I just started adding an AI audio player to my weekly column Proof Points. Curious if any readers have clicked on the play button and what they think. Ok, terrible? (The actual button is at the top of the story under the headline. hechingerreport.org/proof-points... )

In a new manifesto, a prominent literacy scholar explains why a popular method for teaching reading in elementary and middle schools is failing children and tamping down reading achievement. hechingerreport.org/proof-points... (1/4) 🧵

School cellphone bans are perhaps a rare case in public policy, where the “data back up the hunches.” But the academic benefits are rather small and they come with a cost. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

The academic benefits of cellphone bans in schools are more modest than proponents had hoped for, but they do seem to be helping students. "A lot of discipline" in the first year as students adjust to the new rules. (1/2) hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Despite Friday's wrecking ball at the Ed Dept. (which laid off another 466 employees and decimated special education offices), prep for the 2026 NAEP continues. Amid govt shutdown, employees who work on the "nation's report card" have been coming to work every day.

Big debates swirl around SEL -- social emotional learning. 1: Should be teaching soft skills at all or stick to academics instead? 2: Has the content of SEL programs has expanded far beyond innocuous things like taking turns and calming down? 🧵 (1/5)

Listen to yesterday's (Tuesday, Aug 26th) segment on @npr.org 1a where I talk about the Trump administration's new college admissions data collection -- and how it's bypassing the usual tech review process. wamu.org/story/25/08/...

Thank you to @latimes.com for publishing my story about chronic absenteeism. Skipping school isn't like it used to be... although kids still grouse that school is 'boring' www.latimes.com/california/s...

Tune into @npr.org‬ 1A show at 11am today, 8/26. Host Jenn White will be interviewing me about the Trump administration's new college admissions data collection and why stats experts think it could be a trap for higher education. wamu.org/show/1a/

Excellent reporting as always from @hechingerreport.org on the new data collection craziness from the administration. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Absenteeism is big biz and companies are peddling costly services and tech solutions to schools. Here's a sampling of what schools that have succeeded in reducing their chronic absenteeism rates are actually doing. (Spoiler: outside vendors not required). hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

my students back in 1994 told me: if you skip 1st period, you are sleeping in if you skip 4th period, you are going to lunch early if you skip 5th period, you stayed at lunch late if you skip 6th period, you went home early i asked what you are doing if you skip 2nd or 3rd: "getting high"

Absenteeism rates at schools across the nation have come down a bit in recent years, but they're still stubbornly higher than they used to be before the pandemic. Some surprising things I have learned. (1/5)

A great summary of the major findings from our AEI working group on chronic absenteeism led by Nat Malkus (featuring @ehutt.bsky.social @jjacobkirksey.bsky.social and others) hechingerreport.org/proof-points... @jillbarshay.bsky.social

Of note: Before firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Trump fired the head of the National Center for Education Statistics: hechingerreport.org/proof-points... via @jillbarshay.bsky.social for @hechingerreport.org ⬇️

One GOP lawmaker is publicly protesting Education funding cuts. Nebraska U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb wrote a letter bacon.house.gov/uploadedfile... to OMB and issued a press release.

Another terrifically reported piece that tells the human story and the policy fallout

In my story, I reported that an Ed Dept official said that federal data is safe and will soon be transferred to IES’s secure servers. Just learned from a former senior ED official that "IES doesn't have secure servers. That was part of the problem." hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

2 stories today. Supreme Court overturned lower court order to bring back fired employees at the Ed Dept. Employees are out. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p... And my story this morning describes congressionally mandated activities that cannot be done without them. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Great reporting on an absolutely dreadful, shameful story

Excellent long-form piece on the sudden firing of Peggy Carr, former head of the National Center of Education Statistics. Loved how the article illustrated how Carr earned such wide bipartisan respect. Which makes DOGE's slapdash destruction to education data initiatives & staff all the more 🤯.

Ever since the former commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics was dismissed by the Trump administration in February, I wanted to hear her story. Peggy Carr was among a string of Black senior officials fired in early 2025. (1/3)

UPDATE: Ed Dept just announced this afternoon that it is giving acting IES director Matthew Soldner a second title: acting commissioner of NCES. The lack of a commissioner had been the obstacle to releasing the NAEP science scores.

Starting to see consequences from the mass cancellations and firings at ED. A month ago, I reported about a missed June 1 deadline for a statistical report. Now NAEP science scores are delayed...https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-delay-release-naep-science/

An analysis of more than 23,000 nondegree programs found some boost workers’ incomes by thousands of dollars and help them advance. Others offer graduates no wage gains at all. And results vary widely, even in lucrative fields and among trusted providers.

More details on stats, assessments and research activities that @usedgov.bsky.social has restarted. (click within the story to see the full table) hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

⚖️ HUGE day today in the NIH terminations cases There's a trial (of sorts) at 10a ET in Boston today for arguments that NIH unlawfully terminated 100s of grants. It's a 3 hour hearing and I'll post periodic updates. Of note: this is the 1st lawsuit filed against the Trump Admin to go to trial.

