is essential for driving transformative change in K-12 education. By working together, stakeholders can encourage and support the entrepreneurs driving K-12 education reform. By investing in new and creative approaches to education, we can unlock the potential of individualized learning and empower students, educators, and communities to thrive.

The future of K-12 education

The future success of K-12 education lies in embracing individualized learning experiences and expanding access to diverse education options. By fostering collaboration, innovation, and community engagement, we can empower students, educators, and communities to overcome challenges and usher in a new era of K-12 education that truly serves the unique needs of every learner.

Learn more about  Stand Together’s education efforts and explore ways you can partner with us .

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The Education Crisis: Being in School Is Not the Same as Learning

First grade students in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province are learning the alphabet through child-friendly flash cards. Their learning materials help educators teach through interactive and engaging activities and are provided free of charge through a student’s first learning backpack. © World Bank 

THE NAME OF THE DOG IS PUPPY. This seems like a simple sentence. But did you know that in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, three out of four third grade students do not understand it? The world is facing a learning crisis . Worldwide, hundreds of millions of children reach young adulthood without even the most basic skills like calculating the correct change from a transaction, reading a doctor’s instructions, or understanding a bus schedule—let alone building a fulfilling career or educating their children. Education is at the center of building human capital. The latest World Bank research shows that the productivity of 56 percent of the world’s children will be less than half of what it could be if they enjoyed complete education and full health. For individuals, education raises self-esteem and furthers opportunities for employment and earnings. And for a country, it helps strengthen institutions within societies, drives long-term economic growth, reduces poverty, and spurs innovation.

One of the most interesting, large scale educational technology efforts is being led by EkStep , a philanthropic effort in India. EkStep created an open digital infrastructure which provides access to learning opportunities for 200 million children, as well as professional development opportunities for 12 million teachers and 4.5 million school leaders. Both teachers and children are accessing content which ranges from teaching materials, explanatory videos, interactive content, stories, practice worksheets, and formative assessments. By monitoring which content is used most frequently—and most beneficially—informed decisions can be made around future content.

In the Dominican Republic, a World Bank supported pilot study shows how adaptive technologies can generate great interest among 21st century students and present a path to supporting the learning and teaching of future generations. Yudeisy, a sixth grader participating in the study, says that what she likes doing the most during the day is watching videos and tutorials on her computer and cell phone. Taking childhood curiosity as a starting point, the study aimed to channel it towards math learning in a way that interests Yudeisy and her classmates.

Yudeisy, along with her classmates in a public elementary school in Santo Domingo, is part of a four-month pilot to reinforce mathematics using software that adapts to the math level of each student. © World Bank

Adaptive technology was used to evaluate students’ initial learning level to then walk them through math exercises in a dynamic, personalized way, based on artificial intelligence and what the student is ready to learn. After three months, students with the lowest initial performance achieved substantial improvements. This shows the potential of technology to increase learning outcomes, especially among students lagging behind their peers. In a field that is developing at dizzying speeds, innovative solutions to educational challenges are springing up everywhere. Our challenge is to make technology a driver of equity and inclusion and not a source of greater inequality of opportunity. We are working with partners worldwide to support the effective and appropriate use of educational technologies to strengthen learning.

When schools and educations systems are managed well, learning happens

Successful education reforms require good policy design, strong political commitment, and effective implementation capacity . Of course, this is extremely challenging. Many countries struggle to make efficient use of resources and very often increased education spending does not translate into more learning and improved human capital. Overcoming such challenges involves working at all levels of the system.

At the central level, ministries of education need to attract the best experts to design and implement evidence-based and country-specific programs. District or regional offices need the capacity and the tools to monitor learning and support schools. At the school level, principals need to be trained and prepared to manage and lead schools, from planning the use of resources to supervising and nurturing their teachers. However difficult, change is possible. Supported by the World Bank, public schools across Punjab in Pakistan have been part of major reforms over the past few years to address these challenges. Through improved school-level accountability by monitoring and limiting teacher and student absenteeism, and the introduction of a merit-based teacher recruitment system, where only the most talented and motivated teachers were selected, they were able to increase enrollment and retention of students and significantly improve the quality of education. "The government schools have become very good now, even better than private ones," said Mr. Ahmed, a local villager.

The World Bank, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the UK’s Department for International Development, is developing the Global Education Policy Dashboard . This new initiative will provide governments with a system for monitoring how their education systems are functioning, from learning data to policy plans, so they are better able to make timely and evidence-based decisions.

Education reform: The long game is worth it

In fact, it will take a generation to realize the full benefits of high-quality teachers, the effective use of technology, improved management of education systems, and engaged and prepared learners. However, global experience shows us that countries that have rapidly accelerated development and prosperity all share the common characteristic of taking education seriously and investing appropriately. As we mark the first-ever International Day of Education on January 24, we must do all we can to equip our youth with the skills to keep learning, adapt to changing realities, and thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy and a rapidly changing world of work.

The schools of the future are being built today. These are schools where all teachers have the right competencies and motivation, where technology empowers them to deliver quality learning, and where all students learn fundamental skills, including socio-emotional, and digital skills. These schools are safe and affordable to everyone and are places where children and young people learn with joy, rigor, and purpose. Governments, teachers, parents, and the international community must do their homework to realize the promise of education for all students, in every village, in every city, and in every country. 

The Bigger Picture: In-depth stories on ending poverty

5 Ways Policy Makers Can Improve the Quality of Education

When it comes to objectively measuring the quality of the US education system, the news is disappointing.

In 2015, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its global rankings of student performance in math, reading, and science, based on the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA (an exam given worldwide every three years to assess 15-year-olds in 72 countries). The last several PISA scores have revealed that in terms of education outcomes, the United States is far from No. 1. That year, the United States suffered an 11-point drop in math scores, leaving it 35th in that subject and 20 points below the OECD average. The country’s students scored just above average in reading and science.

The debate around how to improve the education system in the United States is a fraught, complicated one with incredibly high stakes. But that shouldn’t discourage policy makers from engaging in it. In the spirit of finding reasonable places to begin, below are five of the first steps lawmakers and other officials should take in what’s sure to be a multiyear, multistep process to improve outcomes for students.

• Acknowledge and address overcrowding.
• Make funding schools a priority.
• Address the school-to-prison pipeline.
• Raise standards for teachers.
• Put classroom-running and curriculum-building decisions in the hands of the community.

1. Acknowledge and address overcrowding

A study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 14 percent of US schools exceed capacity. Of course, the problem is concentrated and disproportionately affects low-income and minority students. For example, approximately one in five Chicago Public Schools elementary students start the school year in overcrowded classrooms.

Overcrowded classrooms, time and again, have been shown to be less effective:

• Teachers are spread thin.
• Students don’t get the attention or personalization they require.
• Students lose interest, which plants the seeds for dropping out.
• Teachers and students feel increased stress.

Policy makers can begin to avoid this problem by drafting master plans that refuse to tolerate even slight overcrowding. This process must be ongoing, and maintenance will be necessary, as new housing developments can force shifts in school capacities. Dedicated task forces of lawmakers can stay on top of such changes.

An ongoing issue

The issue of overcrowding in schools isn’t a new one. Another study based in New York in the mid-1990s found that overcrowding is “sharply” linked to lower achievement among students of low socioeconomic background. That study found that both students and teachers felt overwhelmed, discouraged, and, at times, disgusted with the state of overcrowding within their schools.

What’s more, teachers in overcrowded schools often report a lack of resources or that their schools are in less than ideal condition. This lack of space can lead to lessons being taught in non-instructional areas, such as gymnasiums, which, in turn, can heighten levels of stress among both students and teachers.

2. Make funding schools a priority

The statistics around school funding in the United States are sobering:

• States contribute 44 percent of total education funding in the United States.
• The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that 34 states channel less funding into education on a per-student basis than they did prior to the recession years.
• Between 2008 and 2016, local school districts cut a net total of roughly 297,000 teaching jobs.

The problem isn’t simply a matter of cash-strapped states or the federal government struggling to come up with revenues. It’s a matter of priorities. Consider this: just about every state in the country spends more to house the average inmate than it does to educate the average elementary/secondary student.

Here’s what some of those priorities could look like:

• Implement a progressive tax code. By taxing wealthy citizens and corporations their due, local and federal governments could afford to bolster the public education system. The political will to make such a change seems to be growing more and more remote, but with a citizenry that is engaged in demanding that our society invest in its students, that can begin to change.
• Look at the bigger picture. This investment pays off, too—in a big way. In 2008, economists found that investing in education has an impact on the country’s overall economic health by increasing the gross domestic product (GDP).
• Increase teacher funding and support. Policy makers should focus not only on funding for building new schools and improving older buildings but also on increasing funding for teachers, particularly in low-income areas. Since many teachers choose to work in affluent areas because of the potential for better pay or working conditions, the quality of teaching in poorer schools can suffer. If policy makers and school officials can work together to attract and retain teachers at such schools, students with greater educational needs will benefit from the improved teaching quality.

3. Address the school-to-prison pipeline

The statistics are unsettling:

• More than half of African American young men who attend high schools in urban areas do not earn a diploma.
• Of these dropouts, nearly 60 percent will go to prison at some point in their lives.

The school-to-prison pipeline issue is complex, and its contributing forces include suspensions that disproportionately involve young African American men, in-school arrests, and zero-tolerance policies with harsh punishments that were put in place after the 1999 Columbine shooting.

Now that these patterns are being openly noted and discussed, policy makers can take concerted steps away from feeding the pipeline by focusing on restorative justice and keeping young people away from the justice system whenever possible.

Restorative justice works

A greater emphasis on alternative discipline methods, rather than detention or suspension, can lead to significant improvement in student retention and success. In one case, a high school district in California reduced the number of expulsions from 1,096 in the 2010-11 academic year to just 66 in 2014-15 by focusing on restorative justice as a means of conflict resolution.

Build a school community for all students

If schools are focused on measuring their success solely by overall student achievement, students who bring down the average are more likely to be forced out. Instead, curriculum development and classroom priorities should focus on each student’s individual success. A more compassionate and understanding school environment is likely to reduce the need for security guards, police officers, and zero-tolerance policies—all of which contribute to a hostile and regimented environment.

4. Raise standards for teachers

Studies have found—not at all surprisingly—that underqualified teachers are tied to poor outcomes for students. The good news is that this is one of the most straightforward areas where policy makers can have an impact. They must clarify standards for teachers seeking licenses and raise standards in areas where student outcomes are lowest.

Raise the bar

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind in 2015, has had the opposite effect. ESSA eliminated the “Highly Qualified Teacher” provision from the previous law, meaning that the federal government is much less involved in teacher licensing and evaluation.

The National Education Organization says that theses changes promote alternative teacher education programs that don’t adequately prepare teachers to enter the classroom. With these changes, individual states need to raise the bar for teacher certifications to ensure that educators are truly prepared for their jobs.

5. Put classroom-running and curriculum-building decisions in the hands of the community

In recent decades, the education system has moved away from teachers and local boards in terms of who makes decisions that affect classrooms and curricula. Consequently, student outcomes have suffered.

Policy makers who are aware of this pattern can push for a move away from standardized control and toward community-based mechanisms, such as community-elected school boards, that have the power and authority to make decisions about how their students are educated.

Involving parents in their children’s education where possible can also contribute to a student’s achievement.

People coming together with coherent messages for policy makers about the changes they’d like to see in their education systems can only benefit students. With these initial steps in mind, lawmakers and their constituents can start to move together in the direction of change.

10 Reasons the U.S. Education System Is Failing

School vs. Society in America’s Failing Students

PISA 2015 Results

What’s wrong with education today?

Teaching Matters: How State and Local Policymakers Can Improve the Quality of Teachers and Teaching

CPS Class Sizes Pushed Beyond Limits

Does class size matter?

Preventing Overcrowding & Other School Impacts of Poorly Planned Growth

Education Under Arrest – School to Prison Pipeline Fact Sheet

Parents and Community Can Play Key Roles in School Success

A School System at Risk: A Study of the Consequences of Overcrowding in New York City Public Schools

Stop the School-to-Prison Pipeline

5 ways to end the school to prison pipeline

Federal Policy, ESEA Reauthorization, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Parent and Community Involvement in Schools: Policy Panacea or Pandemic?

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The costs of inequality: Education’s the one key that rules them all

When there’s inequity in learning, it’s usually baked into life, Harvard analysts say

Corydon Ireland

Harvard Correspondent

Third in a series on what Harvard scholars are doing to identify and understand inequality, in seeking solutions to one of America’s most vexing problems.

