Research Guides: Current News in Education: Education News: Week of August 4

Introduction

Are overwhelmed with the amount of education news? Do worry, we got you covered! We'll update this page every 1-2 weeks with important and interesting news from the world of education.

An important note before you begin. We link to both free-to-read articles and articles that require a JMU account to access. This includes newspapers like The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Be sure to follow the instructions to sign up for these resources in order to read all the content linked.

Check back throughout the week for new articles.

News for the week of August 4

Department of Education News

Today is the last day for many Education Department workers. Here's what they did
If you were wondering what people do/did at the Department of Education this article is for you. It shies away from broad and vague descriptions and allows people to describe their jobs in their own words.
Why the White House Backed Down From Its First Big Education Cuts
A great account of how frozen DOE funds became unfrozen.
Why Pre-K Is Good for a Parent’s Career
A study found higher earnings for parents that enrolled their children in preschool versus those that did not. We can add this to the long list of benefits for universal childcare.

Supreme Court and Education

Did SCOTUS make it easier to sue schools for disability discrimination?
This article looks at the implications of the recent Supreme Court decision in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools.

Literacy and Reading

Books for Kids Starting Preschool
A solid list of books for kids starting school.
An Equitable Approach to Improving Literacy
This report offers some good guidance on literacy education.
Planting the Seeds: 10 Tips to Inspire a Love of Reading in K–2
A short list of tips to instill the value of reading in children.
The Transformative ‘Tollbooth’
A short piece on the ways one book can inspire learning.

School Choice

A School-Choice Test for Josh Shapiro and JB Pritzker
Similar to a link posted a few weeks ago, the OBBB Act gives school choice funding to states on an opt-in basis. Blue state governors now can utilize these funds at their own discretion. It'll be interesting to see how the governors of Pennsylvania and Illinois respond to political pressure regarding school choice.

Education and AI

How Sci-Fi Taught Me to Embrace AI in My Classroom
This essay offers some good tips on how to incorporate AI into classroom research. I'm impressed by the lack of fatalism ("they're gonna cheat anyway") and the embrace AI as a tool for better understanding.
So long, study guides? The AI industry is going after students
ChatGPT released a Socratic style study mode as a prominent feature.
Encirclement and Attrition: ChatGPT’s Study Mode Isn’t Just a Feature — It’s a Strategy
After reading about ChatGPT Study Mode, dive into this analysis of the feature. Then take a few minutes and read "The Fun They Had" by Isaac Asimov (use any internet search engine and you'll find a full text link) and think about what's lost when we turn away from learning as a collective endeavor and make it a solo activity.
OpenAI's "Study Mode" and the risks of flattery
And here's a not-that-balanced (but still not dismissive) view of Study Mode. I still find it fun when writers push AI to their logical limit.
Education isn't working: Learning to work with AI requires more than just using it
A misleading title for a thoughtful look at how AI can be used for enhancing work flows and actually strengthen education.
Blue-collar revenge: The things AI can't do are making a comeback
As we consider the future of education with regards to AI it's important to remember that Chatgpt may be able to write an convincing email, but it isn't going to be able stop your leaky toilet.

Computers in Schools

The Practice Problem
A deep-ish dive into digital platforms for math practice and how/whether they benefit students. Curator exposition: I've often wondered about where the practice is happening.
“OK Google, Make Middle School Suck Even More!”
Maybe the Chromebooks *are* the problem...

Gym

Remember running the mile in school? The Presidential Fitness Test is coming back
The return of the Presidential Fitness test is upon us. What'll be in it... we don't know yet! My fastest mile time ever was during a Presidential Fitness test... but now that I think about it there wasn't a track, so it was around the drop off area of my school. I'm beginning to doubt this achievement.

Scientific Integrity in Research Papers

Fraudulent Scientific Papers Are Rapidly Increasing, Study Finds
This article reports on a study that found a significant amount of papers are coming from "paper mills" or unethical, for-profit publishers. There are a lot of threads to pick up here, but it does highlight the need for higher standards for information literacy across disciplines.