Welcome back! Are you off to Orlando for ISTELive + ASCD this week? Our next issue will be dedicated to rounding up the conference's biggest themes and standout speaker sessions. It's the best time of year to reset and find the inspiration to set the tone for a successful year ahead.
This week we're looking at why teachers are pulling back on homework and what TikTok is teaching new educators that prep programs aren't.
1️⃣ Teachers are assigning less homework, and it's hitting higher-poverty districts hardest
40% of teachers say they've cut back on homework over the past two years, according to a new EdWeek Research Center survey. The top reason? Students just aren't doing it. AI is a factor too: 29% of teachers who reduced homework said students using chatbots to complete assignments made it less valuable. The gap is widest in higher-poverty districts, where 28% of teachers have stopped assigning homework altogether compared to 17% in more affluent ones. And when students don't turn it in, some teachers are pulling recess or lowering grades, which can end up punishing a student's home situation more than their effort.
2️⃣ One researcher says schools are creating the stress, then using SEL as a band-aid
Too much homework. High-stakes tests with no retakes. Short lunches. Not enough autonomy. Schools are piling on stressors and then turning to SEL programs to help students cope. One expert puts it simply: "We're going to teach kids how to take deep breaths before they take a test. How about we change what we're doing with the test?" SEL has value, but without structural changes to the things causing the stress, it's only going so far.
3️⃣ After years focused on reading, math is becoming the next big problem
States that poured resources into literacy are now facing a math gap. Reading scores in 83% of districts are still down from a decade ago, but math is worse: down in 70%. South Carolina saw early reading gains after adopting phonics-based instruction but hasn't seen the same movement in math. The challenge is that math doesn't have the same research consensus that reading does around the science of reading. Districts are trying to figure out what "evidence-based math instruction" looks like in practice.
4️⃣ This NC district is guaranteeing every graduate a career credential, college credit, or internship
Guilford County Schools in North Carolina launched the Guilford Guarantee, a program that gives every student the chance to earn a career credential, 12 hours of college credit, or a work-based learning experience like an internship or apprenticeship before graduation, all at no cost to families. The district has seen a 320% increase in CTE credentials over the past five years. Superintendent Whitney Oakley says the program came from listening tours where parents and students kept saying they wished they'd known about career pathways earlier. The biggest logistical hurdle has been transportation across a 650-square-mile county. The district added public transit stops to connect more high schools to community college campuses.
5️⃣ New teachers are learning how to teach on TikTok
Pre-service teachers are turning to TikTok for classroom management tips, lesson ideas, and teaching strategies before they even start their first job. One teacher educator says she keeps hearing the same thing during student conferences: "I know it's not research-y, but in a TikTok I saw..." Instead of shutting it down, she's finding ways to bring it into the classroom, like having students evaluate the credibility of education creators and make their own short-form content backed by research. The bigger question for teacher prep programs: how do you train teachers when a generation is already forming their professional identity through 60-second videos?
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