The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Visions of Educational Equity for the New Year." Contents include: (1)…

This time of accentuated interdependence and acute awareness of a historical moment calls on galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) to respond together and to lead forward. Memory institutions are unique trusted stewards of time. When humanity experiences a global event such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, these institutions are…

Budget season isn't any easier for school finance officials this year than it was last year, when they were bracing for a pandemic-driven recession, extra expenses, and ever-changing logistical demands due to COVID-19. This second of three Quality Counts 2021 installments surveys school- and district-level leaders on their spending hurdles,…

Challenging, unprecedented, and extraordinary in almost every way, 2021 even surpassed the previous "annus horribilis," 2020. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to ripple humanity-wide, ceaselessly rebounding off, and cruelly amplifying, almost every kind of inequity and social challenge. A long overdue reckoning with the…

The "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" ("MMWR") series of publications is published by the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Articles included in this supplement are: (1) Overview and Methodology of the Adolescent Behaviors and…

As students and educators head back for another pandemic-disrupted school year, the third and final edition of Quality Counts 2021 provides a broad perspective on the nation's K-12 system, with summative grades and scores for the U.S. and each state on a range of academic, financial, and socioeconomic indicators that underlie student achievement…

The spring of 2020 surfaced unprecedented challenges, with a global pandemic and societal unrest initiated by highly publicized police killings of citizens in Minnesota, Kentucky, and elsewhere. Although for many people throughout the US and Canada, the confluence of events has brought a new level of awareness and new vocabulary for such issues as…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Family Engagement." Contents include: (1) Solving the Digital Divide Requires…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Student Voice." Contents include: (1) How Can We Address a Problem that We…

The use of technology in K-12 education is now more widespread than it ever was before the pandemic, and that is the case even though nearly all schools across the country have transitioned back to in-person learning. Record numbers of students now have their own school-issued digital devices, educators have become more critical evaluators of…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Bridging the Digital Divide." Contents include: (1) Texas High School Attrition…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Student Engagement." Contents include: (1) Mental Health Implications of…

As the 2020-21 school year opens amid the COVID-19 pandemic's disruption, this third and final installment of Quality Counts 2020 delivers a data-driven portrait of the nation's school system along with A-F grades and rankings for each state on a wide range of academic, school finance, and socioeconomic indicators. This report also includes an…

During the past year, teachers have pushed their technology skills to the next level, improving their understanding of how to use learning management systems effectively; integrating digital curricula, online assessments, and interactive games into learning; and upgrading their skills for using modern communication tools such as Zoom. This new…

The COVID-19 pandemic has school leaders searching for ways to keep the fiscal ship afloat amid plummeting revenues, unexpected costs, and state and local budget uncertainty. This second of three Quality Counts 2020 installments offers lessons from past economic downturns and survey data capturing district-level views of the current crisis, along…