The Hechinger Report

The Hechinger Report We cover inequality and innovation in education with in-depth journalism that uses research, data and stories from classrooms and campuses.

We cover inequality and innovation in education with in-depth journalism that uses research, data and stories from classrooms and campuses to show the public how education can be improved and why it matters.

For the last 15 years, science teacher Jeff Grant has used information on climate change from the federal website Climat...
07/17/2025

For the last 15 years, science teacher Jeff Grant has used information on climate change from the federal website Climate.gov to create lesson plans, prepare students for Advanced Placement tests and educate fellow teachers. Now, Grant says, he is “grabbing what can” from the site run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office, amid concerns that the Trump administration is mothballing it as part of a broader effort to undermine climate science and education. “It’s just one more thing stifling science education,” said Grant, who teaches at Downers Grove North High School in the Chicago suburbs....

https://hechingerreport.org/teachers-relied-on-a-federal-website-for-climate-education-the-government-may-shut-it-down/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Climate.gov is at risk of being mothballed or turned into a site for disinformation, leaving educators to search for alternative tools.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Maggi’s home in a suburban neighborhood here is a haven for local families. It’s a place where after...
07/16/2025

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Maggi’s home in a suburban neighborhood here is a haven for local families. It’s a place where after just a few weeks in Maggi’s family-run child care program this spring, one preschooler started calling Maggi “mama” and Maggi’s husband “papa.” Children who have graduated from Maggi’s program still beg their parents to take them to her home instead of school. Over the past few months, fewer families are showing up for care: Immigration enforcement has ramped up and immigration policies have rapidly changed. Both Maggi and the families who rely on her — some of whom are immigrants — no longer feel safe....

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Maggi’s home in a suburban neighborhood here is a haven for local families. It’s a place where after just a few weeks in Maggi’s family-run child care program this spring, one preschooler started calling Maggi “mama” and Maggi’s husband “papa.” Children who have...

This story was produced by The 19th and reprinted with permission. On July 4, Nory Sontay Ramos stepped off a flight fro...
07/15/2025

This story was produced by The 19th and reprinted with permission. On July 4, Nory Sontay Ramos stepped off a flight from San Antonio into a country she hardly recognized: Guatemala. The summer wasn’t supposed to start this way. The 17-year-old had plans. In early June, she wrapped up 11th grade on a high note, having made the honor roll and represented her Los Angeles high school in the city finals for track. With track season over, she turned her attention to cross-country, showing up to campus for practice after the school year ended....

Nory Sontay Ramos was deported to Guatemala — a country she barely remembers.

Peggy Carr, the former commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, at her Maryland home on July 1. Car...
07/14/2025

Peggy Carr, the former commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, at her Maryland home on July 1. Carr worked for the Education Department for more than 35 years before the Trump administration placed her on administrative leave on Feb. 24. Peggy Carr's last day on the job came so abruptly that she only had time to grab a few personal photos and her coat before a security officer escorted her out of her office and into a chilly February afternoon. She still doesn't know why she was summarily dismissed as commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), where she helped build…...

Former education stats chief describes her final days under DOGE

In the nearly two years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions, there have been repeated cal...
07/14/2025

In the nearly two years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions, there have been repeated calls for universities to address the resulting decline in diversity by recruiting from community colleges. On the surface, encouraging students to transfer from two-year colleges sounds like a terrific idea. Community colleges enroll large numbers of students who are low-income or whose parents did not attend college. Black and Latino students disproportionately start college at these institutions, whose mission for more than 50 years has been to expand access to higher education. …...

Community colleges should be an avenue into high-value STEM degrees for students from low-income backgrounds, but just 2 percent of students who begin at a community college earn a STEM bachelor’s degree within six years. Here are ways to improve the process.

PITTSBURGH — Stephen Wells was trained in the Air Force to work on F-16 fighter jets, including critical radar, navigati...
07/10/2025

PITTSBURGH — Stephen Wells was trained in the Air Force to work on F-16 fighter jets, including critical radar, navigation and weapons systems whose proper functioning meant life or death for pilots. Yet when he left the service and tried to apply that expertise toward an education at Pittsburgh’s Community College of Allegheny County, or CCAC, he was given just three credits toward a required class in physical education. Wells moved forward anyway, going on to get his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees. Now he’s CCAC’s provost and involved in a citywide project to help other people transform their military and work experience into academic credit....