Before Deval Patrick ’78, J.D. ’82, was the popular and successful two-term governor of Massachusetts, before he was managing director of high-flying Bain Capital, and long before he was Harvard’s most recent Commencement speaker , he was a poor black schoolchild in the battered housing projects of Chicago’s South Side.

The odds of his escaping a poverty-ridden lifestyle, despite innate intelligence and drive, were long. So how did he help mold his own narrative and triumph over baked-in societal inequality ? Through education.

“Education has been the path to better opportunity for generations of American strivers, no less for me,” Patrick said in an email when asked how getting a solid education, in his case at Milton Academy and at Harvard, changed his life.

“What great teachers gave me was not just the skills to take advantage of new opportunities, but the ability to imagine what those opportunities could be. For a kid from the South Side of Chicago, that’s huge.”

If inequality starts anywhere, many scholars agree, it’s with faulty education. Conversely, a strong education can act as the bejeweled key that opens gates through every other aspect of inequality , whether political, economic , racial, judicial, gender- or health-based.

Simply put, a top-flight education usually changes lives for the better. And yet, in the world’s most prosperous major nation, it remains an elusive goal for millions of children and teenagers.

Plateau on educational gains

The revolutionary concept of free, nonsectarian public schools spread across America in the 19th century. By 1970, America had the world’s leading educational system, and until 1990 the gap between minority and white students, while clear, was narrowing.

But educational gains in this country have plateaued since then, and the gap between white and minority students has proven stubbornly difficult to close, says Ronald Ferguson, adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and faculty director of Harvard’s Achievement Gap Initiative. That gap extends along class lines as well.

“What great teachers gave me was not just the skills to take advantage of new opportunities, but the ability to imagine what those opportunities could be. For a kid from the South Side of Chicago, that’s huge.” — Deval Patrick

In recent years, scholars such as Ferguson, who is an economist, have puzzled over the ongoing achievement gap and what to do about it, even as other nations’ school systems at first matched and then surpassed their U.S. peers. Among the 34 market-based, democracy-leaning countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States ranks around 20th annually, earning average or below-average grades in reading, science, and mathematics.

By eighth grade, Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer Jr. noted last year, only 44 percent of American students are proficient in reading and math. The proficiency of African-American students, many of them in underperforming schools, is even lower.

“The position of U.S. black students is truly alarming,” wrote Fryer, the Henry Lee Professor of Economics, who used the OECD rankings as a metaphor for minority standing educationally. “If they were to be considered a country, they would rank just below Mexico in last place.”

Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) Dean James E. Ryan, a former public interest lawyer, says geography has immense power in determining educational opportunity in America. As a scholar, he has studied how policies and the law affect learning, and how conditions are often vastly unequal.

His book “Five Miles Away, A World Apart” (2010) is a case study of the disparity of opportunity in two Richmond, Va., schools, one grimly urban and the other richly suburban. Geography, he says, mirrors achievement levels.

A ZIP code as predictor of success

“Right now, there exists an almost ironclad link between a child’s ZIP code and her chances of success,” said Ryan. “Our education system, traditionally thought of as the chief mechanism to address the opportunity gap, instead too often reflects and entrenches existing societal inequities.”

Urban schools demonstrate the problem. In New York City, for example, only 8 percent of black males graduating from high school in 2014 were prepared for college-level work, according to the CUNY Institute for Education Policy, with Latinos close behind at 11 percent. The preparedness rates for Asians and whites — 48 and 40 percent, respectively — were unimpressive too, but nonetheless were firmly on the other side of the achievement gap.

In some impoverished urban pockets, the racial gap is even larger. In Washington, D.C., 8 percent of black eighth-graders are proficient in math, while 80 percent of their white counterparts are.

Fryer said that in kindergarten black children are already 8 months behind their white peers in learning. By third grade, the gap is bigger, and by eighth grade is larger still.

According to a recent report by the Education Commission of the States, black and Hispanic students in kindergarten through 12th grade perform on a par with the white students who languish in the lowest quartile of achievement.

There was once great faith and hope in America’s school systems. The rise of quality public education a century ago “was probably the best public policy decision Americans have ever made because it simultaneously raised the whole growth rate of the country for most of the 20th century, and it leveled the playing field,” said Robert Putnam, the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at HKS, who has written several best-selling books touching on inequality, including “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community” and “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.”

Historically, upward mobility in America was characterized by each generation becoming better educated than the previous one, said Harvard economist Lawrence Katz. But that trend, a central tenet of the nation’s success mythology, has slackened, particularly for minorities.

“Thirty years ago, the typical American had two more years of schooling than their parents. Today, we have the most educated group of Americans, but they only have about .4 more years of schooling, so that’s one part of mobility not keeping up in the way we’ve invested in education in the past,” Katz said.

As globalization has transformed and sometimes undercut the American economy, “education is not keeping up,” he said. “There’s continuing growth of demand for more abstract, higher-end skills” that schools aren’t delivering, “and then that feeds into a weakening of institutions like unions and minimum-wage protections.”

“The position of U.S. black students is truly alarming.” — Roland G. Fryer Jr.

Fryer is among a diffuse cohort of Harvard faculty and researchers using academic tools to understand the achievement gap and the many reasons behind problematic schools. His venue is the Education Innovation Laboratory , where he is faculty director.

“We use big data and causal methods,” he said of his approach to the issue.

Fryer, who is African-American, grew up poor in a segregated Florida neighborhood. He argues that outright discrimination has lost its power as a primary driver behind inequality, and uses economics as “a rational forum” for discussing social issues.

Better schools to close the gap

Fryer set out in 2004 to use an economist’s data and statistical tools to answer why black students often do poorly in school compared with whites. His years of research have convinced him that good schools would close the education gap faster and better than addressing any other social factor, including curtailing poverty and violence, and he believes that the quality of kindergarten through grade 12 matters above all.

Supporting his belief is research that says the number of schools achieving excellent student outcomes is a large enough sample to prove that much better performance is possible. Despite the poor performance by many U.S. states, some have shown that strong results are possible on a broad scale. For instance, if Massachusetts were a nation, it would rate among the best-performing countries.

At HGSE, where Ferguson is faculty co-chair as well as director of the Achievement Gap Initiative, many factors are probed. In the past 10 years, Ferguson, who is African-American, has studied every identifiable element contributing to unequal educational outcomes. But lately he is looking hardest at improving children’s earliest years, from infancy to age 3.

In addition to an organization he founded called the Tripod Project , which measures student feedback on learning, he launched the Boston Basics project in August, with support from the Black Philanthropy Fund, Boston’s mayor, and others. The first phase of the outreach campaign, a booklet, videos, and spot ads, starts with advice to parents of children age 3 or younger.

“Maximize love, manage stress” is its mantra and its foundational imperative, followed by concepts such as “talk, sing, and point.” (“Talking,” said Ferguson, “is teaching.”) In early childhood, “The difference in life experiences begins at home.”

At age 1, children score similarly

Fryer and Ferguson agree that the achievement gap starts early. At age 1, white, Asian, black, and Hispanic children score virtually the same in what Ferguson called “skill patterns” that measure cognitive ability among toddlers, including examining objects, exploring purposefully, and “expressive jabbering.” But by age 2, gaps are apparent, with black and Hispanic children scoring lower in expressive vocabulary, listening comprehension, and other indicators of acuity. That suggests educational achievement involves more than just schooling, which typically starts at age 5.

Key factors in the gap, researchers say, include poverty rates (which are three times higher for blacks than for whites), diminished teacher and school quality, unsettled neighborhoods, ineffective parenting, personal trauma, and peer group influence, which only strengthens as children grow older.

“Peer beliefs and values,” said Ferguson, get “trapped in culture” and are compounded by the outsized influence of peers and the “pluralistic ignorance” they spawn. Fryer’s research, for instance, says that the reported stigma of “acting white” among many black students is true. The better they do in school, the fewer friends they have — while for whites who are perceived as smarter, there’s an opposite social effect.

The researchers say that family upbringing matters, in all its crisscrossing influences and complexities, and that often undercuts minority children, who can come from poor or troubled homes. “Unequal outcomes,” he said, “are from, to a large degree, inequality in life experiences.”

Trauma also subverts achievement, whether through family turbulence, street violence, bullying, sexual abuse, or intermittent homelessness. Such factors can lead to behaviors in school that reflect a pervasive form of childhood post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Possible solutions to educational inequality:

• Access to early learning
• Improved K-12 schools
• More family mealtimes
• Reinforced learning at home
• Data-driven instruction
• Longer school days, years
• Respect for school rules
• Small-group tutoring
• High expectations of students
• Safer neighborhoods

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At Harvard Law School, both the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative and the Education Law Clinic marshal legal aid resources for parents and children struggling with trauma-induced school expulsions and discipline issues.

At Harvard Business School, Karim R. Lakhani, an associate professor who is a crowdfunding expert and a champion of open-source software, has studied how unequal racial and economic access to technology has worked to widen the achievement gap.

At Harvard’s Project Zero, a nonprofit called the Family Dinner Project is scraping away at the achievement gap from the ground level by pushing for families to gather around the meal table, which traditionally was a lively and comforting artifact of nuclear families, stable wages, close-knit extended families, and culturally shared values.

Lynn Barendsen, the project’s executive director, believes that shared mealtimes improve reading skills, spur better grades and larger vocabularies, and fuel complex conversations. Interactive mealtimes provide a learning experience of their own, she said, along with structure, emotional support, a sense of safety, and family bonding. Even a modest jump in shared mealtimes could boost a child’s academic performance, she said.

“We’re not saying families have to be perfect,” she said, acknowledging dinnertime impediments like full schedules, rudimentary cooking skills, the lure of technology, and the demands of single parenting. “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”

Whether poring over Fryer’s big data or Barendsen’s family dinner project, there is one commonality for Harvard researchers dealing with inequality in education: the issue’s vast complexity. The achievement gap is a creature of interlocking factors that are hard to unpack constructively.

Going wide, starting early

With help from faculty co-chair and Jesse Climenko Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree, the Achievement Gap Initiative is analyzing the factors that make educational inequality such a complex puzzle: home and family life, school environments, teacher quality, neighborhood conditions, peer interaction, and the fate of “all those wholesome things,” said Ferguson. The latter include working hard in school, showing respect, having nice friends, and following the rules, traits that can be “elements of a 21st-century movement for equality.”

In the end, best practices to create strong schools will matter most, said Fryer.

He called high-quality education “the new civil rights battleground” in a landmark 2010 working paper for the Handbook of Labor Economics called “Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of Discrimination.”

Fryer tapped 10 large data sets on children 8 months to 17 years old. He studied charter schools, scouring for standards that worked. He champions longer school days and school years, data-driven instruction, small-group tutoring, high expectations, and a school culture that prizes human capital — all just “a few simple investments,” he wrote in the working paper. “The challenge for the future is to take these examples to scale” across the country.

How long would closing the gap take with a national commitment to do so? A best-practices experiment that Fryer conducted at low-achieving high schools in Houston closed the gap in math skills within three years, and narrowed the reading achievement gap by a third.

“You don’t need Superman for this,” he said, referring to a film about Geoffrey Canada and his Harlem Children’s Zone, just high-quality schools for everyone, to restore 19th-century educator Horace Mann’s vision of public education as society’s “balance-wheel.”

Last spring, Fryer, still only 38, won the John Bates Clark medal, the most prestigious award in economics after the Nobel Prize. He was a MacArthur Fellow in 2011, became a tenured Harvard professor in 2007, was named to the prestigious Society of Fellows at age 25. He had a classically haphazard childhood, but used school to learn, grow, and prosper. Gradually, he developed a passion for social science that could help him answer what was going wrong in black lives because of educational inequality.

With his background and talent, Fryer has a dramatically unique perspective on inequality and achievement, and he has something else: a seemingly counterintuitive sense that these conditions will improve, once bad schools learn to get better. Discussing the likelihood of closing the achievement gap if Americans have the political and organizational will to do so, Fryer said, “I see nothing but optimism.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately portrayed details of Dr. Fryer’s background.

Illustration by Kathleen M.G. Howlett. Harvard staff writer Christina Pazzanese contributed to this report.

Next Tuesday: Inequality in health care

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Recognizing and Overcoming Inequity in Education

About the author, sylvia schmelkes.

Sylvia Schmelkes is Provost of the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.

