The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 23, 2019

While Vertus High School doesn’t assign homework, Clovis Meikle, 17, says he works on his online classes at home to get ahead in advance of basketball season. Before Michael Mota goes to sleep each school night, the 17-year-old lies in bed thinking through his plan for the next day. Tara García Mathewson/The Hechinger Report.

Charter School 111

Charter School Advocacy Middle School High School 111

The Hechinger Report

MAY 23, 2020

Jamar McKneely (background) tours a science and technology event at Edna Karr High School, one of the schools in his InspireNOLA charter school network. Credit: Photo: Shandrell Briscoe for InspireNOLA Charter Schools. Jamar McKneely, CEO, InspireNOLA charter schools.

Charter School 123

Charter School Middle School Tutoring Advocacy 123

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 26, 2019

Santos is the director of journalism and media arts for the Richard Wright Public Charter School for Journalism and Media Arts in Washington, D.C. Santos began her teaching career in a facility for students found guilty of criminal offenses; in the nearly two decades since, she has been a teacher and administrator in various schools.

History 103

History Charter School Archiving Advocacy 103

The Hechinger Report

APRIL 7, 2023

A study of Florida’s third grade retention policy revealed that English language learners who were held back became proficient more quickly and were more likely to take advanced courses in middle and high school. Lucy Kells, parent While reading is a strong predictor of later school struggles, so is poverty.

Tutoring 128

Tutoring Elementary School K-12 Advocacy 128

The Hechinger Report

MAY 29, 2020

Ten percent of high school seniors planning to attend a four-year college or university before the pandemic now say they’re going to do something else. But high school graduates who put off college often end up never going. About half say they will enroll at a community college. The empty campus of Vanderbilt University.

High School 129

High School Charter School Advocacy Research 129

The Hechinger Report

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

At some homes, she translates school emails into Spanish and answers technical questions. Then she gets down to what has become the meat of her job as a school social worker at College Achieve Greater Asbury Park Charter School: making sure her students and their families are coping with the multiple stresses of the pandemic. “We

Charter School 130

Charter School Advocacy Government Humanities 130

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 13, 2017

A coalition of seven charter school management organizations (CMOs) in New Orleans and the Kingsley House , a non-profit that serves low-income and vulnerable populations, have partnered to offer a “diverse by design” early childhood center.

Education 85

Education Charter School Private School Advocacy 85

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 5, 2022

Lusher, like America, has long had a teacher diversity problem : Slightly more than 20 percent of public school teachers—who include those at charter schools — in the U.S. She started the Black Student Union at the middle school and formed enduring friendships with several colleagues and Lusher families.

Leadership 145

Leadership Charter School Cultures Social Studies 145

The Hechinger Report

APRIL 14, 2022

Ramos would connect to the library’s Wi-Fi — sometimes on her cellphone, sometimes using her family’s only laptop — to complete assignments and submit essays or tests for her classes at Skyline High School. As of February, the city had provided nearly 36,000 laptops and more than 11,500 hot spots to low-income public school students.

High School 117

High School K-12 Public School Library 117

The Hechinger Report

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Middle school students at Kaleidoscope Academy, a district charter school in Appleton, Wisconsin, are constantly moving. At least we’re at the table now,” said Carly Wright, advocacy director for SHAPE. “It Today, middle and high schools are still the least likely to have daily physical education or recess.

Elementary School 108

Elementary School Middle School Charter School High School 108

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 17, 2017

In 2008, a few years after Hurricane Katrina, school officials in Louisiana asked aspiring charter-school leader Andrew Shahan to consider taking over the failing Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School in New Orleans’ Upper 9th Ward. Department of Education officials estimated that 82 percent of schools would fall short.

Charter School 77

Charter School Elementary School Leadership Advocacy 77

The Hechinger Report

JULY 30, 2018

In a lone building flanked by farmland, the Northern Cass School District is heading into year two of a three-year journey to abolish grade levels. By the fall of 2020, all Northern Cass students will plot their own academic courses to high school graduation, while sticking with same-age peers for things like gym class and field trips.

