vrinda sharma

An Unexpected Powerhouse

North Carolina’s impressive climb to fifth in the nation for dual language immersion (DLI) programs is more than just a ranking—it’s also a reflection of the profound impact these programs have on our students and our state’s future. With higher graduation rates, stronger test scores, and better earning potential, a greater percentage of North Carolina…

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MA Court Could Rule on Science of Reading

A lawsuit seeking class action status has been filed in the Massachusetts Superior Court against famed literacy experts Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas, and Gay Su Pinnell, as well as the Reading and Writing Project at Mossflower, Greenwood Publishing Group (DBA Heinemann Publishing), HMH Education Co., and the board of trustees of Columbia University’s Teachers College….

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Leading with a Culture of Caring

When Francisco Lopez was twelve, he and his parents moved from Santiago, Brazil, to a small town in Massachusetts, where his father began working as a Portuguese professor at a university. Accompanied by his parents, Francisco enrolled in a local middle school, where his father enacted the role of family interpreter. They are greeted by…

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Iowa Gives Every G1 Student Decodable Books

Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education have announced a statewide investment of over $3.5 million to provide every first-grade student with decodable book packs to take home and keep, reinforcing classroom instruction. “Iowa is making early literacy a top priority, recently enacting landmark literacy legislation, improving state standards and ensuring teachers have…

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AI Biased by User Language

A new study, “How User Language Affects Conflict Fatality Estimates in ChatGPT,” published in Journal of Peace, suggests that the language used to ask questions of large language models (LLMs) can significantly affect the information provided by them, potentially deepening biases. Conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich and the University of Konstanz, the…

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Colorado Assesses Multilingual Learners

Early this month, the Colorado Department of Education is presenting a “state of the state on multilingual learners” (MLLs)—a sign of more focus on their needs by the state.In the 2023–24 school year, Colorado identified 114,482 MLLs, up from 109,780 in 2022–23 but lower than the 122,976 in 2019–20—that equates to about 13% of all…

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Visions for 2025: Getting Future Ready

Career exploration and exposure to real-world experiences are essential in today’s education for students in K–12 as they consider postsecondary and career opportunities after high school graduation. UnidosUS and the National Urban League co-authored a white paper in 2024, “A Community-Based Approach to Career Pathways Navigation,” to elevate the promise of career pathways as a…

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