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Utah

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Utah
Students participate in reflections after a day of learning in Julia Kromenacker’s 3rd grade classroom at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky. on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
Students participate in reflections after a day of learning in Julia Kromenacker’s 3rd grade classroom at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky., on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. The Bullitt County district that includes Old Mill Elementary has incorporated a focus on building more general life skills, like collaboration, problem-solving, and communication, that community members and employers consistently say they want from students coming out of high school.
Sam Mallon/°ÄÃÅÅܹ·ÂÛ̳
College & Workforce Readiness Even in Academic Classes, Schools Focus on Building Students' Workforce Skills
Schools work on meeting academic standards. What happens when they focus on different sets of skills?
Matthew Stone, October 22, 2024
11 min read
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filo/DigitalVision Vectors
School Choice & Charters States Are Spending Billions on Private School Choice. But Is It Truly Universal?
More than half a million students in eight states last school year took advantage of private school choice open to all students.
Mark Lieberman, October 8, 2024
7 min read
3D illustration of a character walking on the road leading to many different paths with open doors. The pathway and doors are light in color against a dark blue backgroud.
iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice in the 2024 Election, Explained
Three states will ask voters to weigh in on private school choice, and another state could pave the way for more funding for choice.
Mark Lieberman, September 19, 2024
7 min read
Collage illustration of faceless students  with books and bookbags standing in a group talking with collage pieces of graph paper, the U.S. capitol and other political buildings around them.
Nadia Radic for °ÄÃÅÅܹ·ÂÛ̳
Personalized Learning All States Allow Competency-Based Learning. Will It Become a Reality in Schools?
School districts in every state have the flexibility to adopt competency-based learning, but implementation is easier said than done.
Libby Stanford, September 16, 2024
9 min read
A collage of two faceless students sitting on an open book with a notebook and laptop. All around them are numbers, math symbols and pieces of an actual student transcript.
Nadia Radic for °ÄÃÅÅܹ·ÂÛ̳
Assessment Explainer What Is Standards-Based Grading, and How Does It Work?
Schools can retool to make instruction more personalized and student-centered. But grading is a common sticking point.
Matthew Stone, September 16, 2024
11 min read
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen on Thursday, June 29, 2023, in Washington.
The Biden administration's new Title IX regulation was set to take effect Aug. 1, but only in parts of the country as court injunctions block it in 26 states and the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a request to step into the debate.
AP
Law & Courts Biden's Title IX Rule Takes Effect Amid a Confusing Legal Landscape
The rule that expands protections for LGBTQ+ students is effective Aug. 1, but injunctions currently block it in 26 states.
Mark Walsh, July 31, 2024
7 min read
Empty blue school bathroom showing the bathroom sinks without mirrors.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety A School Removed Bathroom Mirrors to Keep Students From Making TikToks. Will It Work?
The desperate strategy for keeping students in class illuminates the challenge schools face in competing with social media.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 1, 2024
5 min read
Illustration of city buildings with financial, job, data, technology, and statistics iconography.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Mathematics Project Good-Paying Careers in Data Are Booming. But Schools Aren't Teaching It
In Utah and other states business leaders are pushing schools to teach more about data science and statistics.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 31, 2023
7 min read
Lindsey Henderson, a secondary-mathematics specialist for the Utah board of education, talks about data science and the Utah Mathematics Pathways initiative with math educators during a seminar at Pleasant Grove High School in Pleasant Grove on May 30.
Lindsey Henderson, a secondary-mathematics specialist for the Utah board of education, talks about data science during a seminar at Pleasant Grove High School in Pleasant Grove, Utah, on May 30, 2023.
Jim Urquhart for °ÄÃÅÅܹ·ÂÛ̳
Mathematics Project Are Students Getting All the Math They Need to Succeed?
Advocates say reforms in math teaching are pushing out statistics and geometry and driving a drop in students' math scores.
Sarah D. Sparks, July 31, 2023
15 min read
Illustration of woman and steps made of cash.
Getty
Teaching Profession Teachers in 6 States Will Get Raises. More Could Join Them
Lawmakers in 23 states proposed bills to raise teacher salaries, but not all of the policies are straightforward pay bumps.
Libby Stanford, June 22, 2023
5 min read
A parent and child looking at 2 different schools
DigitalVision/Getty
School Choice & Charters 6 More States Will Soon Let Almost All Students Attend Private School With Public Money
So far this year, 14 states passed laws and lawmakers in 42 states introduced bills to expand private school choice.
Libby Stanford, June 15, 2023
7 min read
Protesters cheer outside Senate chambers at the Indiana Statehouse on March 22, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana schools may soon be required to notify parents if their child requests a name or pronoun change at school, after state Senators on April 10, 2023, advanced a bill that some worry could out transgender kids to their parents.
Protesters cheer at the Indiana Statehouse on March 22, 2023, in Indianapolis. Indiana schools may soon be required to notify parents if their child requests a name or pronoun change at school, after state lawmakers advanced a bill that some advocates worry could out transgender kids to their parents.
Arleigh Rodgers/AP
Equity & Diversity Pronouns for Trans, Nonbinary Students: The States With Laws That Restrict Them in Schools
Under the laws, teachers aren’t required to use trans or nonbinary students’ requested pronouns.
Eesha Pendharkar, June 14, 2023
7 min read
Protesters read in the middle of the Texas Capitol rotunda as The Texas Freedom Network holds a "read-in" to protest HB 900 Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The bill would ban sexually explicit materials from library books in schools.
Protesters read in the middle of the Texas Capitol rotunda as The Texas Freedom Network holds a "read-in" to protest HB 900 Wednesday, April 19, 2023. The bill would ban sexually explicit materials from library books in schools. Mass book bans in a handful of districts are influenced by state legislation, PEN America found.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP
Reading & Literacy State Laws Are Behind Many Book Bans, Even Indirectly, Report Finds
School districts are reacting to state laws that dictate the kinds of books school libraries can have, leading to book bans, report finds.
Eesha Pendharkar, May 19, 2023
7 min read
Tenth-grader Emma Preston listens intently during civics class at Chatham Central High School in Bear Creek, N.C., on Nov. 5, 2019. The class is debating whether President Trump should be impeached. The House impeachment inquiry into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine has become a teachable moment in classrooms around the country as educators incorporate the events in Washington into their lesson plans.
Tenth-grader Emma Preston listens intently during civics class at Chatham Central High School in Bear Creek, N.C., on Nov. 5, 2019.
Allen G. Breed/AP
Social Studies Florida Pays Teachers $3K For Completing Civics Training. How It Compares to Other States
As interest in civics education grows across the country, debates remain over what it should entail.
Ileana Najarro, May 2, 2023
13 min read