22 January 2020 Introduction

I nequity is perhaps the most serious problem in education worldwide. It has multiple causes, and its consequences include differences in access to schooling, retention and, more importantly, learning. Globally, these differences correlate with the level of development of various countries and regions. In individual States, access to school is tied to, among other things, students' overall well-being, their social origins and cultural backgrounds, the language their families speak, whether or not they work outside of the home and, in some countries, their sex. Although the world has made progress in both absolute and relative numbers of enrolled students, the differences between the richest and the poorest, as well as those living in rural and urban areas, have not diminished. 1

These correlations do not occur naturally. They are the result of the lack of policies that consider equity in education as a principal vehicle for achieving more just societies. The pandemic has exacerbated these differences mainly due to the fact that technology, which is the means of access to distance schooling, presents one more layer of inequality, among many others.

The dimension of educational inequity

Around the world, 258 million, or 17 per cent of the world’s children, adolescents and youth, are out of school. The proportion is much larger in developing countries: 31 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa and 21 per cent in Central Asia, vs. 3 per cent in Europe and North America. 2  Learning, which is the purpose of schooling, fares even worse. For example, it would take 15-year-old Brazilian students 75 years, at their current rate of improvement, to reach wealthier countries’ average scores in math, and more than 260 years in reading. 3 Within countries, learning results, as measured through standardized tests, are almost always much lower for those living in poverty. In Mexico, for example, 80 per cent of indigenous children at the end of primary school don’t achieve basic levels in reading and math, scoring far below the average for primary school students. 4

The causes of educational inequity

There are many explanations for educational inequity. In my view, the most important ones are the following:

• Equity and equality are not the same thing. Equality means providing the same resources to everyone. Equity signifies giving more to those most in need. Countries with greater inequity in education results are also those in which governments distribute resources according to the political pressure they experience in providing education. Such pressures come from families in which the parents attended school, that reside in urban areas, belong to cultural majorities and who have a clear appreciation of the benefits of education. Much less pressure comes from rural areas and indigenous populations, or from impoverished urban areas. In these countries, fewer resources, including infrastructure, equipment, teachers, supervision and funding, are allocated to the disadvantaged, the poor and cultural minorities.
• Teachers are key agents for learning. Their training is crucial.  When insufficient priority is given to either initial or in-service teacher training, or to both, one can expect learning deficits. Teachers in poorer areas tend to have less training and to receive less in-service support.
• Most countries are very diverse. When a curriculum is overloaded and is the same for everyone, some students, generally those from rural areas, cultural minorities or living in poverty find little meaning in what is taught. When the language of instruction is different from their native tongue, students learn much less and drop out of school earlier.
• Disadvantaged students frequently encounter unfriendly or overtly offensive attitudes from both teachers and classmates. Such attitudes are derived from prejudices, stereotypes, outright racism and sexism. Students in hostile environments are affected in their disposition to learn, and many drop out early.

It doesn’t have to be like this

When left to inertial decision-making, education systems seem to be doomed to reproduce social and economic inequity. The commitment of both governments and societies to equity in education is both necessary and possible. There are several examples of more equitable educational systems in the world, and there are many subnational examples of successful policies fostering equity in education.

Why is equity in education important?

Education is a basic human right. More than that, it is an enabling right in the sense that, when respected, allows for the fulfillment of other human rights. Education has proven to affect general well-being, productivity, social capital, responsible citizenship and sustainable behaviour. Its equitable distribution allows for the creation of permeable societies and equity. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure “inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. One hundred eighty-four countries are committed to achieving this goal over the next decade. 5  The process of walking this road together has begun and requires impetus to continue, especially now that we must face the devastating consequences of a long-lasting pandemic. Further progress is crucial for humanity.

Notes  1 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization , Inclusive Education. All Means All , Global Education Monitoring Report 2020 (Paris, 2020), p.8. Available at https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/report/2020/inclusion . 2 Ibid., p. 4, 7. 3 World Bank Group, World Development Report 2018: Learning to Realize Education's Promise (Washington, DC, 2018), p. 3. Available at https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2018 .  4 Instituto Nacional para la Evaluación de la Educación, "La educación obligatoria en México", Informe 2018 (Ciudad de México, 2018), p. 72. Available online at https://www.inee.edu.mx/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/P1I243.pdf . 5 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization , “Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4” (2015), p. 23. Available at  https://iite.unesco.org/publications/education-2030-incheon-declaration-framework-action-towards-inclusive-equitable-quality-education-lifelong-learning/   The UN Chronicle  is not an official record. It is privileged to host senior United Nations officials as well as distinguished contributors from outside the United Nations system whose views are not necessarily those of the United Nations. Similarly, the boundaries and names shown, and the designations used, in maps or articles do not necessarily imply endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.   

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What are the major problems facing american education today, the top 10 education problems in america and possible solutions.

America’s education system has come under fire from many different angles in recent years. Some say that our students are not being given the opportunities they need to be successful in a globalized world. Others maintain that our teachers are not receiving the proper training and support they need in order to be effective educators.

No matter where you stand on the issue, it is clear that there are many problems with America’s education system.

In this blog post, we will take a closer look at the top 10 education problems in America and explore possible solutions.

Table of Contents

Top 10 Educational Problems and their Solutions

1.    lack of access to quality education.

One of the biggest problems facing America’s education system is the lack of access to quality education. This issue is especially prevalent in low-income and rural areas.

According to a National Center for Education Statistics report, only 60% of low-income students attend schools that offer a full range of academic courses.

This means that many students are not being allowed to take classes in subjects like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This lack of access can have a major impact on a student’s ability to succeed in school and in life.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to provide more funding for low-income schools. This would allow these schools to offer a broader range of courses and programs and hire more qualified teachers.

Another solution is to create more online schools. Online high schools have more flexibility in their curriculum . This can provide students with a better education than they would receive at a traditional public school.

2. High Dropout Rates

Another serious problem facing America’s education system is the high dropout rate. According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, the dropout rate in the United States was 3.8% in 2017.

This means that nearly one in four students do not finish high school. The dropout rate is even higher for certain groups of students, such as low-income students and students of color.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to provide more support for at-risk students. This could include mentorship programs, tutoring services, and financial assistance.

Another solution is to create alternative schools for students who are not thriving in a traditional school setting. These schools could offer a more flexible curriculum.

3. Lack of Cultural Competency

Another problem facing America’s education system is educators’ lack of cultural competency. This issue is especially prevalent in schools that serve a diverse student body.

Many teachers are not adequately trained to teach students from different cultures and backgrounds. As a result, these students may feel isolated and discouraged in school.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to provide more training for educators on teaching diverse students. This training should include cultural competence, classroom management, and effective teaching strategies.

Another solution is to create more culturally diverse learning environments. This could be done by hiring a more diverse staff, incorporating a multicultural curriculum, and offering bilingual education programs.

4. Standardized Testing

One of the most controversial issues in America’s education system is standardized testing . These tests are used to measure student achievement and compare schools against each other.

However, many critics argue that these tests are not an accurate measure of student learning. They also place undue stress on students and teachers.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to reduce the emphasis on standardized testing. This could be done by eliminating high-stakes tests or using them for diagnostic purposes only.

Another solution is to create alternative assessments that are more authentic and student-centered. These could include portfolios, projects, and presentations.

The other solution is to provide more support for students, teachers, and administrators who are under pressure because of standardized testing. This could include counseling services, professional development opportunities, and stress-reduction programs.

5. Inadequate Teacher Training

Another major problem facing America’s education system is inadequate teacher training. Many teachers are not adequately prepared to teach their subject matter, especially in high-need areas like  math  and science. As a result, students are not receiving the quality education they deserve.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to provide more funding for teacher training. This would allow teachers to receive the proper education and certification they need to be effective educators.

Another solution is to create more incentives for teachers to pursue further education and professional development. This could include financial bonuses or paid time off for attending conferences and workshops.

6. School Funding

One of the most pressing problems facing America’s education system is the unequal distribution of school funding. Property taxes are the primary source of funding for public schools, but this method disproportionately benefits wealthier communities.

As a result, schools in low-income areas often lack the resources they need to provide a quality education for their students.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to increase federal funding for education. This would provide more money for schools in low-income areas.

Another solution is to redistribute funding from wealthy school districts to low-income school districts. This would help to level the playing field and provide all students with the resources they need to succeed.

7. Inequality in Education

Inequality is a big problem in America’s education system. According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, there are significant disparities in educational outcomes between different groups of students.

For example, Hispanic and African American students are more likely to drop out of school than white students. In addition, students from low-income families are more likely to have lower test scores and be less likely to go to college.

This inequality can significantly impact a student’s ability to succeed in school and in life.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to provide more support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This could include tutoring, mentorship programs, and financial aid.

Another solution is to improve the quality of education in schools that serve these students. This could be done by providing more resources, hiring better teachers, and offering more challenging coursework.

8. Lack of Parental Involvement

One of the biggest problems facing America’s education system is the lack of parental involvement. According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, only about half of parents said they were very involved in their child’s education in 2015.

This can lead to a number of problems, including lower grades and test scores, higher dropout rates, and less engagement in school.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to encourage parents to be more involved in their child’s education. This could be done through various methods, such as parent-teacher conferences, school-wide events, and classroom volunteering.

Another solution is to provide resources and information to parents about how they can help their children succeed in school.

9. Ineffective Teaching Methods

Another big problem facing America’s education system is the use of ineffective teaching methods. In many cases, teachers are not properly trained to teach their students effectively.

As a result, students are often not learning the material as well as they could be. In addition, many schools do not use data-driven instruction, which means that they are not tailoring their teaching methods to the needs of their students. This can have a major impact on student achievement.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to provide more training for teachers. This could include workshops, online courses, and mentorship programs.

Another solution is to use data-driven instruction. This means using data to identify the needs of students and then tailoring instruction to meet those needs. This can help to ensure that all students are receiving the best possible education.

10. Bullying

Bullying is a serious problem in America’s schools. According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, 20.2% of high school students are bullied at school each year. This can lead to feelings of isolation , depression, and anxiety. It can also adversely affect students’ academic performance.

Solution:  One way to solve this problem is to create a more positive school climate. This could be done by implementing anti-bullying policies and providing support for victims of bullying.

Another solution is to educate students about the effects of bullying and how to prevent it. This could be done through classroom lessons, assemblies, and counseling sessions.

Online Learning: The Best Solution to Education Problems in America

Online learning can be the best solution to the problems facing America’s education system.  Online learning offers several advantages over traditional classroom instruction, including the ability to tailor instruction to the needs of individual students, more flexible scheduling, and increased access to resources.

In addition, online learning can help to improve parental involvement and provide more support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

As the world becomes more globalized, it is crucial for students to receive a quality education that will prepare them for the workforce. Online learning can provide students with the skills they need to succeed in a variety of careers.

Additionally, online learning can help to close the achievement gap by providing all students with equal access to resources and instruction.

Final Thoughts!

Although there are many problems with the American education system, we believe that each problem can be solved. We have outlined 10 of the most pressing issues and possible solutions.

However, this is only a starting point. We need your help to make a change. Contact High School of America today to learn more about how you can get involved in making a difference for future generations.

Together, we can provide every student in America with an excellent education and give them the opportunity to achieve their dreams.

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7 big problems–and solutions–in education

Solving these problems could be a key step to boosting innovation

Education has 99 problems, but the desire to solve those problems isn’t one. But because we can’t cover 99 problems in one story, we’ll focus on seven, which the League of Innovative Schools identified as critical to educational innovation.

While these aren’t the only challenges that education faces today, these seven problems are often identified as roadblocks that prevent schools and districts from embracing innovation.

Problem No. 1: There exist a handful of obstacles that prevent a more competency-based education system

( Next page: Problems and solutions )

Today’s education system includes ingrained practices, including policy and decades-old methods, that prevent schools from moving to competency-based models.

Solutions to this problem include:

• Creating and making available educational resources on competency-based learning. These resources might be best practices, rubrics or tools, or research.
• Convening a coalition of League of Innovative Schools districts that are working to build successful competency-based models.
• Creating a technical solution for flexible tracking of competencies and credits.

Problem No. 2: Leadership doesn’t always support second-order change, and those in potential leadership roles, such as teachers and librarians, aren’t always empowered to help effect change.

