Preparticipation physical evaluations (PPEs) are considered necessary for a high standard of care for US scholastic athletes. However, important questions remain regarding consistency of implementation and content of cardiovascular screening practices among states.

Our results show that PPE policies are variable among US states, and adoption of current PPE-4 best practices is slow, demonstrating the need for nationwide PPE standardization. (Read the full article)

Adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) is prevalent in confidential clinic settings such as school health centers (SHCs) and is associated with poor health outcomes. No evidence-based interventions target reduction of ARA in the SHC setting.

This study provides the first evidence of the potential benefits of a brief provider-delivered universal education and counseling intervention in SHCs to address and prevent a major public health problem: ARA. (Read the full article)

Sleep deprivation is a worldwide problem in adolescents. The effectiveness of sleep education in enhancing sleep knowledge with consequent modification of sleep habits remains uncertain, in view of small sample sizes and lack of control groups in previous studies.

This large-scale, cluster randomized controlled study found that a school-based sleep education program was effective in enhancing sleep knowledge and improving behavioral and mental health, but it had no significant impact on sleep duration or pattern among adolescents. (Read the full article)

It is unclear whether developmental delays observed among infants with single-suture craniosynostosis (SSC) persist at school age. Few neurodevelopmental studies have examined children with SSC beyond age 3, with most having methodological limitations.

This study is the first to follow and test infants with SSC and a control group at school age. Infancy delays among children with SSC persisted at school age in some areas (IQ, math) but not others (reading, spelling). (Read the full article)

Although the psychometric properties of the school-age Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) have been extensively examined by using longitudinal data, the preschool version of the SDQ has only been explored in a limited number of cross-sectional studies.

This is the first psychometric study of the preschool SDQ using longitudinal data. We report measurement invariance over time, satisfactory reliability, construct and criterion validity, and predictive utility for subsequent behavioral problems (4 years) and clinical disorders (2 years). (Read the full article)

Selective eating is a common, burdensome eating pattern in young children. A significant subset remain selective eaters at least until adolescence and, for some, adulthood. The question is whether selective eating is a serious enough developmental pattern to warrant intervention.

This study examines whether selective eating, at 2 levels of severity, is associated with current and future psychological problems. Because moderate levels of selective eating were associated with impairment, selective eating falls within the diagnosis of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. (Read the full article)

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parent-child reading from infancy through at least kindergarten, the span of maximal brain growth. Home literacy environment, including reading behaviors and access to books, has been shown to promote oral language and print concepts.

Home reading environment is positively associated with activation of brain areas supporting narrative comprehension and mental imagery in preschool children. This offers novel insight into the neurobiological foundations of emergent literacy and potential effect of shared reading during early childhood. (Read the full article)

A previous national study conducted over 2 seasons by this group of authors demonstrated the effectiveness of mandated protective eyewear in reducing eye/orbital, concussive, and head/facial injuries in high school girls' field hockey.

Data collected from regional/national high school sports injury surveillance databases by certified athletic trainers over 4 seasons has shown that nationally mandated protective eyewear results in a greater than 3-fold reduced risk of eye/orbital injuries in girls playing high school field hockey. (Read the full article)

Electronic cigarette use among youth is rising exponentially. Among other concerns, modified electronic cigarettes can be used to vaporize cannabis. However, no scientific data have been published on the rates of using electronic cigarettes to vaporize cannabis among youth.

This study presents rates of vaporizing cannabis among a sample of high school students (N = 3847). Rates of vaporizing cannabis were high among lifetime e-cigarette users (18.0%), lifetime cannabis users (18.4%), and lifetime dual cannabis and e-cigarette users (26.5%). (Read the full article)

Preschool language delay predicts poorer academic performance, employment opportunities, and social relationships. Language for Learning, a systematic, population-based intervention for 4-year-olds with low language, is feasible, acceptable and has short-term benefits, but long-term benefits are unknown.

Population ascertainment at age 4 followed by a yearlong, one-on-one home program benefited phonological skills (an important literacy determinant) at age 6, but not the primary language outcomes. To be cost-effective, future follow-up would need to demonstrate lasting academic benefits. (Read the full article)

Many families share genetic cancer risk information with their children, and some parents and providers believe BRCA1/2 testing should be permitted in adolescence. The psychosocial effects and impact on health and risk behaviors of this knowledge is unknown.

In our cohort of 869 mother-daughter pairs, we found no differences in general adjustment, but 10- to 13-year-old girls with breast cancer family histories reported higher breast cancer–specific distress and perceived breast cancer risk. Mother distress was associated with daughter distress. (Read the full article)

Educators are changing instructional priorities, altering lessons, and working on ways to help teachers grow professionally, all in an effort to raise math achievement.

