U.S. News & World Report
As a regular contributor to U.S. News & World Report’s K-12 education coverage, I report on issues facing school districts across the country and the solutions they are putting into place. My stories reach an audience of 40 million people, online and in the print magazine.
How Colleges Can Support Victims of Sexual Violence and Harassment
When new University of Oregon students arrive at the campus in Eugene, they receive a student ID card with their photo on the front. On the back – under the bar code that students use to check out books, eat in the dining halls and ride the bus – is the phone number for the team that responds to sexual violence.
That number connects a caller to a confidential advocate who will ask whether the student is currently in danger, if they need medical care and whether they have the support they need.
“We think it’s a priority to provide confidential spaces,” says Jimmy Howard, the university's associate dean of students. “These advocates are specifically trained. They ground our work, knowing that our end goal is to prevent violence from happening in the first place.”
Nearly 26% of undergraduate women who responded to a survey said they had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact since starting college – meaning they were physically forced, couldn't stop what was happening or couldn't consent – according to a 2020 report by the Association of American Universities.
Federal law requires universities to respond promptly and effectively to complaints of sexual assault, generally defined as any sexual contact or behavior that happens without the explicit consent of the victim. But the investigation process isn’t always prompt or effective, students and experts say.
The Benefits of Career and Technical Programs for High Schoolers
The “vocational education” of years ago has evolved from wood shop and home economics into a powerful educational reform tool. Some 8.3 million high school students participated in what are now called career and technology education, or CTE, pathways in 2020-2021, up from 7.5 million the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
With courses that range from landscape design to culinary arts, CTE is part of a robust national approach to boosting high school graduation rates and preparing students for well-paying jobs. Many districts even partner with industry to align their course offerings with labor market needs.
“This is a reconceptualization of what CTE looks like,” says Shaun Dougherty, professor of educational leadership and policy at Boston College. “Rather than a place where there are less demanding classes, there is a tighter link between education and workforce needs.”
The Benefits of Mental Health Programs in Schools
As the number of young people experiencing depression and anxiety continues to grow, schools play a critical role as providers of mental health services: Some 70% of children in the U.S. who seek and receive mental health support get it at school.
“School-based services help students navigate the system,” says Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, director of policy and advocacy at the National Association of School Psychologists. “It can be very daunting for a parent with a child who is struggling. When there are services at schools, kids are more likely to ask for help.”
They may also be more likely to get help sooner: Due to a lack of mental health providers nationwide, the wait to see a private practitioner is as long as six months in some areas.
How Schools Incorporate Social Emotional Learning
Fourteen years ago, Cleveland public schools turned the rooms where students were sent for in-school suspension into places where students having behavioral issues could go to talk to a counselor, do homework or just relax in a beanbag chair.
“They’re designed to have intervention focus rather than discipline focus,” says Eric Gordon, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “The goal is to provide a support center to address the behaviors that get in the way of learning.”
Cleveland’s “planning centers,” as these rooms are called, are part of the district’s rigorous implementation of social-emotional learning, or SEL – the process of learning how to manage emotions, set goals and maintain healthy relationships.
How to Support a Child Transitioning Into Middle School
During the first five years of life, the human brain is a growing dynamo. Every day, millions of new neural connections are made, making early childhood the most important time for brain development.
What's less well known is that the second most important time is adolescence. Experts say that a year before a child's body shows signs of puberty, the brain begins a massive growth process that doesn't end until young adulthood.
That means right when a child is starting middle school – around age 11 or 12 – they are beginning one of the most intense transformations of their lives, making these school years especially fraught.
But unlike, say, the transition to kindergarten, it's less obvious how parents can help. In middle school, peers take center stage.
Understanding School-Based Mental Health Services
It will come as no surprise to parents that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on young people’s mental health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that almost half of high schoolers surveyed last yearreported experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. One in five said they had seriously considered suicide.
Even before the pandemic, rates of depression and suicide had been climbing among teens, and that mental health crisis continues, even as life returns in many ways to a new normal.
What some parents might not know is that their child’s school could be the best place to look for help.