• Promoting League of Innovative Schools efforts to enable second-order change leadership
• Creating a framework, to be used in professional development, that would target and explain second-order change leadership discussions
• Schedule panel discussions about second-order change leadership

Problem No. 3: Communities and cultures are resistant to change, including technology-based change

• Identifying new and engaging ways to share cutting-edge and tech-savvy best practices with school and district stakeholders and community members
• Involve business leaders in technology-rich schools and create school-business partnerships
• Look to influential organizations to spearhead national ed-tech awareness campaigns

Problem No. 4: Education budgets aren’t always flexible enough to support the cost, sustainability, or scalability of innovations

• Build relationships with local businesses and career academies, and create incentives for companies to hire students, in order to create a revenue stream for schools
• Look to competitive pricing and creative solutions
• Leaders must not be afraid to take risks and support the changes needed to bring about this kind of budgeting

Problem No. 5: Professional development in the U.S. is stale and outdated

• Identifying best practices from other industries or sectors, and learn more about adult learning
• Create a community for teachers to access immediate help
• Personalize professional development
• Create and strengthen K-12 and higher education partnerships
• Create alternative modes of certification and reward forward-thinking practices

Problem No. 6: School districts do not have evidence-based processes to evaluate, select, and monitor digital content inclusive of aligned formative assessments

• Creating a marketplace or database to help educators identify and evaluate, as well as take ownership of, digital content
• Involve students in digital content evaluation
• Identify schools or districts to test digital content evaluation and storage systems

Problem No. 7: Current and traditional instructional methods leave students less engaged and less inclined to take ownership of their learning

• Creating working groups, within education organizations, with the aim of advancing authentic student learning
• Leverage the internet to create online tools and resources that offer innovative teaching strategies to help engage students
• Help teachers understand and practice authentic teaching and learning to help students master skills and standards

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Seven Solutions for Education Inequality

Giving compass' take:.

•  Jermeelah Martin shares seven solutions that can reduce and help to eliminate education inequality in the United States.
• What role are you ready to take on to address education inequality? What does education inequality look like in your community?
• Read about comprehensive strategies for promoting educational equity .

What is Giving Compass?

We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us .

Systemic issues in funding drives education inequality and has detrimental effects primarily on low-income Black and Brown students. These students receive lower quality of education which is reflected through less qualified teachers,not enough books, technologies and special support like counselors and disability services. The lack of access to fair, quality education creates the broader income and wealth gaps in the U.S. Black and brown students face more hurdles to going to college and will be three times more likely to experience poverty as a American with only a highschool degree than an American with a college degree. Income inequality worsens the opportunity for building wealth for Black and Brown families because home and asset ownership will be more difficult to attain.

• Concretely, the first solution would be to reduce class distinctions among students by doing away with the property tax as a primary funding source. This is a significant driver for education inequality because low-income students, by default, will receive less. Instead, the state government should create more significant initiatives and budgets for equitable funding.
• Stop the expansion of charter and private schools as it is not affordable for all students and creates segregation.
• Deprioritize test based funding because it discriminates against disadvantaged students.
• Support teachers financially, as in offering higher salaries and benefits for teachers to improve retention.
• Invest more resources for support in low-income, underfunded schools such as, increased special education specialists and counselors.
• Dismantle the school to prison pipeline for students by adopting more restorative justice efforts and fewer funds for cops in schools. This will create more funds for education justice initiatives and work to end the over policing of minority students.
• More broadly, supporting efforts to dismantle the influence of capitalism in our social sector and supporting an economy that taxes the wealthy at a higher rate will allow for adequate support and funding of public sectors like public education and support for low-income families.

Read the full article about solutions for education inequality  by Jermeelah Martin at United for a Fair Economy.

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Our education funding system is broken. we can fix it., learning policy institute, nov 21, 2022, the funding gap between charter schools and traditional public schools, may 22, 2019.

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Asian Development Blog Straight Talk from Development Experts

Education is in Crisis: How Can Technology be Part of the Solution?

By Paul Vandenberg , Kirsty Newman , Milan Thomas

Digital technologies and EdTech could play a role in addressing the learning crisis underway in Asia and the Pacific.

A learning crisis affects many developing countries in Asia. Millions of children attend school but are not learning enough. They cannot read, write, or do mathematics at their grade level, and yet they pass to the next grade, learning even less because they have not grasped the previous material. The magnitude of the crisis is staggering: in low- and middle-income countries more than half of children are not learning to read by age 10.

At the same time, there is an emerging revolution in learning brought on by digital technologies . These are collectively referred to as educational technology or EdTech . The coincident emergence of a problem in education and a new approach to learning naturally makes us ask how one may be a solution for the other.

Edtech may be one part of the solution – but it should be a means not an end. Our guiding principle should be to first diagnose what is going wrong in a system and then identify which solutions are best suited to solve those problems.

Some causes of the learning crisis are well understood. The poor quality of teaching is a key factor. Teachers often lack subject knowledge and have not had adequate training. There are ways in which technology could address this – and so EdTech may be equally valuable in teaching teachers as it is in teaching students. By offering distance learning, EdTech can provide in-service training or combine online and in-person training (blended learning).

There is also evidence that teachers need better incentives. The idea is that that they can teach well but are not motivated to do so. It is not clear how EdTech can address this problem. Digitized school management systems could better track teacher performance (by tracking their students’ performance) and then linking to pay or other incentives. However, the main need is to design the incentive system; digital applications may only make that system more efficient.    

Computer-assisted learning is the direct means by which EdTech can help students. It can be seen as a partial solution for two fundamental learning crisis problems: addressing students at different learning levels and completing the syllabus. A classroom contains students with a range of baseline learning levels and teachers are often incentivized to teach to the upper stratum, leaving many students behind. Furthermore, teachers are pressured to cover the syllabus by year’s end. They move on to new material even if students have not mastered previous lessons. This also leaves students behind.

The solution to both problems is, of course, more tailored teaching, but a teacher is hard-pressed to provide one-on-one tutoring to 30 or 40 kids. EdTech might help provide one-to-one instruction (e.g., one student to one tablet) so pupils can learn at their own level and pace. The evidence from rigorous assessments (largely in the United States) is that packages that use artificial intelligence to adjust to a student’s level can improve results, especially in math.

However, we need to be cautious. Most of the evidence comes from contexts in which the quality of teaching is already quite good and is much above the average in developing countries. Digital systems can also help increase the efficiency of formative assessment and make it more likely that such assessment will be conducted. Tracking of students’ learning, through data collection and analysis, can help to better monitor a student’s learning level and provide level-appropriate teaching and remediation.     

Computer-assisted learning is the direct means by which EdTech can help students.

Edtech software, introduced in conjunction with other reforms, holds some promise. One notable success is Mindspark in India , which improves math and Hindi learning. It has been evaluated as an after-hours supplement and combined with human teaching assistance. More assessments of programs would be helpful.

There is also evidence that low-tech interventions for “teaching at the right level" can also have large impacts on learning. Careful analysis is needed to determine whether high-tech or low-tech solutions are best, given that low tech is less costly, and finance is a constraint in poor countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given a big push to EdTech. We can learn from these experiences but need to keep them in context. EdTech is being used to overcome the need to social distance. Teachers are teaching by video but not necessarily teaching better than when standing in front of a classroom. Zoom fatigue is a problem. More mass open online courses are being offered and are being taken up – but much of this is not for basic education and therefore does not address the learning crisis. 

Supporting EdTech solutions comes with four caveats. First, new initiatives need to be well-designed to address specific weaknesses. Low-quality teacher training delivered partially online is no better than low-quality in-person training. The same applies to computer-assisted learning.

Second, computer-assisted learning is often used in schools or in after-hours programs at or near schools.  Delivering as distance learning is trickier. It requires hardware and connectivity at home, which is not available to children in low-income households in developing countries and even developed ones.

Third, EdTech programs used outside normal classroom hours adds to the time children spend learning. This is good but it is not always clear whether the benefits are coming from EdTech, per se, or simply more time spent learning. Nonetheless, gamification and other techniques may make children want to spend more time learning. 

Finally, let us keep in mind that good learning outcomes can be achieved without EdTech. Developed countries got results before the advent of EdTech. So too did good schools in developing countries.

To be effective, EdTech must address key causes of the crisis and be part of a larger package of reforms. Those reforms include teacher training, incentives, monitoring, teaching at the right level, remediation for underperforming students, and others. 

Digital technologies have changed our lives in many ways, mostly for the good. EdTech could do the same by playing a role in addressing the learning crisis.

Published: 23 July 2021

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Using an Inquiry Process to Solve Persistent Classroom Problems

Teachers can resolve challenges that come up over and over by using data to keep testing strategies until they find what works.

The start of a new school year is always filled with anticipation. Teachers hope for engaged students who want to attain success. Students set personal goals and often hope that this year will be better than last year. Parents want their children to try hard, do well, and they want their children’s teachers to be supportive and offer a safe learning space. The new school year is often filled with hope.

However, despite all the best intentions, at some point, the teacher will encounter a problem. Many problems can be resolved with the knowledge acquired through a teacher’s experience. Students may forget to bring a pencil to class, so you just keep a jar of sharpened pencils on your desk. Students who are English language learners struggle to read Shakespeare, so you provide them and all the other students with a link to the audio version of the play that they can listen to. These impromptu decisions have the potential to swiftly address the problem, thereby eliminating the need for further investigation.

What is Teacher Inquiry?

But what is a teacher supposed to do if a problem persists over time? Some students are always late to class right after lunch. Some students never raise their hand to participate in a class discussion. Some students don’t effectively edit their work prior to handing it in. How can a teacher work to identify strategies that can solve these persistent classroom problems? This is where teacher inquiry becomes a valuable tool.

As Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan L. Lytle discuss in their book Inquiry as Stance: Practitioner Research for the Next Generation , teacher inquiry is a process of questioning, exploring, and implementing strategies to address persistent classroom challenges. It mirrors the active learning process we encourage in students and can transform recurring problems into opportunities for growth. Most important, it also creates space for students to share their voices and perspectives—allowing them to play a role in guiding the changes that are implemented in the classroom.

How to Start the Inquiry Process

Identify the problem. Begin by clearly defining the issue. For example, if students are frequently late after lunch, consider this as your inquiry focus.

Gather action information. Before rushing to solutions, gather insights from blogs, research, books, or colleagues. For instance, if the problem is tardiness, you might explore strategies like greeting students at the door or starting the class with a high-energy, collaborative activity that is engaging for students .

Frame your inquiry question. Craft a focused question using the format: What impact does X have on Y? Here X is the planned intervention, and Y is the behavior.

• What impact does greeting students at the classroom door have on their punctuality?
• What impact does a sharing circle have on students’ presentation anxiety?

This approach shifts the perspective from seeing students as the problem to exploring solutions to unwanted behaviors. Rather than saying, “Students are always late to class right after lunch,” we can ask, “What impact does an engaging collaborative activity at the start of class have on students’ punctuality?” 

Implementing and Assessing the Strategy

Plan data collection. Before implementing your strategy, decide how you’ll measure its effectiveness. This could involve the following:

Quantitative data: Use attendance records, test scores, or quick surveys—whether digital or paper-based—to track student engagement. For example, monitor the number of students arriving on time before and after you start greeting them. Choose the survey method that best fits your classroom’s needs, whether it’s a digital link or QR code for students with technology, or a paper survey for those without.

Qualitative data: Collect student feedback through informal interviews or reflective journals to understand their experiences.

Mixed methods: You can collect a combination of quantitative and qualitative data to allow for quick, easy-to-read facts (quantitative) with an understanding of the why (qualitative) for the data.

Tip: To avoid overwhelming yourself, use data that you’re already collecting and analyze it with your inquiry question in mind.

Implement the strategy. Start with a small, manageable change. If you’re trying to improve punctuality, greet students at the door for a week and note any changes.

Evaluating the Results

Analyze the data . Review your collected data to see if there’s a noticeable effect. Did more students arrive on time? If you used a survey, what do the results indicate about students’ attitudes?

Reflect on the outcome. If the strategy worked, consider how it can be sustained or adapted for other challenges. If it didn’t, reflect on why. Did the strategy need more time, or should a different approach be tried?

Example: If greeting students didn’t improve punctuality, consider if greeting needs to be combined with another intervention, like a change in seating arrangements or communicating with students’ families to remind them about the importance of punctuality.

What if the Strategy Doesn’t Work?

Not all inquiries lead to success, and that’s OK. If your initial strategy doesn’t yield the desired results, reflect on the process.

• What could be adjusted? Perhaps the data collection method wasn’t effective, or the strategy needs more time to show results.
• What did you learn? Even if the strategy didn’t solve the problem, what insights did you gain that could inform future inquiries?

Adopt the same growth mindset you encourage in your students in order to view setbacks as learning opportunities . Inquiry is a cycle of continuous improvement, not a onetime fix.

Embracing the Inquiry Mindset

Inquiry empowers teachers to approach challenges with curiosity and adaptability. By framing problems as opportunities to learn, gathering and analyzing data, and reflecting on outcomes, teachers model the persistence and growth mindset we aim to instill in our students. Even when results aren’t immediate, the process fosters a culture of continuous learning and improvement, benefiting teachers and students alike.