Boston Public Schools is turning innovative ideas into action through a new professional development network.

The planning team of the district's Innovation Incubator applied the same hacking mindset taught in the professional-development program to improve the program itself.

Three national educational funders explain a new program that is highlighting innovative practices in schools around the country.

Schools should take the lead in removing the stigma around menstruation, writes 16-year-old Maggie Di Sanza, founder of Bleed Shamelessly.

Equipping teachers to help transgender students feel safe and included requires special training, advocates say.

Men were also more likely to request a transfer to a school with a male principal.

New research suggests that many young hackers tend to have the same qualities as other students who engage in more traditional troubled behavior.

Powderhouse Studios was supposed to open this fall after winning a $10 million startup grant from XQ Institute. But after nearly seven years of planning, school committee members unanimously rejected the high school in March.

For decades, special education advocates have urged the federal government to "fully fund" the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Here are some examples 'ripped from the headlines' of how the funding gap is affecting school districts.

Amid coronavirus-related school closures, advocates worry Education Secretary Betsy DeVos may waive requirements of special education law if Congress signs off. Schools say it's difficult to meet some requirements during the pandemic.

Track where schools are closed and their status for reopening.

Valor Collegiate Academies has been in the top 5 percent of Tennessee schools on growth and achievement every year since it started in 2014. But Tom visited Valor because of the well-regarded Valor Compass, a holistic human-development program.

In rural Kentucky, teachers and students are awarded innovation grants to solve a challenge facing their community or classroom.

To help ease the transition to remote instruction, educators have launched virtual professional learning communities to share resources, ask questions, and give advice.

The new analysis significantly increases the annual estimate of undocumented high school students earning diplomas that has long been used in debates about immigration and special protections for immigrant youth who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children.

The new Trump administration rule regarding immigrants' use of federal benefits could have an indirect but significant impact on schools, education advocates warn.

For communities with significant numbers of Latino and immigrant residents, the barriers to an accurate 2020 Census count are high—and so are the stakes for their schools, which could lose hundreds of millions of dollars if counts are inaccurate.

In the wake of anti-immigrant violence, we must help make sure that all students feel welcomed, writes Susana Cordova.

Nationally, at least five million children have at least one parent who is undocumented. Supporting those children should be a priority if the threat of a raid is not imminent, advocates said.

The justices hear arguments Nov. 12 on the Trump administration's effort to end deportation relief under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, in a case pitting the administration and GOP-leaning states against a host of education and advocacy groups.

A handful of districts and other groups are reshaping the after-school space to provide a wide range of social and linguistic supports for newcomer students.

Stuckeman School graduate student Debora Verniz, who is a doctoral candidate in architecture, has been awarded the 2020 Alumni Association Dissertation Award from the Graduate School at Penn State for her research work in planning affordable housing structures in low-income areas.

A studio course for architecture and landscape architecture students in the Stuckeman School prepares students for the collaborative design process they will take part in once they begin careers in their respective fields by blurring the boundaries between the disciplines in the college setting.

Test-based accountability has not generated the significant gains in student achievement that proponents intended, Helen F. Ladd contends.

States looking to renew NCLB waivers while they transition to new assessments ask to freeze school ratings in place for one year, the Education Department says.

"Folks in some foundations are quietly expressing frustration that they've been cautioned to stay in their lane and only fund things aligned with their pre-COVID strategy," says Stacey Childress.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Children born very preterm (VPT) are at high risk of cognitive impairment that impacts their educational and social opportunities. This study examined the predictive accuracy of assessments at 2, 4, 6, and 9 years in identifying preterm children with cognitive impairment by 12 years.

Students who play high school sports get better grades, select more challenging courses, and are more likely to enroll in college.

The shooting death of a 10-year-old spectator at a high school football game exposes a critical vulnerability and crucial responsibility for schools: keeping people safe at events outside school buildings.

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

Sharing moments of levity and hope from the education world amid the mass disruption of schooling and life from the coronavirus.

Community and university leaders collaborate to help students and parents residing in the McKeesport Area School District.

A new Council of the Great City Schools effort aims to fill in a training gap for an important constituency: school boards.

Having student board members with voting clout on school boards poses a number of logistical challenges, readers say in response to a recent Education Week feature.

School boards are well positioned to push back against so much of the influences of the "progressive" left on our schools and our society, write Michael J. Petrilli and Chester E. Finn Jr.

Social distancing is forcing school business to be conducted virtually, putting school boards in the difficult spot of making crucial decisions on spending and other issues without the same level of public input.

It's vital that school boards make it clear that leaving students without access to meaningful instruction for 4-6 months is unacceptable, says national school board guru AJ Crabill.