Mysterious disappearance of the rat-your-neighbor-out anti-DEI portal at the Ed. Dept. by the formidable @trishcrain.bsky.social‬ aldailynews.com/end-dei-scho...

Tech glitches at ED. Both NCES and IES websites went down for > 9 hours from midnight ET last night to 9am ET this morning. Researchers said they were unable to make tables using datalab and powerstats yesterday. But all is back and running now. IT employees at ED were part of mass firings in March.

A cybersecurity service known as MS-ISAC warns more than 5,700 schools around the country about malware and other threats and recommends security patches. This technical service is free to schools, but is funded by Congress. (1/3)

A fed judge in DC today denied a preliminary injunction that 4 ed research organizations had wanted. That means the Education Department doesn't have to rehire all the employees it axed and reinstate contracts while the courts decide whether the Trump admin exceeded its exec authority. (1/7)

Whoever put together yesterday's Part I "New Condition of Education" report had access to the Education Department's website, but didn't seem to know where to find the data. (1/3)

Lololll this story is like: Student misses an assignment deadline, professor asks what’s up, and then student says, “It’s coming! Here’s some stuff from before.” Except here: student = Dept of Ed assignment deadline = set by law turned into = Congress professor asking = journalist

Yesterday, June 2, was an interesting day at work. I was reporting a story about how the Education Department hadn't delivered a report to Congress on the Condition of Education, despite the June 1 deadline mandated by law. 🧵 (1/9)

At a recent House approps subcommittee hearing, Sec'y Linda McMahon confirmed several times that ED would abide by Congressional laws. But, in some cases, it may be too understaffed to do so. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

“We don’t expect every town to stand up their own army to protect themselves against China or Russia ... I don’t think we should expect every school district to stand up their own cyber-defense army to protect themselves against ransomware attacks.” hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Thrilled to work with such amazing colleagues. @hechingerreport.org won 6 of 17 categories at the @edwriters.bsky.social 2024 awards! 🥂 to @jackiemader.bsky.social @lizhech.bsky.social @sarahbutro.bsky.social @jonmarcusboston.bsky.social and...

The Southern Education Foundation (SEF) received formal notice from @usedgov.bsky.social that its Equity Assistance Center-South (EAC-South) grant has been reinstated. SEF serves public school districts and 11 states to help them comply with federal civil rights law. (1/2)

ED research and data legal update. Hearing tomorrow (Wed, May 21) in federal court in MD at 10am to ask a judge to temporarily restore research, data and personnel cuts at Ed Dept, while the court takes time to decide if Trump Admin violated Congressional statute and exceeded its authority. 🧵(1/6)

. ED Sec McMahon speaking at CatoInstitute said that contracts are in place to administer the '26-'27 NAEP aka the nation's report card. The test had been scheduled for 2026 - is it slipping into 2027? 🧵

Update: The first hearing has been postponed from this week to Friday, May 16th. A federal court in DC will now hear arguments for a preliminary injunction for two of the cases at the same time.

The 1st hearing in the 3 cases where ed researchers are suing the Trump admin will take place on Thursday, asking the court to temporarily restore the studies, data collections and personnel that DOGE and Ed Sec'y McMahon cut. Round up here: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

40% of NSF terminations have been STEM education (including 1 of my projects). Consider the implications of defunding research on “how to improve the teaching of math and science, with the goal of expanding the number of future scientists who will fuel the U.S. economy.” @jillbarshay.bsky.social

Attending AERA (large ed research conf) was wild as NSF STEM ed grants were being axed on Friday. The #overhead at AERA was like... "[Person] is going to be cut from the lab because we lost all of our funding" Even still, finding that community was essential. See @jillbarshay.bsky.social story:

The latest cuts at NSF targeted education research h/t @dangaristo.bsky.social and @noamross.net hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Successful pushback to DOGE cuts. Funding had run out for the Education Dept's online library ERIC last week, but funding has restarted. But only half as much. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

If you're in Denver @aeraedresearch.bsky.social annual meeting (#AERA2025), come meet the press today (Friday) at 9:50 in the Mile High Ballroom 4AB.

My dad's 1970 proposal to put the ERIC research database online. Today, 55 years later, I use it for my research, but probably not for long. @jillbarshay.bsky.social reports that ERIC will stop being updated this week after DOGE cut its budget, and it may fold completely. What a sad, terrible waste.

This site is used by countless students, researchers and professors, but it's now scheduled to run out of money on Wednesday. hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Come interrogate the media at our #AERA2025 @aeraedresearch.bsky.social sesh on Fri, April 25 from 9:50 to 11:20 at the Colorado Conv. Ctr, Mile High Ballroom AB. Looking forward to discussing ed research coverage with @chalkbeat.org @egorski.bsky.social and @the74.bsky.social Kevin Mahnken.