There’s new momentum behind letting students cash in their life skills toward degrees, saving them time and money and helping colleges recruit new customers by giving what’s called credit for prior learning.

Scores of speech therapists across the country erupted last month when their leading professional association said it wa...
07/09/2025

Scores of speech therapists across the country erupted last month when their leading professional association said it was considering dropping language calling for diversity, equity and inclusion and “cultural competence” in their certification standards. Those values could be replaced in some standards with a much more amorphous emphasis on “person-centered care.” “The decision to propose these modifications was not made lightly,” wrote officials of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in a June letter to members. They noted that due to recent executive orders related to DEI, even terminology that “is lawfully applied and considered essential for clinical practice … could put ASHA’s certification programs at risk.” …...

As the Trump administration issues executive orders related to DEI, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association is considering dropping references to DEI in favor of “person-centered care.

This story about high school speech and debate was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organ...
07/08/2025

This story about high school speech and debate was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter. DES MOINES, Iowa — Macon Smith stood in front of a nearly empty classroom 1,000 miles from home. He asked his opponent and the two judges in the room if they were ready to start, then he set a six-minute timer and took a deep breath. “When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty,” he began. In front of Macon, a 17-year-old high school junior, was a daunting task: to outline and defend the argument that violent revolution is a just response to political oppression....

In a time when respectful debate seems impossible, high school speech and debate clubs have persevered. Debate team members and sponsors see the activity as even more important in a fracturing society.

The repercussions from the decimation of staff at the Education Department keep coming. Last week, the fallout led to a ...
07/07/2025

The repercussions from the decimation of staff at the Education Department keep coming. Last week, the fallout led to a delay in releasing results from a national science test. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is best known for tests that track reading and math achievement but includes other subjects too. In early 2024, when the main reading and math tests were administered, there was also a science section for eighth graders. The board that oversees NAEP had announced at its May meeting that it planned to release the…...

But administration relents on yanking data from researchers

I recently stood before hundreds of young people in California’s Central Valley; more than 60 percent were on that day b...
07/07/2025

I recently stood before hundreds of young people in California’s Central Valley; more than 60 percent were on that day becoming the first in their family to earn a bachelor’s degree. Their very presence at University of California, Merced’s spring commencement ceremony disrupted a major narrative in our nation about who college is for — and the value of a degree. Many of these young people arrived already balancing jobs, caregiving responsibilities and family obligations. Many were Pell Grant-eligible and came from communities that are constantly underestimated and where a higher education experience is a rarity....

An affordable bachelor’s degree remains the No. 1 lever for financial, professional and social mobility in America — and we need more college graduates. Yet supports for first-generation college students are eroding. This needs to change.

This story is part of Hechinger’s ongoing coverage about rethinking high school. See our articles about a new diploma in...
07/06/2025

This story is part of Hechinger’s ongoing coverage about rethinking high school. See our articles about a new diploma in Alabama and a “career education for all” model in Kentucky. ELKHART, Ind. — Ever since Ty Zartman was little, people told him he had to go to college to be successful. “It was engraved on my brain,” he said. But despite earning straight A’s, qualifying for the National Honor Society, being voted prom king and playing on the high school football and baseball teams, the teen never relished the idea of spending another four years in school....

High school apprenticeships are slowly spreading, as young people become more disillusioned with four-year college and well-paying jobs that don’t require bachelor’s degrees go begging.

NEW YORK — Willow is a city kid who loves her neighborhood’s tiny “pocket” park, especially the giant tree, Oakie, whose...
07/06/2025

NEW YORK — Willow is a city kid who loves her neighborhood’s tiny “pocket” park, especially the giant tree, Oakie, whose branches stretch across it. But she has a problem: The park is slated for redevelopment. And her friends and fellow park visitors — Rio, Kai, Ashe and Frankie — all have different ideas for what the park should become. Willow wants it restored to a nature-filled haven, while Rio hopes for a splash pad, Ashe a basketball court, Kai a vegetable garden and Frankie a quiet spot for accessing free Wi-Fi....

‘The Pocket Park Kids,’ which my 4-year-old and I saw together, intends to make it fun for kids to learn how to save the planet.

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