School-based health centers can powerfully expand health-care access and support academic achievement, argue John Jackson and John Schlitt.

It is true, as the Education Secretary John Swinney said this week, that it “takes time” to implement reforms in education, and natural that, since the effects must be seen as a cohort of students moves through the various stages, any improvement will take a while to evaluate.

Poor feedback, ineffective guidance and instructions, and lack of adaptivity are some of the key shortcomings identified by researchers in a study of 171 popular mobile learning apps for 3-5 year olds.

Expert says labels, books, and writing centers all help with skill development

In a wide-ranging report on the state of education for ELLs, one theme is consistent: The nation's public schools must devote more resources and research to educating students who aren't native English speakers.

While independent schools can feel quite different from their public, charter, and parochial counterparts, the glue that holds all schools together is this noble charge we call teaching.

A group of testing experts says that opt-out could jeopardize the ability to target educational resources appropriately.

While state school-finance systems have not changed much over time, they are devoting more targeted help to English language learners and student from low-income backgrounds than in the past, a new study finds.

A study finds that states over time have shifted to devoting more resources to help specific populations.

As lawmakers weigh expansion of the state’s voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs, some renew a push for anti-discrimination protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education says all private school students are entitled to "equitable services" under federal coronavirus emergency relief. Let's explore what that means.

Community groups and sports not connected to school can help students stay more connected academically during a critical transition period, according to a study of low-income students in New York City.

A new study finds that even high-achieving middle school students don't apply to New York City's most competitive high schools, raising questions about the power of high school choice.

The film is the first from the James Patterson book series about a middle school student dealing with school rules that don't always make sense.

The move to middle school can be a rougher adjustment for students who were high achievers at their elementary schools, finds a new study.

A forthcoming study finds that beginning middle schoolers benefit from two 15-minute writing exercises to boost their sense of social and academic belonging.

The report found that roughly a third of middle and high schools reported disciplinary problems stemming from cyberbullying at least once a week or daily.

Teachers unleash a flood of creative responses to one of the Most Persistent Teaching Questions of All Time: How do you get ever-chatty middle schoolers to quiet down and pay attention?

One teacher embraced the technique, with encouragement from a former district administrator. But he was told he had to reverse course, in part because of parent complaints.

What is continuous improvement and why are schools and districts jumping on that bandwagon?

English-language-learner families are less likely to attend parent-teacher conferences and other school-related events, which means they miss out on important opportunities to communicate about their children's academic progress.

Mandarin Chinese, French, German, and Vietnamese are also among five most-offered types of dual-language programs, a new federal report shows.

But the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was not unanimous in its support of the findings that students of color were not more likely to commit discipline-worthy offenses.

Race—but not whether a student is enrolled in special education—appears to be a driver of disproportionate suspension rates, finds a new study in the Journal of School Psychology.

Being suspended or expelled from school is more likely to lead students to use drugs later as adolescents or young adults than being arrested, according to a new longitudinal study in the journal Justice Quarterly.

A federal appeals court panel in St. Louis rules that a police officer did not violate the rights of a 7-year-old when he handcuffed the student for 20 minutes.

Discrimination based on race and disability demands our attention—and action, writes Catherine E. Lhamon, the chair of U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

In schools that use corporal punishment, students with disabilities and black students are disproportionately more likely to be hit than their peers, finds a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The 2020 school counselor of the year draws on her previous experience as a counselor for gang members in a prison to reform discipline in her school in an Atlanta suburb. She shares her insights in this Q&A with Education Week.

Nearly 20 years after voting to restrict bilingual education in a state with more than 1 million schoolchildren who don't speak English as their first language, California voters appear poised to reverse that ban.

After nearly two decades of restrictions, educators say it will take time for schools to create new programs and hire bilingual teachers.

Demand for bilingual, biliterate graduates is high. Experts in dual-language learning explain how schools can start programs and strengthen existing ones.

Dig into what two leading Democratic presidential candidates have to say in their platforms about charter schools with Education Week's detailed analysis.

Associations between short sleep duration, obesity, and metabolic dysfunction have been proposed for children but have not been explored appropriately.

The main findings included a nonlinear trend between sleep duration and body weight and the finding that children's sleep averaged 8 hours per night regardless of body weight. Lower sleep duration values were strongly associated with increased metabolic risk. (Read the full article)

Three-fourths of US preschool-age children are in child care; many are not achieving recommended levels of physical activity. Daily physical activity is essential for motor and socioemotional development and for the prevention of obesity. Little is known about physical-activity barriers in child care.

Injury and school-readiness concerns may inhibit children’s physical activity in child care. Fixed playground equipment that meets licensing codes is unchallenging and uninteresting to children. Centers may cut time and space for gross motor play to address concerns about school readiness. (Read the full article)

Secondhand smoke exposure poses a significant health risk to nonsmokers. With the proliferation of comprehensive smoke-free laws prohibiting smoking in worksites and public areas, private areas have become the primary source of secondhand smoke exposure for many individuals, particularly youth.

Secondhand smoke exposure in cars has steadily declined among middle and high school students. However, many remain exposed to secondhand smoke in this environment. Jurisdictions should expand existing comprehensive smoke-free policies to prohibit smoking in vehicles occupied by youth. (Read the full article)

Kindergarten entry vaccination requirements are associated with higher coverage for early childhood vaccines.