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Top 8 modern education problems and ways to solve them.

| September 15, 2017 | 0 responses

In many ways, today’s system is better than the traditional one. Technology is the biggest change and the greatest advantage at the same time. Various devices, such as computers, projectors, tablets and smartphones, make the process of learning simpler and more fun. The Internet gives both students and teachers access to limitless knowledge.

However, this is not the perfect educational system. It has several problems, so we have to try to improve it.

•  Problem: The Individual Needs of Low-Achievers Are Not Being Addressed

Personalized learning is the most popular trend in education. The educators are doing their best to identify the learning style of each student and provide training that corresponds to their needs.

However, many students are at risk of falling behind, especially children who are learning mathematics and reading. In the USA, in particular, there are large gaps in science achievements by middle school.

Solution: Address the Needs of Low-Achievers

The educators must try harder to reduce the number of students who are getting low results on long-term trajectories. If we identify these students at an early age, we can provide additional training to help them improve the results.

• Problem: Overcrowded Classrooms

In 2016, there were over 17,000 state secondary school children in the UK being taught in classes of 36+ pupils.

Solution: Reduce the Number of Students in the Classroom

Only a smaller class can enable an active role for the student and improve the level of individual attention they get from the teacher.

• Problem: The Teachers Are Expected to Entertain

Today’s generations of students love technology, so the teachers started using technology just to keep them engaged. That imposes a serious issue: education is becoming an entertainment rather than a learning process.

Solution: Set Some Limits

We don’t have to see education as opposed to entertainment. However, we have to make the students aware of the purpose of technology and games in the classroom. It’s all about learning.

• Problem: Not Having Enough Time for Volunteering in University

The students are overwhelmed with projects and assignments. There is absolutely no space for internships and volunteering in college .

Solution: Make Internships and Volunteering Part of Education

When students graduate, a volunteering activity can make a great difference during the hiring process. In addition, these experiences help them develop into complete persons. If the students start getting credits for volunteering and internships, they will be willing to make the effort.

• Problem: The Parents Are Too Involved

Due to the fact that technology became part of the early educational process, it’s necessary for the parents to observe the way their children use the Internet at home. They have to help the students to complete assignments involving technology.

What about those parents who don’t have enough time for that? What if they have time, but want to use it in a different way?

Solution: Stop Expecting Parents to Act Like Teachers at Home

The parent should definitely support their child throughout the schooling process. However, we mustn’t turn this into a mandatory role. The teachers should stop assigning homework that demands parental assistance.

• Problem: Outdated Curriculum

Although we transformed the educational system, many features of the curriculum remained unchanged.

Solution: Eliminate Standardised Exams

This is a radical suggestion. However, standardised exams are a big problem. We want the students to learn at their own pace. We are personalizing the process of education. Then why do we expect them to compete with each other and meet the same standards as everyone else? The teacher should be the one responsible of grading.

• Problem: Not All Teachers Can Meet the Standards of the New Educational System

Can we really expect all teachers to use technology? Some of them are near the end of their teaching careers and they have never used tablets in the lecturing process before.

Solution: Provide Better Training for the Teachers

If we want all students to receive high-quality education based on the standards of the system, we have to prepare the teachers first. They need more training, preparation, and even tests that prove they can teach today’s generations of students.

• Problem: Graduates Are Not Ready for What Follows

A third of the employers in the UK are not happy with the performance of recent graduates. That means the system is not preparing them well for the challenges that follow.

Solution: More Internships, More Realistic Education

Practical education – that’s a challenge we still haven’t met. We have to get more practical.

The evolution of the educational system is an important process. Currently, we have a system that’s more suitable to the needs of generations when compared to the traditional system. However, it’s still not perfect. The evolution never stops.

Author Bio:   Chris Richardson is a journalist, editor, and a blogger. He loves to write, learn new things, and meet new outgoing people. Chris is also fond of traveling, sports, and playing the guitar. Follow him on Facebook and Google+ .

Tags: solutions

9 Simple Solutions for Common Teaching Problems

November 27, 2016

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Listen to my interview with Mark Barnes ( transcript ):

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It’s pretty easy to avoid solving problems.  It happens to everyone: A good chunk of the year has passed, you’ve got a routine going, and whatever problems you might have, you’ve basically accepted them for now. Fixing them would take too much time. The solution would probably be too complicated.

Not necessarily.

My buddy Mark Barnes, a veteran teacher and author of six education books, thinks the solutions to many of our education challenges are things we could start doing tomorrow. This philosophy was the guiding principle behind the 2015 book we wrote together, Hacking Education: 10 Quick Fixes for Every School.  Since then, Barnes has published eight other Hack Learning books. He knows you don’t have time to read stacks of research-heavy, theoretical books. You want answers you can use right away. With this series, he aims to give educators “hacks”—solutions that can be implemented right now.

To give you a sampling of the kinds of solutions you’ll find in this series, we’re going to look at one idea from each book: Nine simple ideas that can have a big impact on student learning at your school. Although each hack has a blueprint for full implementation in the book it comes from, we’ll look at how you can get started right away. By the time you’re done reading, you should have found one you can try at your school. Let’s go.

1. Student Tech Gurus

From Hacking Education: 10 Quick Fixes for Every School

The Problem: Not enough tech support in your school. You have the tech, but when teachers or students need help, or something goes wrong, everything comes to a standstill because your current tech support staff doesn’t have the manpower to handle it all.

The Solution: Some schools are training teams of students to provide basic-level tech support for the school, even at the elementary level. These students attend staff trainings on new technology, act as teaching assistants when a class is working with a new or challenging technology, and even conduct their own training sessions for students and teachers. If students are trained to handle and prevent the lower-level problems, this frees up the paid tech support staff to focus on the more complex issues.

What You Can Do Tomorrow:  Establishing a true tech team takes some time, but right away, you can make a list of students you know to be pretty tech-savvy. Beside their names, list the tools each student is proficient in. Put this list in a public location in your classroom. Then, the next time students are working with a piece of technology, have them go to the students who know that tool for help.

2. Inspiration Boards

From Make Writing: 5 Teaching Strategies that Turn Writer’s Workshop into a Maker Space

The Problem:  In writing classes, students are sometimes slow to come up with ideas for what to write about.

The Solution: Dedicate a wall in your classroom as an Inspiration Board, a place where students can place images, quotes, rough ideas, the opening lines of a story they’re thinking of writing, anything that inspires them or shows fragments of inspiration. This gets the ideas out of students’ heads and into a public space, where they can generate fresh new ideas. “Students put an idea up, and then someone else maybe will see that idea and go, ‘Oh, I like that, and that makes me think of this,'” Barnes explains. “They’re getting thoughts out onto a board, and then starting to discuss those ideas, and ultimately those turn into those stories and projects and pieces of writing.”

What You Can Do Tomorrow: Clear everything off one of your bulletin boards and ask students to bring in something to hang on the board that inspires them—this can be a quote, an image, a poem, anything that can be affixed to a board. You may need to model this at first to get things going. If you teach more than one class period of writers, you could create separate boards for every class or just mix it all together.

3. Tracking Progress Transparently

From Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

The Problem: Traditional grade books provide a very limited picture of a student’s progress, and students have no ownership of tracking their growth.

The Solution:  Have students keep a record of their own progress in a “transparent” space—a Google doc, for example—where the student, teacher, and parents can view it any time. The information they record will vary depending on student age and subject area, but the document will become more valuable if you require students to go beyond numbers: Record each assignment, the feedback they got on it, the standard(s) being measured, and what goals they set in response to the feedback.

What You Can Do Tomorrow:  Choose the record-keeping system you’re going to use—ideally, it will be something in the cloud, such as a Google Doc, but it can even be a chart on paper. Have students record the results of their most recent assignment, including the feedback they got and a goal for future growth, based on that feedback. Tell students you’re still just trying this out and get their feedback on how the system should evolve over time.

4. “Morecabulary”

From Hacking the Common Core: 10 Strategies for Amazing Learning in a Standardized World

The Problem: Students need to grow their vocabulary in all subject areas, but our most common methods of vocabulary instruction are dry and don’t lead to long-term retention.

The Solution: Instead of doing traditional dictionary and sentence-writing work, have students construct the meaning of vocabulary words in a variety of ways. One way of doing this is with a tool like Padlet , which is like an online corkboard. By creating a Padlet board for each word, students can all contribute their own definitions, sentences, even links to videos or articles that use the word in context. This kind of varied work will give students a more well-rounded, memorable experience with each word, and they’ll have more fun doing it, too.

What You Can Do Tomorrow:  Get started with one word: Choose a term students typically get wrong in your subject area and create a Padlet for it. (If your school is light on tech, you can use a sheet of paper or part of a bulletin board instead.) Then take 15 minutes and have students contribute definitions, sentences, images, videos, or other resources to flesh out the meaning of that word. Stay involved in the process, so you can correct any misconceptions. Once kids are used to the process, it can be repeated for other words.

5. Broadcast Student Voices

From Hacking Leadership: 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning that Teachers, Students, and Parents Love

The Problem: Most educators say they want to “give students a voice,” but they don’t always know how to make that happen.

The Solution: Using podcasting and live streaming, we can literally broadcast student voices right out into our schools and communities. Students can talk about topics or events that matter to them, or they can even share their own writing pieces or class projects. Links to these podcasts and broadcasts can be shared through the school website, newsletter, or social media account.

What You Can Do Tomorrow:  You can literally have students record and publish a podcast tomorrow using a free tool like Spreaker , which allows users to record podcasts right from a mobile device. For the sake of time, you might want to provide students with a starter topic or question, but once students get used to having a platform, let them take the reins.

6. OPB (Other People’s Books)

From Hacking Literacy: 5 Ways to Turn Any Classroom into a Culture of Readers

The Problem: Students need to be reading for pleasure, but your classroom doesn’t have enough books, and you can’t afford to buy any more.

The Solution: Build a massive classroom library with Other People’s Books—used books donated by parents, community members, and local businesses. Most people have a few books around the house that they’d be happy to donate; they just need to be asked. Then contact your public library—most libraries regularly purge their shelves of books to make room for new ones, and many would be happy to donate these to a classroom. Keep in mind that these books don’t have to be fiction: Student reading proficiency will grow if they read cookbooks, DIY home project books, old copies of the Guinness Book of World Records, really anything that isn’t inappropriate for school.

What You Can Do Tomorrow: Send an email out to staff and parents, explaining what you’re attempting to do and asking them to send in used books. Then start clearing some shelves!

7. Celebrity Couple Nickname Game

From Hacking Engagement: 50 Tips & Tools to Engage Teachers and Learners Daily

The Problem: Learning student names is essential for relationship-building, but it’s hard to learn lots of names quickly.

The Solution:  In the same way that the media creates mashups of celebrity couples’ names (think Brangelina), you can construct similar mashups to create unique nicknames for students using their first and last name: Jason Matthews becomes JMat. Rhianna Johnson becomes RJo. Have students offer their own suggestions until you find one that’s just right. Although you will eventually need to learn students’ real names, these nicknames can help jar your memory more quickly than a standard list of names will.

What You Can Do Tomorrow:  Obviously, if you’re reading this close to the beginning of a school year, you can plan to play this game with your students soon. But even if you’re way into the year and you already know everyone’s name, the game would make a fun bonding activity when you have a few spare minutes.

8. Boomerang Model

From Hacking Homework: 10 Strategies that Inspire Learning Outside the Classroom

The Problem: Students lack independent problem-solving skills when it comes to homework, relying too often on parents to “tell them how to do it.”

The Solution: Teach parents how to use the Boomerang Model, which empowers students to find solutions to their own homework problems. Barnes explains: “So they come to me, and they say, ‘Dad, I need help with this. I don’t get it.’ I’m going to respond with, ‘How can you help yourself? What strategy can you use that maybe you haven’t tried yet? Where should you start, because maybe you missed the real starting point? What evidence do you have to support this?’ If they say, ‘Is this right? Should I do this this way?’ I can say, ‘Well, what evidence do you have?’ We don’t want their automatic response to a struggle to be, ‘I need help from a teacher,’ or ‘I need help from a parent.’ We want them to help themselves.”

What You Can Do Tomorrow: Create a list of questions parents can “boomerang back” to their kids, then practice using them yourself, so students get used to hearing and responding to them. Introduce this concept to parents in a newsletter or better yet, a video demonstrating how it’s done.

