Talent & Education

State Superintendent Michael Rice seeks federal permission to drop the M-STEP this year because of the pandemic, but some educators say doing so is irresponsible.

From threats of lawsuits to heading across state lines to compete, high school athletes, their parents and coaches are frustrated by not being able to play while bars and restaurants can reopen.

Michigan school districts are relieved to get federal help to offset costs connected to the pandemic, but some question a funding formula that is creating wide disparities among school districts.

The pandemic likely will increase achievement gaps. Michigan education advocates say schools need to start planning now for how to help struggling students, including more money for tutoring and summer school, priorities that align with the incoming Biden administration.

Halfway into the school year, Michigan students are failing classes at higher rates, concerning educators who say it’s more evidence of the coronavirus’s disruption of learning.

Ten months after she ordered all schools to close to try to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the governor said it’s time to plan for reopening classes. Recent studies show schools can remain safe with certain precautions, while there can be a heavy price for keeping children isolated.

Owen Bondono’s language arts classes were supposed to focus on text structures Thursday, but there was no way the Oak Park teacher was going to ignore the insurrection that took place in the nation’s capital the day before.

Six teachers from across Michigan offered a sobering view of online instruction during the pandemic, from more students flunking classes to the deflating experience of teaching into a blank computer screen.

The pandemic forced Michigan schools to go remote. It didn’t always go well. This week, Bridge revisits its most impactful stories.

Years after other Michigan departments, the state’s largest city police force turns to specialized mental health training for officers.

Arguing that state restrictions infringe on religious liberty, Catholic high schools are asking a federal court to allow them to decide whether to offer in-person instruction even as COVID surges through Michigan.

Up to half of all Michigan K-12 students were taking all of their classes from home, with more added after the recent state coronavirus health order. Rural areas are particularly struggling.

Michigan’s high schools are ordered to be closed through Dec. 8, but with another holiday just two weeks later, some school districts are choosing to not reopen until after the new year.

The students who need in-person instruction the most are among the least likely to get it, new Michigan data shows.

Michigan schools are uncertain how many students who’ve fled public schools during the pandemic will return when there is a vaccine.

The Troy School District in suburban Detroit shut down its in-person classrooms last week because of an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. Just like that, life for the Onyx family was back to impossible.

Pickford is the reigning Division 1 eight-man football state champ, but it couldn’t beat COVID-19. School board members criticized for putting sports before student safety.

With coronavirus cases surging across Michigan, schools are facing not only a health crisis, but a staffing crisis: There aren’t enough substitute teachers to replace classroom teachers who are infected or quarantined.

Detroit had fought to keep its school buildings open, but the pandemic has caught up with the state’s largest district and its 51,000 students.

To try to head off another surge of coronavirus cases, U-M is encouraging students to stay in their hometowns next semester. The request comes as cases are skyrocketing in Michigan and nationwide.