Middle school entry vaccination requirements may also be associated with higher coverage for adolescent vaccines, whereas education-only requirements appear not to have an impact at this time. (Read the full article)

The National Vaccine Advisory Committee highlighted the importance of settings complementary to the medical home for immunization delivery among adolescents, including school-based health centers (SBHCs). The effectiveness and cost of recall for immunizations in SBHC settings has not been studied.

SBHC-based recall was effective in improving immunization rates among adolescents, with effects sizes exceeding those achieved in practice settings. Average costs per child who was immunized ranged from $1.12 to $2.34 in 3 schools, but was $6.87 in 1 school. (Read the full article)

Most acute wheezing episodes in preschool children are associated with rhinovirus, which decreases extracellular adenosine triphosphate levels, leading to airway surface liquid dehydration and submucosal edema, which cause failure of mucus clearance. These children respond poorly to available treatments.

Hypertonic saline inhalation, a pro–airway surface liquid hydration therapy, significantly decreases both length of stay by 33% (1 day) and the absolute risk of hospitalization by 30% in preschool children presenting with acute wheezing episode to the emergency department. (Read the full article)

New, effective approaches to obesity prevention are urgently needed. Social network interventions warrant our attention. Social networks play a significant role in adult and adolescent obesity. The role of social networks in pediatric obesity has not been examined.

Afterschool friendship ties play a critical role in setting physical activity patterns in children as young as 5 to 12 years. Children’s activity levels can be changed by the activity level of their social network during a 12-week afterschool program. (Read the full article)

Children with a single kidney are often counseled to avoid contact/collision sports based on the concern of injury to the kidney; however, the incidence of kidney injury during sport is not well understood.

Based on this multiyear, prospective injury surveillance system of varsity-level high school athletes, sport-related kidney injury is rare. Reevaluation of American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations regarding sport participation by children with a single kidney is indicated. (Read the full article)

Infants and children with diagnosed food allergy are at risk for acute, potentially life-threatening symptoms. Limited data are available on the frequency, severity, and circumstances of reactions and caretaker medical response.

This study describes food allergy reaction frequency, circumstances, and response. Pitfalls that may inform improved anticipatory guidance included lack of vigilance, misreading ingredient labels, allergen cross-contact, nonaccidental allergen feeding, and underutilization of epinephrine for severe reactions. (Read the full article)

Adolescent dating violence has been studied from the perpetrators' and survivors' perspectives. The risk and protective factors have been explored, and the strength of the association of these factors with adolescent dating violence has been adequately described.

This study assessed the perceptions and practices of school counselors on adolescent dating violence. Knowing school personnel’s practices and perceptions may help researchers and practitioners gain insights into possible ways to alleviate the problem of dating violence in adolescents. (Read the full article)

Among adolescents, weight status has been inversely associated with sports participation but not active commuting or physical education. Studies of each form of physical activity have not included adequate adjustments for other physical activities, previous body weight, or diet quality.

Estimates indicate overweight/obesity and obesity prevalence would decrease by 11% and 26%, respectively, if adolescents played on at least 2 sports teams per year; obesity prevalence would decrease by 22% if adolescents walked/biked to school 4–5 days per week. (Read the full article)

Childhood obesity is already prevalent by preschool age, particularly among Latinos. Parents have tremendous influence on factors that contribute to childhood obesity (eg, diet, physical activity); thus, family plays a crucial role in pediatric obesity prevention.

This randomized controlled trial examined the effect of a behavioral intervention involving Latino-American parent–preschool-aged child dyads. The intervention resulted in reductions in absolute BMI across the 3-month study period, with patterns suggesting the largest effect for obese children. (Read the full article)

Although observational studies have consistently reported an association between media use and child sleep problems, it is unclear whether the relationship is causal or if an intervention targeting healthy media use can improve sleep in preschool-aged children.

This study demonstrates that a healthy media use intervention can improve child sleep outcomes and adds evidence that the relationship between media and sleep in preschool-aged children is indeed causal in nature. (Read the full article)

Loud snoring, which spikes at ~2 to 3 years of age, has been associated with behavior problems in school-aged children in cross-sectional studies, but no longitudinal studies have quantified predictors and the behavioral impact of persistent snoring in preschool-aged children.

Persistent loud snoring, which occurs in 9% of children 2 to 3 years of age, is linked with behavior problems. Higher socioeconomic status and a history of breastfeeding were associated with lower rates of transient and persistent snoring in young children. (Read the full article)

Few longitudinal studies from developing countries have assessed the relation between early maternal depressive symptoms and child growth beyond age 2. The results of these studies have been inconclusive.

Early maternal depressive symptoms were related to higher odds of deficits in stature but not to deficits in weight among preschool- and school-aged children. Well-child care provides opportunities to identify maternal depressive symptoms to prevent future child growth delays. (Read the full article)

Overweight children are at risk for becoming obese adults, especially if they have an obese parent. Family-based behavioral interventions, largely implemented in specialized settings, have shown efficacy in weight control in youth aged ≥8 years.

This study demonstrates the efficacy of a family-based behavioral weight control program translated to be implemented in the primary care setting. The work underscores the importance of pediatricians intervening early and shifting their focus from the child to the family. (Read the full article)