9. Question Carousel

From Hacking Project-Based Learning: 10 Easy Steps to PBL and Inquiry in the Classroom

The Problem: When students work on a group project, they sometimes need fresh ideas to see the project or problem from all sides.

The Solution: The Question Carousel starts with students working in groups to generate something unique: A draft of an idea, a solution to a problem, the beginnings of a presentation of some kind. Then students rotate with their groups to study other groups’ products. At each stop, they leave questions for the original group; these questions help to clarify the product, clear up misunderstandings, point out problems, and fine-tune the final outcome.

What You Can Do Tomorrow:  The next time you put students in groups to generate some kind of unique idea or solution, have students rotate in a Question Carousel to prompt deeper thinking.

Browse the Complete Hack Learning Series Library

The ideas presented here are just a small fraction of the solutions you’ll find in each of the Hack Learning books. More books are being added all the time (and the three below are just a few), so click here to see what’s new .

What to Read Next

Categories: Book Recommendations , Podcast

12 Comments

Hey Jen, Among many personal aspects to my life I am also thankful for your blog/posts/thoughts. It’s always a nice break to hear your voice pulling my thoughts not just to best teaching practices but to my student’s needs. Quick Question: Where’s the best place to purchase an entire set of your Hacking series books. i’m thinking of Christmas gifts for my PLC. –jeff Renton HS, Renton, WA

Hi Jeff! Can you tell me how many people this would include?

Jen, Discovery of your podcasts and website has enriched my own pedagogy and now that of my teaching candidates. As an art educator working with undergraduates in the field, it has been a mission of mine to broaden their understanding of becoming an art teacher beyond area specific content knowledge. As you inspire me, I hope to inspire them! Thank you for quenching a thirst. Have you already given away the books you mentioned??

Hi Jen & Marc It is interesting that I discovered all this great Hacks Books last week. I was in my bed reading about Hyperdocs and suddenly the great Amazon suggested me Hacking the Homework. I read the first sample and then the other titles appeared. I read all the samples including Hacking the Assessment, which was one of my favorites. I was unsure which one to buy that night, I picked 50 Hacks to Engagement. Just love it! My favorite part is the one Things that I Could do Tomorrow. Great work, I’ll buy more books in this series. Awesome tools to Hacks my teaching practice.

Hi Jen, I was really interested in your problem #8 where students have trouble problem solving on homework and rely too heavily on their parents for help. I’m a preservice math teacher, so we really aim to help students become good problem solvers. I thought your proposed idea of teaching parents how to use the Boomerang Model of responding to their children’s questions with targeted questions that empower students to find their own solutions was a really great idea because it reinforces what they’re being asked to do in the classroom. I also really liked your next steps of compiling a list of example questions for parents or making an example video. My only thought is that some parents might not see the benefit in this approach and might see it as being more work for them. How would you justify the boomerang method to a parent that isn’t convinced it’s useful?

I love all the topics …in this websites hope i have all … Im a teacher who wants more knowledge…

Thanks for an interesting set of solutions for common teaching problems. I was disappointed by only one: #6, OPB. No mention of a library or librarian in this one? School librarians are eager to partner with teachers to promote outside reading and they are experts in the best, most appealing books for the kids they work with. Town librarians are also great sources of support and information. A teacher doesn’t have to go it alone when it comes to promoting outside reading.

Hi Suzanne,

Thank you for the reminder. I absolutely did not mean to ignore the value of librarians here! The focus of the post was to give teachers actions they could take all on their own, without needing to depend on a school budget. In schools that have an abundance of books in the library, a lack of books may not really be an issue. But for underfunded schools, teachers may need to be more resourceful. I’m glad you pointed out the knowledge of librarians in terms of knowing what books would be the most appealing; regardless of a school’s budget, that kind of knowledge will always be incredibly useful.

Great point, Suzanne. I recently paired with the awesome librarian at my school for a thematic book walk. Our librarian, Amy, set up around the library dozens of books that related to our current unit of study. They were categorized by genre. Students spent time browsing the selections and choosing a book. It was a great way to expand the classroom library and integrate the school library into our class.

Thanks for sharing this, Jenn.

Unfortunately, in a district like mine, the librarians and media specialists have all been removed in the high schools due to budget constraints. The “media specialist” now is just a temp duty person or a school aide. The media center has become somewhere to store textbooks and checkout Chromebooks, but it is no longer the place to get real books or learn from the specialist working there. It is very, very sad.

Loved this episode! It got me excited to read and reread the Hacking books. So practical and inspiring! Thanks!!

Great work!

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2024 Opportunity Youth Summit: Reconnecting Youth to Employment and Education

505 Water St. Tampa , FL 33602 United States

• Neighborhood Events

CareerSource Hillsborough Pinellas is convening the region’s first Opportunity Youth Workforce Summit on Tuesday, Oct. 1, bringing education, business, and nonprofit leaders together to focus on young adults in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties who are disconnected from employment and education. The summit will serve as a regional think tank, fostering discussions and developing solutions to reengage these young people in the local economy.

The event will be held at the Tampa Marriott Water Street in downtown Tampa from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Attendees are asked to register online for a day of programming that will focus on strategies to get “opportunity youth” back in school or the local workforce.

Gary Hartfield, an award-winning serial entrepreneur, leader, author, and philanthropist currently serving as CareerSource Hillsborough Pinellas board treasurer, will emcee the event.

Federal agencies define “opportunity youth” as people between 16 and 24 who are disconnected from school and work. CareerSource Hillsborough Pinellas conducted research in 2023 and found 26,100 young people who meet this criteria, part of a nationwide trend recognized in Public Health Reports for the risk this societal disconnection poses to their emotional, behavioral, and physical health. Beyond the consequences for them individually, young people who are disconnected from employment and education “also represent a loss of human capital, with high social and economic costs.”

The Opportunity Youth Workforce Summit will provide attendees with valuable insights into Tampa Bay workforce trends centered around these young people. Experts will share research on population growth in the region, and businesses will have the opportunity to discuss target populations to meet their workforce needs.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available to businesses and organizations interested in supporting this effort. Sponsorship packages are available online.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Tampa Marriott Water Street

505 Water Street

Hosted by CareerSource Hillsborough Pinellas

Keynote remarks by Nate Howard of Movement BE and Curtis Campogni, CEO of Speak4MC

Sponsors include Eckerd Connects, Speak4MC, and Tampa Electric, with more sponsorship opportunities still available

Attendees will include educators, business leaders, nonprofit leaders and others focused on engaging opportunity youth

REGISTRATION:

Attendees are asked to register online .

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Solvo is your new superpower in education and beyond Maximize your academic potential with your own personal AI homework helper! Meet Solvo—an AI-powered math, chemistry, biology, physics solver & essay writer that revolutionizes the way you manage study assignments. Simply scan, type, or upload the task in front of you and let the app work its magic! Check out what Solvo can help you with: Scan & Solve • Scan and solve math problems, equations, and more Faced with a boss-level problem (e.g., you need science answers) and don’t know where to start? Snap a picture of it—you’ll see the result and in-depth solution steps. This way, you gain more insights into how to tackle certain tasks and become more confident solving them yourself next time! Math, science answers, and more—you name it, our AI homework helper helps with it in a flash. • Ace any test and quiz Our AI homework helper can answer all sorts of questions typically used in tests and quizzes, including true or false, multiple-choice, and open questions. Biology solver? Chemistry solver? It’s already in your pocket! Simply tap Text-Based Problems, snap a picture of the question, and get your answer in seconds. This feature can also help you test your knowledge and prepare for exams. Streamline Reading & Writing • Write killer essays in a breeze Have excellent ideas for your essay but find it hard to articulate them clearly? No problem—Solvo is an experienced essay writer! Simply tap Create Essay and type your subject. You can go ahead and use the output directly or to get your creative juices flowing. • Improve and reword your writing Solvo isn’t just an essay writer—it’s a great editor! Already prepared a draft of your text and need help with polishing it into something truly A grade-worthy? Just upload your writing to our AI homework helper, and the app will offer suggestions to reword and improve it. This can be a game-changer if you feel stuck with a writing assignment. • Read smarter, not harder Our AI homework helper can be a lifesaver if you need a quick overview of a book. Type the name of the book or its author, or upload the book if you've got a file, and no matter how long or complex, tap Generate Summary. Get the essentials in a breeze! Math solver, physics homework solver, essay writer, biology solver, chemistry solver—Solvo wears many hats! Yes, studies can be challenging, but with our AI homework helper, you're well-equipped to handle them! Get answers to all your problems—including tricky science answers—with prompt assistance for your tasks whenever and wherever you need it and enjoy studying with less anxiety. Be unstoppable in class with Premium! A subscription allows you to: • Remove usage limits • Get more detailed answers • Use text recognition (OCR) • Get instant responses Subscriptions are auto-billed based on the chosen plan. Privacy Policy - https://aiby.mobi/ai_study_ios/privacy Terms of Use - https://aiby.mobi/ai_study_ios/terms

Version 1.30

Get ready for the back-to-school season with Solvo! In this update: — Improved scanning and solving of visual tasks (including graphs, geometry, tables, and more) — Leave feedback after any solution, so we can continue improving task-solving — Copy and share any solution Don’t forget to send feedback to [email protected] and leave your review on the App Store! It helps us make the app even better.

Ratings and Reviews

176 Ratings

A wonderful app

Very helpful app I was needing something to help me with my daughter’s homework my daughter is horrible on taking notes in school. And if I have notes to see the task I’m good at figuring it out how to do the rest so I tried this help because I couldn’t find anything online to help me. So when this can’t up I was like why not. And I was glad I did it tells u how to solve it. And I could figure out the rest by their help. The only thing I would like if they make another app or add on this this one for younger kids. I know a couple of parents that also need help with there kid’s homework (how to help there child I don’t do it for my kids do there homework but I have to explain it to them sometimes and for that I need to refresh my mind as will) and this is a great app for that just hope they for something god younger students grades 2nd to 5th graders would help parents a lot.

Great App / One Major Issue

I love this app. Its saved me multiple times on upcoming tests, and the great thing about it is it thoroughly goes through the topic step-by-step making sure you understand how the AI got to the solution. All that to be said, I really wish there was a feature to edit the text that was scanned in the picture. I think its already an intended design because theres text displayed saying if you’d made typos heres the time to fix it, but it doesn't work. Tapping on the screen doesn't do anything. You can copy and paste the text but theres no way to edit it where the users keyboard opens. This is a 10/10 if I could edit the prompt.

Great academic support

Solvo has truly been a remarkable discovery for me as a busy working mom. My son has been facing difficulties with certain subjects in school, and finding the time and energy to assist him with homework has been a challenge for me. Since we found Solvo, everything has changed for the better. My son doesn’t give up on his assignments when they’re difficult. Solvo gives me peace of mind. I know my son receives the help he needs. The app has empowered my son to become more independent in tackling his academic challenges without unnecessary stress. I highly recommend Solvo to all working parents who want to actively support their children’s education. It’s an invention that has made a significant difference in our lives.

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App privacy.

The developer, AIBY , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

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The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

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The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

• User Content
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The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

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What is gambling addiction and problem gambling?

Gambling addiction signs and symptoms, self-help for gambling problems, how to stop gambling for good, dealing with gambling cravings, gambling addiction treatment, how to help someone stop gambling.

• Do's and don'ts for partners of problem gamblers

Gambling Addiction and Problem Gambling

Are you or a loved one dealing with a gambling problem? Explore the warning signs and symptoms and learn how to stop.

Gambling problems can happen to anyone from any walk of life. Your gambling goes from a fun, harmless diversion to an unhealthy obsession with serious consequences. Whether you bet on sports, scratch cards, roulette, poker, or slots—in a casino, at the track, or online—a gambling problem can strain your relationships, interfere with work, and lead to financial disaster. You may even do things you never thought you would, like running up huge debts or even stealing money to gamble.

Gambling addiction—also known as  pathological gambling, compulsive gambling  or gambling disorder —is an impulse-control disorder. If you’re a compulsive gambler, you can’t control the impulse to gamble, even when it has negative consequences for you or your loved ones. You’ll gamble whether you’re up or down, broke or flush, and you’ll keep gambling regardless of the consequences—even when you know that the odds are against you or you can’t afford to lose.

Of course, you can also have a gambling problem without being totally out of control. Problem gambling  is any gambling behavior that disrupts your life. If you’re preoccupied with gambling, spending more and more time and money on it, chasing losses, or gambling despite serious consequences in your life, you have a gambling problem.

