Talent & Education

Three weeks into the school year, Detroit Public Schools Community District officials still are fielding complaints from parents about its new virtual school.

Experts attribute the rise to more students in classrooms, fewer masks and a more contagious delta variant, sending infections up in Michigan classrooms.

Teacher training could soon include instruction on recognizing signs of mental struggles. Advocates say these skills are more needed than ever given the added strain the pandemic placed on children and adolescents.

Detroit schools are essentially barred from raising their own funds to repair deteriorated buildings, which would cost about $1.5 billion. Now, federal support may enable leaders to do what a series of state-appointed managers could not — rebuild Detroit’s schools.

Changing policies to report fewer outbreaks in Michigan schools won’t reduce infections among kids, but it will provide less information to worried parents.

A new state audit on Michigan’s cyber charter schools raises questions about whether students are participating in the classes in which they’re enrolled, and whether they’re receiving the required hours of instruction.

Families are pulling their kids out of class and moving to neighboring districts as they shop for schools that match the face mask policies they prefer.

A GOP House bill takes aim at critical race theory; the notion that the legacies of slavery and racism are baked into the nation’s laws and many of its institutions. Opponents contend such measures are an effort to prevent honest classroom discussion about race.

Poll from the Skillman Foundation indicates that voters want more spending on career exposure, job training, mental health resources, child care and expanded learning time.

With COVID cases among children rising, health officials ordered schools in the western U.P. counties of Iron and Dickinson to mask up in elementary schools. Barry and Eaton counties in mid-Michigan did the same. Many parents aren’t happy.

The Detroit Public Schools Community District is spending $70 million for COVID testing for students and staff.

The Detroit Public Schools Community District had 50,000 students enrolled on the first day of school, but it may take home visits to get all of them in the classroom.

Fewer K-12 students will likely have to stay home from school because of exposure to COVID under new recommendations from the state health department. But local schools and health departments will have the final say on safety rules this year.

African-American and low-income third-graders were far more likely to be flagged for possible retention due to low reading test scores than their white or non-poor classmates. How many students are actually being held back remains unclear.

Eight of the nine most populous counties in the state now have orders requiring face masks in school buildings.

Use this database to compare scores in math and English for grades 3-8.

Scores fall, in some cases alarmingly so. But educators caution against reading too much into results from a year in which students were in and out of classrooms.

If Michigan’s experience is similar to other states, brace yourself for lower standardized test scores and bigger gaps between racial and income groups, caused by the pandemic.

The latest counties to mandate masks in schools are Wayne, Benzie, Leelanau, Emmet, Charlevoix, Otsego and Antrim.

Parents against mask mandates in schools have grabbed most of the attention in school board meetings and protests. Now, parents who favor mask mandates to protect against COVID’s spread are organizing.