A bill approved by the Oklahoma Senate would mandate mental health instruction in schools in conjunction with health education curricula. The measure also requires the Oklahoma State Board of Education to work with the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to develop a list of resources for students and update health education standards.

The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges has issued guidelines to help schools address inclusion, equity and justice issues. The board urges schools to use "a justice, equity and inclusion lens" to look at all facets of the institution and find ways to contribute to the surrounding community.

Rebuilding "social stamina" skills in students for in-person interactions and self-advocacy will take precedence over academics in Bloomington, Ill.'s summer school programs, says Diane Wolf, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Wolf chooses to celebrate students' gains in technology, self-reliance and more during the pandemic rather than adopting a "learning loss" view.

An Oregon school district is using devices adopted by the NFL, MLB and NBA to track close contacts and help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Students wear lanyards with the devices, which acknowledge when they are within 6 feet of another device and records that information.

Several school districts in Minnesota that moved to later start times for middle- and high-school students saw an increase in student GPAs, according to a working paper to be presented to the American Educational Research Association. Other studies have shown physical and emotional benefits of later school start times, but few have made a connection to better achievement, researchers noted.

Reading a single book as a group helped all staff members at a Nebraska elementary school come together and share a common language, participants say. Educators say the book -- "Daring to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts" by Brene Brown -- has helped them before and during the coronavirus pandemic, with one teacher saying the book has helped her feel less nervous about asking hard questions.

Minnesota high-school teacher Kara Cisco responded quickly to the death of Daunte Wright, a Black motorist killed Sunday by a white police officer during a traffic stop not far from her school. Cisco, the state's Social Studies Teacher of the Year, took to social media to share her ninth-grade lesson plan on "Justice for Daunte Wright and the Red Summer of 1919," which details what is known about Wright and his death, and compares current events to those of 1919, during the Spanish flu pandemic and when racial tensions were high in the US.

The American Federation of Teachers now supports CDC guidance that reduces social distancing guidance to 3 feet from 6 feet. Randi Weingarten, the union's president, says the CDC responded to its questions, and assured the group that the new guidance includes continued additional mitigation strategies to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Ninth-grade students who take fewer courses are more likely to be on track to graduate, according to data from Stand for Children's Center for High School Success. In this opinion piece, the center's Kaaren Andrews and Habib Bangura describe the benefits of a "4x4" schedule, in which students take fewer classes, but the classes are longer.

A cracked smartphone screen provides great fodder for real-life math lessons on the cost of repair versus the cost of replacement in Wisconsin math teacher Sara Shefchik's class. Gathering data and calculating solutions grounds the math in a real-life subject and engages students, Shefchik says in this interview.