A gambling addiction or problem is often associated with other behavior or mood disorders. Many problem gamblers also suffer with substance abuse issues, unmanaged ADHD, stress, depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder. To overcome your gambling problems, you’ll also need to address these and any other underlying causes as well.

Although it may feel like you’re powerless to stop gambling, there are plenty of things you can do to overcome the problem, repair your relationships and finances, and finally regain control of your life. The first step is to separate the myths from the facts about gambling problems:

Myths and Facts about Gambling Problems

You have to gamble every day to be a problem gambler.

A problem gambler may gamble frequently or infrequently. Gambling is a problem if it causes problems.

Problem gambling is not really a problem if the gambler can afford it.

Problems caused by excessive gambling are not just financial. Too much time spent on gambling can also lead to relationship and legal problems, job loss, mental health problems including depression and anxiety, and even suicide.

Having a gambling problem is just a case of being weak-willed, irresponsible, or unintelligent.

Gambling problems affect people of all levels of intelligence and all backgrounds. Previously responsible and strong-willed people are just as likely to develop a gambling problem as anyone else.

Partners of problem gamblers often drive their loved ones to gamble.

Problem gamblers often try to rationalize their behavior. Blaming others is one way to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, including what is needed to overcome the problem.

If a problem gambler builds up a debt, you should help them take care of it.

Quick fix solutions may appear to be the right thing to do. However, bailing the gambler out of debt may actually make matters worse by enabling their gambling problems to continue.

Gambling addiction is sometimes referred to as a “hidden illness” because there are no obvious physical signs or symptoms like there are in drug or alcohol addiction. Problem gamblers also typically deny or minimize the problem—even to themselves. However, you may have a gambling problem if you:

Feel the need to be secretive about your gambling. You might gamble in secret or lie about how much you gamble, feeling others won’t understand or that you will surprise them with a big win.

Have trouble controlling your gambling. Once you start gambling, can you walk away? Or are you compelled to gamble until you’ve spent your last dollar, upping your bets in a bid to win lost money back?

Gamble even when you don’t have the money. You may gamble until you’ve spent your last dollar, and then move on to money you don’t have—money to pay bills, credit cards, or things for your children. You may feel pushed to borrow, sell, or even steal things for gambling money.

Have family and friends worried about you. Denial keeps problem gambling going. If friends and family are worried, listen to them carefully. It’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help. Many older gamblers are reluctant to reach out to their adult children if they’ve gambled away their inheritance, but it’s never too late to make changes for the better.

Speak to a Licensed Therapist

BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

The biggest step to overcoming a gambling addiction is realizing that you have a problem. It takes tremendous strength and courage to own up to this, especially if you have lost a lot of money and strained or broken relationships along the way. Don’t despair, and don’t try to go it alone. Many others have been in your shoes and have been able to break the habit and rebuild their lives. You can, too.

Learn to relieve unpleasant feelings in healthier ways. Do you gamble when you’re lonely or bored? Or after a stressful day at work or following an argument with your spouse? Gambling may be a way to self-soothe unpleasant emotions, unwind, or socialize. But there are healthier and more effective ways of managing your moods and relieving boredom, such as exercising, spending time with friends who don’t gamble, taking up new hobbies, or practicing relaxation techniques .

Strengthen your support network. It’s tough to battle any addiction without support, so reach out to friends and family. If your support network is limited, there are ways to make new friends without relying on visiting casinos or gambling online. Try reaching out to colleagues at work, joining a sports team or book club, enrolling in an education class, or volunteering for a good cause.

Join a peer support group. Gamblers Anonymous, for example, is a 12-step recovery program patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous. A key part of the program is finding a sponsor, a former gambler who has experience remaining free from addiction and can provide you invaluable guidance and support.

[Read: Support Groups: Types, Benefits, and What to Expect]

Seek help for underlying mood disorders. Depression , stress , substance abuse , or anxiety can both trigger gambling problems and be made worse by compulsive gambling. Even when gambling is no longer a part of your life, these problems will still remain, so it’s important to address them.

For many problem gamblers, it’s not quitting gambling that’s the biggest challenge, but rather staying in recovery—making a permanent commitment to stay away from gambling. The Internet has made gambling far more accessible and, therefore, harder for recovering addicts to avoid relapse. Online casinos and bookmakers are open all day, every day for anyone with a smartphone or access to a computer. But maintaining recovery from gambling addiction or problem gambling is still possible if you surround yourself with people to whom you’re accountable, avoid tempting environments and websites, give up control of your finances (at least at first), and find healthier activities to replace gambling in your life.

Making healthier choices

One way to stop gambling is to remove the elements necessary for gambling to occur in your life and replace them with healthier choices. The four elements needed for gambling to continue are:

A decision: For gambling to happen, you need to make the decision to gamble. If you have an urge: stop what you are doing and call someone, think about the consequences to your actions, tell yourself to stop thinking about gambling, and find something else to do immediately.

Money: Gambling cannot occur without money. Get rid of your credit cards, let someone else be in charge of your money, have the bank make automatic payments for you, close online betting accounts, and keep only a limited amount of cash on you.

Time: Even online gambling cannot occur if you don’t have the time. Schedule enjoyable recreational time for yourself that has nothing to do with gambling. If you’re gambling on your smartphone, find other ways to fill the quiet moments during your day.

A game: Without a game or activity to bet on there is no opportunity to gamble. Don’t put yourself in tempting environments. Tell gambling establishments you frequent that you have a gambling problem and ask them to restrict you from entering. Remove gambling apps and block gambling sites on your smartphone and computer.

Finding alternatives to gambling

Maintaining recovery from gambling addiction depends a lot on finding alternative behaviors you can substitute for gambling. Some examples include:

Feeling the urge to gamble is normal, but as you build healthier choices and a strong support network, resisting cravings will become easier. When a gambling craving strikes:

Avoid isolation. Call a trusted family member, meet a friend for coffee, or go to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting.

Postpone gambling. Tell yourself that you’ll wait 5 minutes, fifteen minutes, or an hour. As you wait, the urge to gamble may pass or become weak enough to resist.

Visualize what will happen if you give in to the urge to gamble. Think about how you’ll feel after all your money is gone and you’ve disappointed yourself and your family again.

Distract yourself with another activity , such as going to the gym, watching a movie, or practicing a relaxation exercise for gambling cravings.

Coping with lapses

If you aren’t able to resist the gambling craving, don’t be too hard on yourself or use it as an excuse to give up. Overcoming a gambling addiction is a tough process. You may slip from time to time; the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and continue working towards recovery.

Overcoming a gambling problem is never easy and seeking professional treatment doesn’t mean that you’re weak in some way or can’t handle your problems. But it’s important to remember that every gambler is unique so you need a recovery program tailored specifically to your needs and situation. Talk to your doctor or mental health professional about different treatment options, including:

Inpatient or residential treatment and rehab programs . These are aimed at those with severe gambling addiction who are unable to avoid gambling without round-the-clock support.

Treatment for underlying conditions contributing to your compulsive gambling, including substance abuse or mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, OCD, or ADHD. This could include therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes. Problem gambling can sometimes be a symptom of bipolar disorder , so your doctor or therapist may need to rule this out before making a diagnosis.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy. CBT for gambling addiction focuses on changing unhealthy gambling behaviors and thoughts, such as rationalizations and false beliefs. It can also teach you how to fight gambling urges and solve financial, work, and relationship problems caused by problem gambling. Therapy can provide you with the tools for coping with your addiction that will last a lifetime.

Family therapy and marriage, career, and credit counseling. These can help you work through the specific issues that have been created by your problem gambling and lay the foundation for repairing your relationships and finances .

If your loved one has a gambling problem, you likely have many conflicting emotions. You may have spent a lot of time and energy trying to keep your loved one from gambling or having to cover for them. At the same time, you might be furious at your loved one for gambling again and tired of trying to keep up the charade. Your loved one may have borrowed or even stolen money with no way to pay it back. They may have sold family possessions or run up huge debts on joint credit cards.

While compulsive and problem gamblers need the support of their family and friends to help them in their struggle to stop gambling, the decision to quit has to be theirs. As much as you may want to, and as hard as it is seeing the effects, you cannot make someone stop gambling. However, you can encourage them to seek help, support them in their efforts, protect yourself, and take any talk of suicide seriously.

Preventing suicide in problem gamblers

When faced with the consequences of their actions, problem gamblers can suffer a crushing drop in self-esteem. This is one reason why there is a high rate of suicide among compulsive gamblers.

If you suspect your loved one is feeling suicidal, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the U.S. at 1-800-273-8255 or visit Befrienders Worldwide to find a suicide helpline in your country.

Four tips for family members:

• Start by helping yourself. You have a right to protect yourself emotionally and financially. Don’t blame yourself for the gambler’s problems or let his or her addiction dominate your life. Ignoring your own needs can be a recipe for burnout .
• Don’t go it alone. It can feel so overwhelming coping with a loved one’s gambling addiction that it may seem easier to rationalize their requests “this one last time.” Or you might feel ashamed, feeling like you are the only one who has problems like this. Reaching out for support will make you realize that many families have struggled with this problem.
• Set boundaries in managing money. To ensure the gambler stays accountable and to prevent relapse, consider taking over the family finances. However, this does not mean you are responsible for micromanaging the problem gambler’s impulses to gamble. Your first responsibilities are to ensure that your own finances and credit are not at risk.
• Consider how you will handle requests for money. Problem gamblers often become very good at asking for money, either directly or indirectly. They may use pleading, manipulation, or even threats to get it. It takes practice to ensure you are not enabling your loved one’s gambling addiction.

Do’s and don’ts for partners of problem gamblers

• Talk to your partner about their problem gambling and its consequences when you’re calm and not stressed or angry.
• Look for support. Self-help groups for families of problem gamblers, such as Gam-Anon, for example, can introduce you to people who’ve faced the same obstacles.
• Explain to your partner that you’re seeking help because of how their gambling affects you and the family.
• Talk to your children about your partner’s problem gambling.
• Take over management of your family finances, carefully monitoring bank and credit card statements.
• Encourage and support your loved one during treatment of their gambling problem, even though it may be a long process peppered with setbacks.

Don’t…

• Lose your temper, preach, lecture, or issue threats and ultimatums that you’re unable to follow through on.
• Overlook your partner’s positive qualities.
• Prevent your partner from participating in family life and activities.
• Expect your partner’s recovery from problem gambling to be smooth or easy. Even when their gambling stops, other underlying problems may surface.
• Bail your partner out of debt or enable their gambling in any way.
• Cover-up or deny your partner’s problem to yourself or others.

Hotlines and support groups

The National Council on Problem Gambling Helpline  offers a confidential, 24-hour helpline for problem gamblers or their family members at 1-800-522-4700.

Gamcare  offers support and a helpline at 0808 8020 133.

Gambling Help Online  offers a 24-hour helpline at 1800 858 858.

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health  offers resources and a helpline at 1-866-531-2600.

Gamblers Anonymous  offers 12-step support meetings for people with a gambling problem, while  Gam-Anon  offers support for the problem gambler’s family members.

More Information

• Freedom from Problem Gambling - Self-help workbook for compulsive gamblers, with tips on how to avoid relapse and fight gambling urges. (UCLA Gambling Studies Program)
• Problem Gamblers and their Finances - Guide for treatment professionals on how to help a problem gambler cope with financial problems. (National Endowment for Financial Education)
• Personal Financial Strategies for the Loved Ones of Problem Gamblers - How to deal with financial issues due to a loved one’s gambling. (National Council on Problem Gambling)
• Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders. (2013). In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . American Psychiatric Association. Link
• Yau, Y. H. C., & Potenza, M. N. (2015). Gambling Disorder and Other Behavioral Addictions: Recognition and Treatment. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23(2), 134–146. Link
• Ford, M., & Håkansson, A. (2020). Problem gambling, associations with comorbid health conditions, substance use, and behavioural addictions: Opportunities for pathways to treatment. PLOS ONE, 15(1), e0227644. Link
• Ioannidis, K., Hook, R., Wickham, K., Grant, J. E., & Chamberlain, S. R. (2019). Impulsivity in Gambling Disorder and problem gambling: A meta-analysis. Neuropsychopharmacology, 44(8), 1354–1361. Link
• Wardle, H., & McManus, S. (2021). Suicidality and gambling among young adults in Great Britain: Results from a cross-sectional online survey. The Lancet. Public Health, 6(1), e39–e49. Link

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Weingarten: Four Solutions to Public School Problems

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If there is one thing I’ve learned in my three decades representing educators and being a teacher, it’s this: Public education is complex. And as income inequality grows and social mobility shrinks, it’s become even more complex. Public education is one of the only highways to opportunity for many kids. Yet, its promise is not always realized, particularly for those who have the least.

