Supporting the rule of law by holding officials accountable, constructing an accurate account of the recent past, and recommitting to human rights at home are essential to restoring the confidence in government that underlies our shared national life. Such work can help create a new sense of community, which is a fundamental aspect of a healthy democracy.

“I don’t necessarily like to use this term in public, but … we have a generation of digital natives who are also digital doofuses,” said Don Leu, in a 2006 interview about his digital literacy research findings. “They are natives when it comes to video, social networks, and texting, but they are doofuses when it comes to information. They do not know how to locate information or evaluate information, and they do not know how to communicate information in a richer context beyond text messaging.”

Meriden Record-Journal (Richard Schwab is quoted about Miguel Cardona’s nomination for the U.S. Education Secretary)

Public school enrollment in New England is down during the pandemic. But even when kids are enrolled, it can be a struggle to get some to show up. This week on NEXT, how one district is tackling absenteeism and why doctors are increasingly concerned about youth mental health. Plus, Massachusetts school districts try to cope with a teacher shortage. And when a Vermonter’s business plummeted after COVID hit, she donned an inflatable T-Rex costume and started dancing.

Through a collaboration with Lehigh University, Neag School of Education associate professor Jennifer Freeman will develop an intervention to improve college and career readiness for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. This $500,000 grant is sponsored by the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES). Freeman is a Co-PI with Lee Kern and Chris Liang at Lehigh University.

The COVID pandemic has laid bare the extent of inequalities across Connecticut’s cities, towns, and school districts and the children and families they serve. Connecticut has long been one of our nation’s most racially and economically segregated states, while also one of the wealthiest. In the past decade those inequities have worsened along both economic and racial lines. In 2021, Connecticut continues to face the interrelated challenges of segregation and school funding equity and adequacy. Connecticut must do better.

We may be tired of being asked to look for silver linings, or bright prospects, to the changed education landscape. But here’s why it’s important to check our expectations and consider shifts in how we frame this school year.

To learn more about the man now poised to lead the nation’s schools, Connecticut Public Radio’s Diane Orson spoke with Robert Villanova, director of the Executive Leadership Program at UConn’s Neag School of Education. He said he and Cardona first met when Cardona was principal at Hanover Elementary School in his hometown of Meriden.

Kiplinger contributor (and former Major League Baseball player) Doug Glanville shares insights from years playing the game — and investing.

Connecticut education commissioner Miguel Cardona and Neag School alumnus, a Meriden native who rose through the ranks in the city’s public schools from teacher to principal to administrator, has been selected by President-elect Joe Biden to be the next U.S. education secretary.