States take hard line on chronic absenteeism
More than a dozen states plan to measure chronic absenteeism in education accountability plans they’ll submit to the federal government. Officials in some Colorado school districts already are working to curb chronic absenteeism, including one where the focus is on intervening early when students have just a few absences. Full Story: Chalkbeat
Do start times affect attendance, grad rates?
Average attendance and graduation rates increased at schools that adopted later start times, according to a recent study of 30,000 students in 29 high schools across seven states. Officials at a Virginia high school say that students are more rested and ready to learn since the school moved its start time from 7:20 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. Full Story: District Administration magazine
Game puts students’ science skills to the test
High-school students in some schools are playing March Mammal Madness, a game created by an evolutionary biologist at Arizona State University. Students use science skills and information gleaned from tweets to predict which animals will win fictional battles. Full Story: National Public Radio
Trump overturns rules on ESSA, teacher prep
President Donald Trump signed two bills Monday overturning education regulations. One measure overturned regulations about how states should comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act and the other rolled back a requirement for states to give annual ratings to teacher-preparation programs. Full Story: The Washington Post (tiered subscription model)
Brain reacts differently to problems in those with math anxiety
The brains of people who are anxious about doing math problems handle those problems differently than those who have an affinity for math, according to findings presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society. Brain scans of participants showed differences between those with math anxiety and those without, even though their responses to simple arithmetic problems were similar, researchers say. Full Story: Science News