Spill The News

Summary

The Trump administration says it is moving some of the Education Department's most important responsibilities, including oversight of special education and student civil rights, to other agencies.

Summary

The moves to the federal departments of Health and Human Services and Justice, respectively, would further dismantle an agency that President Donald Trump has vowed to close. (Image credit: Al Drago)

Summary

A study of more than 2,300 9- to 10-year-olds found that socioeconomic factors explained most differences in the preteens' brain development. (Image credit: Andriy Onufriyenko)

Summary

A popular (and generous) repayment plan ends, two new plans begin and many borrowers will see new loan limits.

Summary

Unscathed by pandemic-era school closures, the nation's 9-year-olds showed progress in math and reading. It's a different story for 13-year-olds, however. (Image credit: Olivier Touron)

Summary

Long championed as a leader in adopting digital technology, Sweden is set to ban mobile phones in schools beginning in the fall for the next academic year. (Image credit: James Brooks)

Summary

One school district outside Boston is turning the World Cup into a teachable moment, with elementary classes learning about different countries' languages, food and wildlife.

Summary

NPR's Eyder Peralta speaks with University of California, Berkeley math professor Zvezdelina Stankova about efforts to bring back standardized exams as part of the admissions process.

Summary

A new NPR/Ipsos poll shows many teachers are using AI to save time, but a majority are also worried the technology is making it harder for students to learn to think for themselves.

Summary

A new NPR/Ipsos poll of teachers found many are using it to save time and improve their teaching materials, but a majority are worried about AI's impact on students' critical thinking.

Summary

Some students with disabilities rely on assistive technology to learn, and they worry it could be swept up in the movement to get screens out of schools. (Image credit: Jonaki Mehta)

Summary

As teachers seek ways to keep students engaged in learning, a 30-year-old program offers one solution: raising tanks of trout right in the classroom. May say it's a perfect blend of hands-on science and fun.

Summary

This is the 101st year of the national spelling competition, and the third time it's been decided by a rapid-fire "spell-off" since the practice was introduced in 2021 (Image credit: Allison Robbert)

Summary

The California State University system offers an early look at what happens when an administration commits to a technology that its own community isn't convinced will improve education.

Summary

At a time when hopes are dim for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, some Arab and Jewish entrepreneurs are partnering across the divide, hoping to prove what's possible. (Image credit: Dena Yadin)

Summary

The Federal Student Aid office lost half its staff last year as part of Trump administration downsizing. Now, it's hiring hundreds of new workers.

Summary

Commencement speakers who bring up the sweeping changes that artificial intelligence is driving are facing boos from the Class of 2026. (Image credit: University of Central Florida and Middle Tennessee State University via Storyful)

Summary

A fast-growing number of special educators nationwide are using AI to create customized education plans. Despite the risks, some research shows it could improve the quality of teachers' work. (Image credit: Talia Herman for NPR)

Summary

New York, Arizona, North Carolina, Kentucky and Nevada are among the states challenging a rule that limits federal student loans for graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy and more. (Image credit: kieferpix)

Summary

The U.S. has many buildings that are centuries old, but most modern tradespeople haven't learned how to work on them. A New Hampshire program is teaching high schoolers these old restoration skills.

Summary

Some of the nation's most selective institutions are slowly increasing their rural enrollment with the help of millions of dollars from a rural alumnus of the University of Chicago. (Image credit: Lucy Lu)

Summary

State officials in New York say the Salmon River district's special education program confined young children with disabilities in wooden boxes. Parents weren't notified. (Image credit: Used with permision)

Summary

The education secretary faced questions about the shrinking of her agency, limits on federal student loan borrowing and oversight of the education of students with disabilities. (Image credit: Eric Lee)

Summary

U.S. school districts worry it could get even more expensive to prepare a meal under new federal dietary guidelines, as they also contend with cuts to programs that helped them buy local food. (Image credit: Rachel Wisniewski for NPR)

Summary

The annual Education Scorecard shows the nation's schools still rebounding from serious losses in math and reading, but it also found those declines began well before the pandemic.

Summary

Remember those devastating learning losses that began during the pandemic? Turns out, they began years before COVID-19. Some states are finally turning things around.

Summary

Oregon's public schools rank last in fourth-grade reading, according to an analysis of national testing. As a wake-up call for elected leaders, Pencil is running for governor as a write-in candidate. (Image credit: Eli Imadali)

Summary

Some schools are warning users not to log back into Canvas yet, after a ransomware group claimed credit for a data breach. Half of North America's higher education institutions use the platform. (Image credit: Michael Warren)

Summary

This year's winner in NPR's College Podcast Challenge is a letter to a grandparent that grapples with health issues including dementia. It's the story of a family learning to talk about hard things. (Image credit: Matthew Coughlin for NPR)

Summary

A first-of-its-kind national study looks at the impacts of cell phone bans in schools.

