The Center for Research & Education in Technology is encouraging dental schools to find out how to participate in its program and learn about the benefits to the school and its students.

Texas A&M College of Dentistry announced Jan. 17 it opened it’s a new 160,000-square-foot, nine-story clinic, which enables the dental school to increase underserved patients’ access to care.

This year’s Institute for Teaching Learning program is scheduled for Aug. 23-26 in Atlanta. Now in its 14th year, with over 700 alumni, the program combines presentations, discussions, small group activities and peer-to-peer learnings to give participants new teaching skills. The onsite program is followed by a six-month distance learning experience that include online activities and interactive webinars.

The University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry announced Jan. 30 it received a $10 million gift — the largest contribution ever to the dental school — to establish an endowment that would fun efforts to modernize its curriculum and recruit and retain faculty members.

The ADA Foundation will award up to three scholarships worth at least $11,000 each to dental students in 2020.

The Howard University College of Dentistry treated 35 students from Washington’s Raymond Elementary School at a Feb. 7 Give Kids A Smile event.

The extension comes after it was announced the program will now be held Oct. 22-23 in Atlanta due to concerns over COVID-19. LEAP was originally set for May 7-8.

Given recent school cancellations and state orders to shelter in place, some households may be experiencing the strain of sharing family computers. ADA Member Advantage states that members are eligible for savings of up to 46% on select items from their endorsed technology provider, Lenovo, during a special sale on computers.

The University of Minnesota School of Dentistry announced March 19 that it named Dr. Keith A. Mays, Ph.D, as its interim dean for two years beginning May 15.

The University of Washington School of Dentistry announced March 26 that Dr. Gary Chiodo, its interim dean since August 2018, will now serve a full five-year term as dean.

Kansas City University announced March 30 that it named Dr. Linda C. Niessen as its founding dean of the KCU College of Dental Medicine, which is slated to open in fall 2022 on its Joplin, Missouri, campus.

The Chicago Dental Society and its members donated thousands of personal protective equipment to front-line health care workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If this were a typical day, and if these were typical times, LaShonda would be in her pediatrics competency exam, fresh off a cup of coffee, before heading to a three-hour simulation lab.

A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry has developed a nanoparticle that could improve treatment for bone defects.

I will be starting a monthly poll to engage the readers of this blog and start some discussion. Feel free to comment on this topic. I'm sure many of you have a lot to say. At the end of the month, I'll share and discuss results in a blog post. I'm curious to see how the readers of this blog feel about your own schools. You can find the poll in the sidebar. Thanks for participating!

The readers of School Psychologist Blog Files were asked in February to share their own experiences and to vote on a poll "How do you feel about the level of education the school provides your child." It's important to understand that everyone's experience is unique. The readers come from different states, different school systems, and different grade levels. Laws and standards vary somewhat between states. Within any state, there are schools that do a better job suiting the needs of children than others. Within any school system, there are those star schools, and the schools that need more attention. Even within the best schools, there are still going to be individuals who have negative experiences. Within the worst schools, there will be those who have positive experiences. Regardless of your school or your situation, I believe that the readers of this blog care deeply about their child's education and have strong emotions about the education (positive or negative.)

The most popular response was "I generally feel good about the level of education, but have some complaints." I was glad to see that many of you are mostly satisfied. I hope that continues throughout your children's school career. Stay involved, speak up when needed, and compliment those who deserve it.

There was a strong outcry from those who endorsed "I feel as if the school is not supportive and I feel as though I am constantly fighting for his or her rights." This was the second most popular answer. While many feel comfortable with their schools, there are many parents out there who have the unsettling feeling of sending their child to a place they do not feel good about. Many of the readers are feeling that getting appropriate services only comes with a fight. Some of you are not having good experiences. I hope that you are able to find some support and insight here from others.

A few of you feel very thankful for the high level of education that your child is receiving. I am thankful to hear that some of the parents here feel exceptionally good about their child's school. Know this is a blessing that many others do not have.

Feel free to share your comments about experiences and offer some insight to others who may have similar experiences.

