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Here are some of the things we’ve been reading about this week:

Schools can help students with end-of-year stress. 

The Biden Administration is increasing access to school-based mental health services.

As the pandemic wanes, preschools reconnect to families and caregivers. 

To read more, click on the following links.

Research & Practice

Schools Can Help Students With End-of-the-Year Stress. Here Are 4 Strategies
Education Week: The close of this school year comes at a time when schools are wrestling with students’ increased mental health needs. While there is much long-term work to do to improve mental health supports, there are smaller things educators can do now to help students finish the year strong, such as embracing or creating traditions that can help students navigate and feel prepared for transitions, setting up peer support groups, offering frequent breaks, and helping students learn how to manage difficult emotions. Educators can also support students by continuing to promote healthy habits, provide nutritious meals, help students get organized, and incorporate quick check-ins to ensure students’ well-being and academic success. 

Research Must Guide How We Teach English Learners To Read
Ed Source: In the field of reading education, developing effective programs for all children remains a challenge. To address this, practitioners must be adequately informed about research on reading education so they can discuss options and improve at providing needed instruction for all children. For example, current reading research says that are similarities between teaching reading to English-speaking monolingual students and to bilingual students. One key difference, however, is that bilingual students need additional support to help them understand the words and text being used to teach them to read.

Policy

What the surgeon general’s advisory says about social media for kids
Washington Post: Excessive social media use among children may lead to poor mental health, warns U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy in a national advisory. The 25-page document states that there is insufficient evidence to deem social media safe for kids, though many experts note a correlation between social media usage and a surge in anxiety and depression rates among adolescents. Concerns highlighted in the report include exposure to inappropriate content, body dissatisfaction, unsafe encounters with other users, overstimulation of the brain, sleeping problems, and difficulty paying attention. Murthy urges tech companies to assess potential harms and provide data on their platforms’ effects. The advisory calls for elected officials to protect children from harmful content and enforce age restrictions. Recommendations for parents and teens include establishing tech-free zones, modeling appropriate behavior, delaying social media access, and turning off smartphones before bed. Read more here: “Social Media: What Teenagers Think and What Parents Don’t Know.”

Biden Admin Increases Access to School-Based Mental Health Services
Public Payers News: The Biden-Harris Administration has introduced several initiatives to enhance access to school-based physical and mental health services for children covered by Medicaid. First, the U.S. Department of Education has proposed a new rule to simplify billing procedures for Medicaid services provided through a student’s individualized education program (IEP), aiming to reduce barriers and ensure students with disabilities have access to a free public education. Second, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have released a comprehensive guide to assist states in delivering school-based Medicaid services, providing flexibility and simplifying billing processes. CMS plans to offer $50 million in grant opportunities and establish a school-based services technical assistance center to improve access to mental healthcare for children.

Tennessee’s 3rd-grade retention law requires ‘adequate growth’ to advance. Here’s what that means
Chalkbeat: The Tennessee State Board of Education (SBE) has defined the criteria for “adequate growth” for third graders in summer reading programs in response to confusion introduced by a 2021 state retention law. This law requires students who scored just below reading proficiency to show “adequate growth” on a test given at the end of summer learning programs in order to advance to fourth grade, however, “adequate growth” was not initially defined. Tennessee’s State Board of Education has determined that students who scored as “approaching” reading proficiency must improve by at least 5 percentage points on the end-of-program test to be promoted. The retention law, implemented to address pandemic-related learning disruptions, is expected to result in many students attending summer school or receiving tutoring to avoid being held back.

Around the Nation

Building A Beautiful Bridge And Bond Between School And Families
Smart Brief: As the first formal experience with school, early childhood education experiences often set the tone for students and caregivers. During COVID, however, schools were limited in how they could engage caregivers. Now, with pre-COVID policies fully restored, schools are strategizing to bring caregivers into their children’s school experiences. One school, the Brooklyn Preschool of Science, developed an approach for fostering a high level of family engagement. The school maintains daily and weekly communication with caregivers, including interactions during drop-off, messages through a childcare app, and weekly newsletters. The school also develops these relationships through scheduled 1:1 meetings that directly engage caregiver input in their child’s education. Special events and partnerships with community organizations further involve families, including theatrical events, yoga classes, and collaboration with parent groups. 

NYC School Suspensions Rise 27% During The First Half Of The School Year
Chalkbeat: New York City public schools experienced a significant increase in suspensions during the first half of the school year. Between July and December 2022, over 10,600 suspensions were issued, marking a 27% rise compared to the same period in 2021. The number of suspensions is also higher than pre-pandemic numbers despite a decrease in student enrollment. Short-term suspensions increased by about 29%, while longer suspensions, held off-site from school building sites rose by 21%. The pandemic had initially led to a decline in suspensions, but the current uptick aligns with reports of disruptive student behavior nationwide. Some advocates for discipline reform are concerned about the increased use of punitive measures and stress the need for greater support and alternative approaches to address student needs. Read more here: “41% of NYC students were chronically absent last school year.”

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