Remote learning widened achievement gaps in states and districts that kept schools closed the longest, concludes a working paper by Harvard researchers. Students in high-poverty schools paid a far higher price for virtual learning” than those in low-poverty schools, reports Moriah Balingit in the Washington Post. “Students in poverty suffered a double-whammy: They stood to lose the most from virtual learning — and they, on average, spent more time learning remotely,” she writ

Which state has the best schools? Traditional rankings, such as those in U.S. News, factor in school spending, write Stan Liebowitz and Matthew L. Kelly in Reason. In their results-only rankings of education quality, based on National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores, Virginia is number one, with Massachusetts, almost always ranked first, in second place. Florida, New Jersey and Texas round out the top five. Here’s the table. White, Latino, black and Asian stude

Dual-credit (or dual enrollment) programs are expanding rapidly across the nation. Students — not just high achievers — usually take college-level classes at a nearby community college or at their own high school. In Texas, the number of dual-credit students has grown more than 10-fold from 2000 to 2016. Dual-credit students are 2.4 percent more likely than similar classmates to enroll in college, according to the 15-year study conducted for the Texas Higher Education Coordin

Student can take “financial Algebra 2” instead of the regular course in Noblesville, Indiana, reports Shaina Cavazos on Chalkbeat. The class, which is focused on “real-world problem solving,” meets state Algebra 2 standards, but is easier to pass, writes Cavazos. In hopes of preparing all students for college, Indiana has required Algebra 2 since 2007. Indeed, across the nation, states have stepped up math requirements to include Algebra 2. But in several cases, they quickly

Whatever happened to Officer Friendly? asks Eric Easter of Urban News Service. “I remember Officer Friendly used to come from 1st to 4th grade, teaching us that the police were our friends,” Chris Newman wrote on Old Time D.C. “Then, in 5th grade, it went from ‘I am your friend’ to ‘I am not to be trifled with.’ That is a very jarring experience.” Most police departments have dropped “Officer Friendly” programs, writes Easter. However, New Jersey legislators hope to put Frien

Only 4 percent of schools have closed the economic achievement gap, according to the Education Equality Index. Brownsville, Texas, a border town with high poverty rates and many Spanish-speaking families, does the best at educating low-income students, according to the index, a project of GreatSchools and Education Cities. Eight of the top 10 cities are in Texas, including El Paso and McAllen, notes Lauren Camera in U.S. News. In Brownsville, 95 percent of students are poor,

I Can’t Answer These Texas Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems, writes Sara Holbrook in the Huffington Post. Old STAAR questions are released so teachers can prepare students for the exam. Holbrook checked out the questions on A Real Case, which appeared on the 2014 Grade 7 STAAR Reading Test, and Midnight, appearing on the 2013 Grade 8 STAAR Reading Test. Both poems are published in Walking on the Boundaries of Change. A teacher wrote to ask her how to answer this