Category: Education Center

‘Schools Should Remain Virtual,’ Somerset County Educators Say

by  on  in Education Center

SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — School officials from across Somerset County, including Hillsborough, Bridgewater and Warren, have penned a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday calling for New Jersey schools to remain virtual until science and trends show it is safe to return amid the coronavirus.

“As the calendar moves closer to the scheduled opening of the next school year, school communities are increasingly fearful of becoming pandemic epicenters. Students, teachers, support professionals, and families deserve safe schools, but that is simply impossible in the current climate. Reopening the school buildings too early will lead to tragedy in school communities

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A safe alternative to school?

by  on  in Education Center

“The 360” shows you diverse perspectives on the day’s top stories and debates.

What’s happening

The debate over whether to reopen schools in the fall centers around the choice between two bad options. Either children attend school in-person and risk catching the virus and infecting those around them or kids, once again, suffer through an extended period of substandard online learning.

Faced with these two choices, some parents are banding together to create an alternative: Small in-home group education settings known as learning pods. Homeschooling is, of course, nothing new. But the realities of the pandemic have pushed more families

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Gov. Walz Announces ‘Safe Learning Plan’ For Minnesota Schools

by  on  in Education Center

TWIN CITIES, MN — Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials Thursday announced Minnesota’s “Safe Learning Plan” for the 2020-21 school year. This fall, under Walz’s plan, Minnesota school districts and charter schools will have the option to begin in one of three models: in-person, distance learning, or a hybrid model.

With the guidance of state health officials, the learning model decision will be primarily left to each individual local school district in the state. Each district is expected to announce its decision to students, parents, and guardians.

However, there will be state-issued parameters for districts that indicate when

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Inside the New Education ETF Launched by Global X

by  on  in Education Center

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world from offline to online for everything from work to shopping, learning or playing. As a result, many issuers have come up with new ETF offerings that are coronavirus-themed or support the idea of distant working and learning. One such product is Global X Education ETF EDUT. The fund hit the market on Jul 10. Let’s delve a little deeper.

EDUT in Focus

The fund looks to invest in companies providing products and services that facilitate education, including online learning and publishing educational content, as well as those involved in early childhood education, higher

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How ‘the most violent’ special education school ended restraint and seclusion

by  on  in Education Center

This story was produced by the Teacher Project, an education reporting fellowship at Columbia Journalism School.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Twenty years ago, a visitor to Centennial School would have heard a cacophony.

“Banging on doors, yelling, wailing,” said Julie Fogt, the current director of the school. “Adults were loud: ‘Stop that, stop that! Crisis! I need help!’”

It was a private school, but public schools paid to send their most troubled kids there. The school took only children who had both a diagnosis of autism or emotional disturbance and a history of severe behavior issues.

“It was the most violent

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