Tradition 111

Tradition Charter School High School Cultures 111

The Hechinger Report

MAY 2, 2020

But that’s not what is easing the transition to remote learning for schools like Rhodes. Fears about data privacy and screen time, along with concerns about Silicon Valley’s conflicting interests as it pushes into public schools, have battered Summit’s reputation. Related: The messy reality of personalized learning.

Junior High 128

Junior High Charter School Elementary School Social Studies 128

The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 14, 2020

During a pandemic, when there’s no uniform way of counting attendance, Hedy Chang, director of the advocacy group Attendance Works, has seen districts rethinking some of these rules, with their ability to do so varying on state flexibility.

Elementary School 144

Elementary School Public School Charter School Tutoring 144

The Hechinger Report

MAY 23, 2016

The conversation above took place at the meeting where we were to sign a new Individualized Education Program, the federally mandated document mapping out how his needs in school would be met. He was in the seventh grade, which meant it was time to contemplate “transition services,” to plan for what happens after high school.

K-12 75

K-12 Charter School Advocacy High School 75

The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 7, 2023

It wasn’t the first time Ventrese Curry’s granddaughter had gotten into trouble at school. A seventh grader at a charter school in St. Several times, the school issued a suspension and sent Curry’s granddaughter home.

Middle School 98

Middle School Charter School Advocacy Tradition 98

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 16, 2017

(From left to right) Sixth graders Mia DeMore, Maria DeAndrade, and Stephen Boulas make a number line in their math class at Walsh Middle School in Framingham, Massachusetts, one of 132 “Basecamp” schools piloting the Personalized Learning Platform created by the Summit charter school network. Photo: Chris Berdik.

Charter School 81

Charter School Middle School Project-Based Learning Elementary School 81

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Public Integrity’s analysis also found that students with disabilities have higher rates of homelessness than the rest of their peers in every state except Mississippi, suggesting that a significant share of students who already require additional support attend school uncertain of where they will sleep that night.

Advocacy 88

Advocacy Government Public School High School 88

The Hechinger Report

APRIL 22, 2020

At Miami Northwestern Senior High School, Julian Negron, left, and Jerrell Boykin, right, load laptops for distribution to students, on March 30, 2020. Miami-Dade County Public Schools has distributed some 100,000 tablets and other mobile devices, and more than 11,000 smartphones that double as Wi-Fi hot spots.

Elementary School 86

Elementary School Tutoring Public School Charter School 86

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

In a survey conducted by Educators for Excellence, a teacher-led advocacy group, gun violence ranked as teachers’ No. 1 school safety concern. High school teacher Harley Brook has pondered using the books on this shelf as weapons in the case of an active shooter scenario. Photo courtesy Harley Brook.

Teaching 52

Teaching Elementary School Charter School High School 52

The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 7, 2020

Meghan Whittaker, director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities. I don’t think anyone’s going to say that what we were doing worked or was equitable,” said Meghan Whittaker, the director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities. Here’s why they’re not.

Education 145

Education Advocacy K-12 Public School 145

The Hechinger Report

APRIL 8, 2021

In a recent survey drawing responses from 1,219 teachers and conducted by the charter schools advocacy organization the Thomas B. A rundown alternative school and a divisive magnet school were closed, elementary school enrollment rules were reset and a middle school was built.

Middle School 143

Middle School High School Elementary School History 143

The Hechinger Report

JUNE 17, 2018

The guide also noted that starting in elementary school, all students take Spanish, art and music classes. The high school, which enrolls less than 200 students, has been able to offer as many as 17 Advanced Placement courses. Lake Oconee Academy is a charter school. Kim Smith, a mother of three in Greene County.

Charter School 112

Charter School Public School Tradition K-12 112

The Hechinger Report

MAY 8, 2020

Kumar said school counselors were key allies for her and her friends – mentors and confidantes who can help students navigate thoughts, feelings and dilemmas that they may not understand. “A Induja Kumar, senior, BASIS Chandler charter school. Doug Ducey and lobbied their local school boards to join the cause.

K-12 145

K-12 Charter School Middle School High School 145

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 5, 2016

Grant Callen, president of “school choice” advocacy group Empower Mississippi, speaks before a crowd at the Capitiol at the beginning of National School Choice Week in February. John Moore, R-Brandon, likens Medicaid expansion to school privatization. Photo: Imani Khayyam. Photo: Imani Khayyam.