Penny Williams from A Mom's view of ADHD and I decided to join forces this month in an attempt to reach more people through our blogs. I believe that many of my readers would find her blog helpful and I also felt that I could offer some insight into the school perspective to her readers. Penny wrote Make Homework Routine a few weeks ago. If you found that helpful, check out her blog full of more strategies! A Mom's View of ADHD is an excellent resource for parents of children with ADHD. It's written from by a parent going through it and provides excellent insight and strategies. I highly recommend it as a place for parents to go to connect and gain support.

Be sure to check out my article, Support for ADHD in the Schools. I discussed the options available for receiving support in the schools for ADHD such as an IEP or a 504 Plan.

You can find all of the same articles in a more visually appealing Blog.  From now on use www.schoolpsychologistfiles.com/blog.  Thanks!

In an era of stepped-up immigration enforcement, speakers at this event present their research on the impact of enforcement policies on children from immigrant families and U.S. public schools. 

WASHINGTON – The federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) requires states to publicly report annual performance and graduation rates for students in a range of areas, breaking out results for subgroups with unique characteristics, including English Learners (ELs). The objective is to help schools identify and close achievement gaps experienced by historically underserved groups of students.

In this webinar, the authors of three papers on the experiences of refugee children present their findings, with a focus on how such experiences affect their mental health and education.

Relying on newly available data under ESSA, a local advocacy group found several districts that spend more money on wealthy students than poor students, despite the state's intentions.

I recently talked with Carrie Conaway, Harvard lecturer and former Massachusetts state administrator, about the challenges coronavirus presents for state ed. departments.

Keeping up with students’ growing mental-health needs was a concern for districts long before the pandemic began. It’s even harder now, educators and psychologists say.

School buildings in Massachusetts will remain closed through the end of the academic year, but remote learning will continue, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday.

The state's two virtual charter schools have earned poor marks from the state's accountability system in the few years they've been operating.

In Florida, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, Republicans are arguing that candidates for local and state school boards should run on party tickets.

Cursive writing is experiencing a resurgence of sorts in North Carolina elementary schools thanks to a state law that was passed in 2013.

States are tweaking voter registration laws for teenage voters and schools are busing students to the polls. Will these efforts help young people get in the habit of voting?

When schools reduce racial segregation between schools, racial isolation within the classes inside those schools goes up, according to an analysis of 20 years of North Carolina data.

North Carolina teachers had press conferences in seven locations across the state to criticize education spending levels.

With schools shut down, social distancing in place, and parents at home, after-school programs are laying off staff and switching gears to meet families' needs.

The West Virginia House of Delegates passed its version of a sweeping education omnibus bill, which would allow the state's first charter schools.

There are more than 1 million children in the U.S. whose parents are active duty military. This video explores some of the ways school leaders can work to meet these students' needs.

The Virginia Beach City schools, urged on by parents, decided to make a big change, doubling the amount of recess the district offered, from just 15 minutes a day to 30.

With many school buildings closed for the rest of the academic year—and more to follow—district leaders turn their attention to making up for what may be deep learning losses.

Coronavirus has shut down schools across the country, forcing millions of students to learn at home. In this video, families from Seattle to Maine describe how they are adjusting to this new reality.

The rocky shift to remote learning has exacerbated inequities for the nation's 5 million English-learners. An army of multilingual liaisons work round the clock to plug widening gaps.

Police in northeast Ohio have placed a school resource officer on unpaid leave for activating a Taser to wake up a sleeping student.

Academic achievement at Ohio schools eligible for School Improvement Grants during the Obama administration increased for a few years, a new study says, but SIG's legacy remains complicated.

A bill shielding what is now Ohio's largest online school and its sponsor from the negative consequences of accepting thousands of former Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow students is headed to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.

An unusual program in Cincinnati provides academic coaches to help high school players meet eligibility requirements to stay in the game.

"We have a responsibility to save lives," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said on Twitter. "We could have waited to close schools, but based on advice from health experts, this is the time to do it."

With many school buildings closed for the rest of the academic year—and more to follow—district leaders turn their attention to making up for what may be deep learning losses.