Summary

Smith College is one of the largest women's colleges in the country. This week, the Trump administration announced it is investigating the school's practice of admitting trans women.

Summary

This application cycle, way more students reported test scores, up 10% compared with last year. That's despite many colleges having "test-optional" admissions policies.

Summary

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Stanford education economist Thomas Dee about the latest study on schools banning cellphones.

Summary

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Morgan State University president David K. Wilson about an association aimed at boosting the research status of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Summary

Four states have recently passed legislation to limit teaching and assessments via screens for students. So has the United States' second-largest school district.

Summary

In her first appearance on Capitol Hill this year, lawmakers questioned Education Secretary Linda McMahon about cuts to federal education spending and students' civil rights. (Image credit: Aaron Schwartz)

Summary

With school choice programs ascendant not just in Iowa but across the U.S., Cedar Rapids offers a preview of who wins and who loses when education meets the free market.

Summary

Some experts worry that less homework could be a problem for math achievement, at a time when test scores nationwide are already at a dismal low. (Image credit: Stanislaw Pytel)

Summary

A new review of state education data shows teacher pay increases can't keep up with inflation and fewer students are enrolled in public schools.

Summary

Every school has problem students, but some are labeled emotionally disturbed (ED) and taught separately from others. (Image credit: Yasmin Yassin for NPR)

Summary

A former pro-wrestling executive, McMahon is now the education secretary Trump tasked with abolishing the agency. New Yorker writer Zach Helfand explains how her WWE experience led her to this role.

Summary

Schools, colleges and other public institutions originally had until this week to make online content accessible to people with disabilities. Now, the Justice Department has delayed that deadline. (Image credit: Kristian Thacker for NPR)

Summary

The influx of fans later this week has led the school district to make a controversial decision: canceling in-person school. (Image credit: Perry Knotts)

Summary

With school choice programs ascendant not just in Iowa but across the U.S., Cedar Rapids offers a preview of who wins and who loses when education meets the free market. (Image credit: Cliff Jette for NPR)

Summary

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks to filmmaker Ken Burns, an alumnus of Hampshire College, about the school's plan to permanently close at the end of the fall semester.

Summary

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks to filmmaker Ken Burns, an alumnus of Hampshire College, about the school's plan to permanently close at the end of the fall semester.

Summary

As one Vermont college finishes its last semester, an estimated 442 others may be in trouble. (Image credit: Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report)

Summary

As one Vermont college finishes its last semester, an estimated 442 others may be in trouble. (Image credit: Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report)

Summary

Public universities across Texas have instituted sweeping changes in recent months, from canceling gender studies programs to directing faculty to sign a pledge not to indoctrinate students.

Summary

To figure out how to boost student voting, colleges have relied on a study about campus voter registration and turnout rates. A Trump administration investigation has cut schools off from new data.

Summary

Public universities across Texas have instituted sweeping changes in recent months, from canceling gender studies programs to directing faculty to sign a pledge not to indoctrinate students.

Summary

To figure out how to boost student voting, colleges have relied on a study about campus voter registration and turnout rates. A Trump administration investigation has cut schools off from new data. (Image credit: Angela Weiss)

Summary

Higher education is especially reliant on computers and phones, but accessibility for people with disabilities has often been forgotten. A new federal rule could change that.

Summary

Higher education is especially reliant on computers and phones, but accessibility for people with disabilities has often been forgotten. A new federal rule could change that. (Image credit: Kristian Thacker for NPR)

Summary

The explosion of online gambling and sports betting, as well as the advertising behind it, is attracting a growing number of young people, most of them boys.

Summary

The explosion of online gambling and sports betting, as well as the advertising behind it, is attracting a growing number of young people, most of them boys.

Summary

Public school teachers across California have taught Cesar Chavez's contributions to the labor movement for a long time. Now they're figuring out how to revise those lessons given the recent allegations against him of sexual assault.

Summary

Public school teachers across California have taught Cesar Chavez's contributions to the labor movement for a long time. Now they're figuring out how to revise those lessons given the recent allegations against him of sexual assault.

Summary

All children, regardless of immigration status, have the right to a free K-12 public education. But without birthright citizenship, access to schools and colleges could get complicated.

Summary

All children, regardless of immigration status, have the right to a free K-12 public education. But without birthright citizenship, access to schools and colleges could get complicated.

Summary

In August, Education Department employees will relocate to a smaller office roughly a block away, and the larger Energy Department will take over the old headquarters.

Summary

In August, Education Department employees will relocate to a smaller office roughly a block away, and the larger Energy Department will take over the old headquarters. (Image credit: Saul Loeb)

Summary

The Trump administration announced a three-phase transition that will eventually include management of most federal student loans as well as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Summary

The Trump administration announced a three-phase transition that will eventually include management of most federal student loans as well as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). (Image credit: Alex Brandon)