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PROOF POINTS: A third of public school children were chronically absent after classrooms re-opened, advocacy group says

The Hechinger Report

Department of Education updated the threshold for chronic absenteeism in 2016-17 from 15 days to 10 percent of the school year, which equals 18 days in schools that are in session for 180 days a year. Correction: The U.S. An earlier version of this story cited the 15-day figure. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

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Sent home early: Lost learning in special education

The Hechinger Report

In 2016, following requests from her group, the U.S. In 2016, the federal Department of Education, under Secretary Arne Duncan, released guidance that addressed the issue of shortened school days. Smith Howard has been advocating for years to have the federal government address shortened school days.

Education 145
educators

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Eligible for job and college aid, half of Tennesseans with disabilities get nothing

The Hechinger Report

Yet the state left $14 million in federal VR dollars on the table in 2015 and again in 2016, even as the agency temporarily shut its doors to new clients. She had spent 12 years as a senior education advocate at the Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee, advising other parents on how to get through the system.

Advocacy 111
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Saint Leo University plans the nation’s first veteran studies bachelor’s degree program

The Hechinger Report

Will Hubbard, the interim chief policy officer at the advocacy group Veterans Education Success, said a veteran is different from someone actively serving, but it’s impossible to decouple the two. He said veteran studies is more about the long-term impacts of war than the logistics of arming and deploying forces.

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A shocking number of young people can’t separate fact from fiction online

The Hechinger Report

The researchers created 56 tasks for students in 12 states, and collected 7,804 student responses from January 2015 until June 2016. They measured the ability of students to accurately gauge the validity of information they encounter online. Never have we had so much information at our fingertips,” the study’s authors wrote.

Civics 112
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As more youth struggle with behavior and traditional supports fall short, clinicians are partnering with lawyers to help

The Hechinger Report

Kathryn Meyer, left, attorney at the Center for Children’s Advocacy, and Christiana Mills, are part of the Yale Child Student Center in New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Barry Zuckerman, who created the first medical-legal partnership in Boston more than 30 years ago, saw the need for family advocacy first hand during his childhood, in the 1950s.

Tradition 112
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COLUMN: The FAFSA fiasco could roll back years of progress. It must be fixed immediately

The Hechinger Report

Related: Simpler FAFSA complicates college plans for students and families “As much staff as government has, it’s not enough for students right now,” said Yolanda Watson Spiva, president of the national advocacy group Complete College America. She wants colleges to do more to directly help applicants still struggling to fill out the forms.

Advocacy 135