Private School 97

Private School Advocacy Elementary School Public School 97

The Hechinger Report

JULY 10, 2019

For decades, nonprofit advocacy groups and corporate donors have targeted K-12 education for intervention. At East Orlo Avenue Elementary, in the East Providence School District, children switch between group activities and individualized assignments. Tammy Kim, for The Hechinger Report. This would soon change.

Charter School 109

Charter School K-12 Middle School Elementary School 109

The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 6, 2024

Looking back, our high school has crowned a Latina Homecoming Queen, as voted by the student body and has recognized the first Latino Valedictorian. In his first four-year term, he had closed three high schools because of falling enrollment and a budget shortfall he inherited. School gave me a sense of hope,” she said. “I

High School 145

High School K-12 Professional Development Heritage 145

ED Surge

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Khoa Ta, then a sophomore at Owensboro High School from Daviess County in Western Kentucky, was elected as a student board member for the local board of education last May. One idea that’s taken root is forcing students to take a civics test as a requirement for high school graduation. The victory was bittersweet.

Civics 126

Civics Education Government K-12 126

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 15, 2018

School founder Howard Fuller visits with students at the Milwaukee Collegiate Academy charter school. A block dominated by houses with peeling paint and patched shingles gives way to the massive dull-brick facade of North Division High School, Fuller’s alma mater. Schools led and controlled by black people.

Charter School 110

Charter School Private School Heritage Social Justice 110

The Hechinger Report

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

English teacher Samara Rand goes over a passage with a student in her class at Holmes County Central High School. The high school ranked as one of the lowest performing in Mississippi and Rand, a second-year teacher, often dissects passages with her students. Photo: Rory Doyle for The Hechinger Report. LEXINGTON, Miss.

Private School 142

Private School High School Public School Charter School 142

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 15, 2022

Rodrigues had been traveling the country for weeks, meeting with parent advocacy groups in city after city, and working with them to get their grievances heard and addressed by local school boards. Donors to the National Parents Union include the Walton Family Foundation and the City Fund, another pro-charter group.

Advocacy 119

Advocacy Charter School Political Science K-12 119

The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 6, 2023

It’s not always clear, however that this money goes directly to schools and parents: In Arizona, millions of dollars also went to businesses and non-school spending, a recent investigation found. The Network for Public Education, an advocacy group, last month published an interactive feature chronicling “voucher scams.”

Advocacy 139

Advocacy Public School Charter School Tradition 139

The Hechinger Report

JULY 20, 2022

Particularly when other choice options like charter schools and inter-district enrollment are available to families and have a better track record. In addition to funding research, the Bradley Foundation has given at least $31 million to political advocacy on behalf of vouchers.

Private School 145

Private School K-12 Charter School Education Policy 145

The Hechinger Report

MAY 15, 2019

First, some high schools around the country, many of them high-performing charters that serve urban neighborhoods, have figured out ways to turn their alumni into successful degree-earners. Second, advocacy groups have gotten really smart about leveraging their interventions to improve graduation rates.

Charter School 98

Charter School Advocacy Private School Tradition 98

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 24, 2017

Here are five misconceptions we’ve fact-checked about Michigan education during the DeVos debate, from both supporters and opponents of the Secretary of Education nominee: First claim: Increases in Michigan student achievement are leading to greater college and career readiness among the state’s high school graduates.

Charter School 76

Charter School Education Advocacy Public School 76

The Hechinger Report

JULY 19, 2017

Homeschool advocates and practitioners have overcome opposition from the National Education Association; they’ve cleared the restrictions, regulations and other hurdles erected by state or local school officials; and they’ve developed a network of support for parent-instructors who otherwise have little access to professional development.

K-12 82

K-12 Private School Charter School Advocacy 82

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 3, 2025

Woodworth built his research career documenting the benefits of charter schools and is now a fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford University. The data belongs to the people, Woodworth said. It doesn’t belong to the president. It belongs to the public. It is a public asset.

Education 139

Education Archiving Government Charter School 139