A quick, myopic fix won’t work. Education reforms—those based in ideology, not fact—have been oversold, yet have ultimately underdelivered on their promise, leaving even ardent supporters questioning their value. Recently, Michael Petrilli, the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, wrote , “We need to look at our reform agenda and ask ourselves: Is it working? … Does it diagnose the problem correctly and offer the right cures?”

Luckily, solutions that are successful—those that center on working with teachers in a deeply professional and collaborative way—are out there. Here are four I’ve seen in action.

1. Stop, collaborate, and listen. Too often, real transformation in our schools is stifled when we stop listening to one another. A few years back, the school district in New Haven, Conn., was in turmoil, with teachers and their union at loggerheads with the district. Both sides decided that the continued acrimony wasn’t helping New Haven’s children. Labor and management began to build trust, and eventually agreed on two outside-the-box contracts. These back-to-back contracts reformed teacher evaluation into a system of continuous improvement and provided a decent wage-and-benefit package, a career ladder, and professional-development opportunities.

A high-quality public education should include art and music, nurses and guidance counselors, sports and extracurricular activities."

I visited New Haven at the beginning of this school year. Teachers told me that collaboration now is embedded in their schools’ culture, and that trust throughout the community is at an all-time high.

2. Fix—don’t close or convert—neighborhood schools. Closing neighborhood schools or selling them off to charter schools is one of those penny-wise, pound-foolish solutions that arise when districts are struggling, but it’s not a recipe for sustaining or growing communities, or for helping kids thrive in those communities.

In Lawrence, Mass., schools were struggling, and some policymakers were turning to charter schools for help. But kids and parents wanted strong neighborhood public schools. So, together with the school district, local businesses, and community partners, the teachers’ union helped open the Oliver Partnership School , and worked hand in hand with a new administration to turn around other schools in the district. We wanted to forge a new path—one paved with professional development for teachers and increased services for students. On a recent visit to Lawrence, I saw real transformation underway in this economically depressed city. Teachers and administrators are collaborating. Parents and students are engaged. Morale is up. Test scores are on the rise.

3. You’d better think (critically). Kids need critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to succeed in our 21st-century economy. Yet, so much time is wasted on test preparation rather than preparing students for college, careers, and citizenship.

The New York Performance Standards Consortium does just the opposite. These schools have developed their own performance assessments, which grow directly from the curriculum and serve as an extension of the learning process. These assessments ask students to think deeply and show evidence.

The consortium’s graduation rate and college-acceptance rates are impressive. Last year, I listened to one group of students from a consortium school discuss their education. Their joy of learning is palpable. I found the same thing at Roy Miller High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, where students are reaping the benefits of project-based learning.

4. Meet the needs of the whole child. A high-quality public education should include art and music, nurses and guidance counselors, sports and extracurricular activities. Yet, too often, kids are getting the bare minimum—this, when many public school children are living in poverty.

In Cincinnati, every public school is a Community Learning Center—a place where students and their families have access to wraparound services. At Roberts Academy, which I visited last month, students and families have access to health services and programs from early in the morning before school until late in the evening. The extra support is made possible through partnerships with local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government programs.

Since adopting the Community Learning Center approach in 2001, Cincinnati has become the highest-performing urban school district in Ohio. High school graduation rates are up, and the achievement gap is closing.

This isn’t an extensive list, but it gives a flavor of what works. With persistence and collaboration among teachers, students, parents, and administrators growing across the country, I believe we can tackle the complexities of public education head-on. The solutions are out there. The promise is within our reach.

A version of this article appeared in the October 22, 2014 edition of Education Week as Four Solutions to Significant Public School Problems

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• December 4, 2023—KB5032288 (OS Builds 22621.2792 and 22631.2792) Preview
• November 14, 2023—KB5032190 (OS Builds 22621.2715 and 22631.2715)
• October 31, 2023—KB5031455 (OS Builds 22621.2506 and 22631.2506) Preview
• Windows 11, version 22H2
• October 10, 2023—KB5031354 (OS Build 22621.2428)
• September 26, 2023—KB5030310 (OS Build 22621.2361) Preview
• September 12, 2023—KB5030219 (OS Build 22621.2283)
• August 22, 2023—KB5029351 (OS Build 22621.2215) Preview
• August 8, 2023—KB5029263 (OS Build 22621.2134)
• July 26, 2023—KB5028254 (OS Build 22621.2070) Preview
• July 11, 2023—KB5028185 (OS Build 22621.1992)
• June 27, 2023—KB5027303 (OS Build 22621.1928) Preview
• June 13, 2023—KB5027231 (OS Build 22621.1848)
• May 24, 2023—KB5026446 (OS Build 22621.1778) Preview
• May 9, 2023—KB5026372 (OS Build 22621.1702)
• April 25, 2023—KB5025305 (OS Build 22621.1635) Preview
• April 11, 2023—KB5025239 (OS Build 22621.1555)
• March 28, 2023—KB5023778 (OS Build 22621.1485) Preview
• March 14, 2023—KB5023706 (OS Build 22621.1413)
• February 28, 2023—KB5022913 (OS Build 22621.1344) Preview
• February 14, 2023—KB5022845 (OS Build 22621.1265)
• January 26, 2023—KB5022360 (OS Build 22621.1194) Preview
• January 10, 2023—KB5022303 (OS Build 22621.1105)
• December 13, 2022—KB5021255 (OS Build 22621.963)
• November 29, 2022—KB5020044 (OS Build 22621.900) Preview
• November 8, 2022—KB5019980 (OS Build 22621.819)
• October 25, 2022—KB5018496 (OS Build 22621.755) Preview
• October 18, 2022—KB5019509 (OS Build 22621.675) Out-of-band
• October 11, 2022—KB5018427 (OS Build 22621.674)
• September 30, 2022—KB5017389 (OS Build 22621.608) Preview
• Windows 11, version 21H2
• August 13, 2024—KB5041592 (OS Build 22000.3147)
• July 9, 2024—KB5040431 (OS Build 22000.3079)
• June 11, 2024—KB5039213 (OS Build 22000.3019)
• May 14, 2024—KB5037770 (OS Build 22000.2960)
• April 9, 2024—KB5036894 (OS Build 22000.2899)
• March 12, 2024—KB5035854 (OS Build 22000.2836)
• February 13, 2024—KB5034766 (OS Build 22000.2777)
• January 9, 2024—KB5034121 (OS Build 22000.2713)
• December 12, 2023—KB5033369 (OS Build 22000.2652)
• November 14, 2023—KB5032192 (OS Build 22000.2600)
• October 10, 2023—KB5031358 (OS Build 22000.2538)
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• October 17, 2022—KB5020387 (OS Build 22000.1100) Out-of-band
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• February 8, 2022—KB5010386 (OS Build 22000.493)
• January 25, 2022—KB5008353 (OS Build 22000.469) Preview
• January 17, 2022—KB5010795 (OS Build 22000.438) Out-of-band
• January 11, 2022—KB5009566 (OS Build 22000.434)
• December 14, 2021—KB5008215 (OS Build 22000.376)
• November 22, 2021—KB5007262 (OS Build 22000.348) Preview
• November 9, 2021—KB5007215 (OS Build 22000.318)
• October 21, 2021—KB5006746 (OS Build 22000.282) Preview
• October 12, 2021—KB5006674 (OS Build 22000.258)

Release Date:

OS Builds 22621.4112 and 22631.4112

07/09/24--- END OF SERVICE NOTICE ---

IMPORTANT Home and Pro editions of Windows 11, version 22H2 will reach end of service on October 8, 2024. Until then, these editions will only receive security updates. They will not receive non-security, preview updates. To continue receiving security and non-security updates after October 8, 2024, we recommend that you update to the latest version of Windows.

Note We will continue to support Enterprise and Education editions after October 8, 2024.

For information about Windows update terminology, see the article about the  types of Windows updates  and the  monthly quality update types . For an overview of Windows 11, version 23H2, see its update history page .  

Note  Follow  @WindowsUpdate  to find out when new content is published to the Windows release health dashboard.      

Highlights 

Note:  Below is a summary of the key issues that this update addresses when you install this KB. If there are new features, it lists them as well. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.

Gradual rollout

These might not be available to all users because they will roll out gradually.

[Windows Share] New! You can now share content to your Android device from the Windows Share window. To do this, you must pair your Android device to your Windows PC. Use the Link to Windows app on your Android device and Phone Link on your PC.

​​​​​​​ [Narrator] This update makes scan mode respond quicker. This is especially helpful when you use Microsoft Edge and read large documents. To use scan mode, you must turn on Narrator first (Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter). Then, turn on scan mode by pressing Caps lock + Spacebar during a Narrator session.

[Voice access] You can now dictate the characters that you spell at a faster speed. You also have more editing options for the commands that select, delete, and move within text.

[File Explorer] ​​​​​​​

When you press Windows logo key + E, a screen reader might say a pane has focus, or the focus might not be set at all.

When you press Ctrl + F, sometimes the search does not start.

Keyboard focus sometimes might get lost when you press Shift + Tab.

Screen readers do not announce when you open or browse items that are in a breadcrumb of the Open or Save dialog.

Screen readers do not announce when you open or browse items in the column header.

[Widgets Board] We are rolling out an update to the Widgets Board to improve security and the APIs for creating widgets and feeds for users in EEA regions. As part of this update, the Microsoft Start Experiences app will power the Microsoft Start widget and feed experiences. Also, as part of this update, some existing widgets will be removed and others will be modified, temporarily affecting their functionality. This update sets the foundation for new widgets and other features in development, set to roll out soon.

Improvements

Note:  To view the list of addressed issues, click or tap the OS name to expand the collapsible section.

Important:  Use EKB  KB5027397  to update to Windows 11, version 23H2.

This non-security update includes quality improvements. Key changes include:

This build includes all the improvements in Windows 11, version 22H2.

No additional issues are documented for this release.

Windows 11, version 22H2: Enterprise and Education editions

This non-security update includes quality improvements. Below is a summary of the key issues that this update addresses when you install this KB. If there are new features, it lists them as well. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.

[Input Method Editor (IME)] When a combo box has input focus, a memory leak might occur when you close that window.

[Country and Operator Settings Asset] This update brings COSA profiles up to date for certain mobile operators.

[Bluetooth] External devices lose their connection when you deploy certain Bluetooth policies.

[Bind Filter Driver] Your system might stop responding when it accesses symbolic links.​​​

[Unified Write Filter (UWF) and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)] An SCCM task to re-enable UWF fails because of a deadlock in UWF. This stops the device from restarting when you expect it.

[Hibernate stop error] Your laptop stops responding after you resume it from hibernate. This occurs if you have closed and opened the lid many times.

[File Explorer] The navigation pane does not update when you browse folders that are in a shell namespace extension.

[Microsoft Entra single sign-on (SSO)] The SSO notice that the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires prompts too often. This occurs when you authenticate using a certificate. To learn more, see Upcoming changes to Windows single sign-on . ​​​​​​​

[Windows Hello for Business] PIN reset does not work when you select the “I forgot my PIN’ link on the credentials screen. 

[BitLocker] You might not be able to decrypt a BitLocker data drive. This occurs when you move that drive from a newer version of Windows to an older version.

Windows 11 servicing stack update (KB5041586) - 22621.4099 and 22631.4099

This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack, which is the component that installs Windows updates. Servicing stack updates (SSU) ensure that you have a robust and reliable servicing stack so that your devices can receive and install Microsoft updates. 

Known issues in this update

How to get this update

Before you install this update

Microsoft combines the latest servicing stack update (SSU) for your operating system with the latest cumulative update (LCU). For general information about SSUs, see Servicing stack updates  and  Servicing Stack Updates (SSU): Frequently Asked Questions .

Install this update

To install this update, use one of the following Windows and Microsoft release channels.

If you want to remove the LCU

To remove the LCU after installing the combined SSU and LCU package, use the DISM/Remove-Package command line option with the LCU package name as the argument. You can find the package name by using this command: DISM /online /get-packages .

Running Windows Update Standalone Installer ( wusa.exe ) with the /uninstall switch on the combined package will not work because the combined package contains the SSU. You cannot remove the SSU from the system after installation.

File information

For a list of the files that are provided in this update, download the  file information for cumulative update 5041587 .   

For a list of the files that are provided in the servicing stack update, download the  file information for the SSU (KB5041586) - versions 22621.4099 and 22631.4099 . 

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