View this email in your browser ([link removed])
The Report
A newsletter from The Hechinger Report
This week's newsletter is supported by:
[link removed]
In today's edition: Early intervention services ([link removed]) blocked by low funding and bureaucracy. Three global early ed trends ([link removed]) to watch. Book ban complaints dismissed and anti-discrimination policies ended ([link removed]) .

[link removed]

Jaclyn Vasquez credits her daughter’s strong start in school partly to the comprehensive therapies she received as an infant. Credit: Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report

Doctors, and science more broadly, have made astounding gains in their capacity to save the lives of extremely premature babies, defined as those born before 28 weeks. In the 1960s, just 5 percent of premature infants with respiratory distress survived; now it’s about 90 percent.

Despite these encouraging gains, there’s an abysmal record across the country, exemplified by Chicago, of helping these babies after they exit the NICU, particularly with access to the therapies that most reduce their risk of needing intensive, and expensive, special education services as schoolchildren. Many children who receive early intervention do not require special education services in kindergarten, including slightly less than half of those with developmental delays, according to one 2007 study.

“We have so much information on early brain development now,” said Alison Liddle, a physical therapist in Chicago who is part of a team that studied access to early intervention in the city. One of the findings was that the system is difficult for parents to navigate. “Support systems have to catch up. We have a critical window to help families.”
Read the story ([link removed])
Special report: Math education
[link removed] A. Samuels, deputy managing editor of The Hechinger Report, traveled to New Zealand to visit schools and learn more about math education in that country. The reporting trip, supported in part by the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program, takes you inside classrooms with educators as they work to roll out new math standards.

New Zealand has a problem with mathematics. Can a new strategy make a difference for students? ([link removed])
The government hopes new ‘explicit’ instruction can halt a slide in math achievement, but some teachers and principals aren’t convinced

One country wants to close math achievement gaps by ending academic tracking ([link removed])
New Zealand’s practice of ‘streaming’ students has hurt Māori and Pacific Islander students, advocates say

Mathematics test scores in some countries have been dropping for years, even as the subject grows in importance ([link removed])
Persistence, motivation, and digital device use are among the concerns raised by a survey of students around the world
Was this newsletter forwarded to you? S ([link removed]) ubscribe! ([link removed])
A message from this week's sponsor:
[link removed]
Come together this March at SXSW EDU to join the brightest minds in education. Be part of the innovation creating a new tomorrow for learners everywhere. Get ready to be inspired with bold, new ideas and celebrate 15 years of impact with us March 3-6, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Learn more. ([link removed])
Reading list


** A researcher said the evidence on special education inclusion is flawed. Readers weighed in ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Clear solutions elude parents, teachers and researchers



** COLUMN: In just one week, Trump created a new culture of anxiety in education ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Deportations, dismissals of book ban complaints and the removal of anti-discrimination policies are just the beginning



** The number of 18-year-olds is about to drop sharply, packing a wallop for colleges — and the economy ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
America is about to go over the ‘demographic cliff’



** TEACHER VOICE: We can’t outpace AI, but we can still teach our students the value of writing ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
If we don’t let AI ambush the value of curiosity-driven thinking, they will take risks and make discoveries


**
OPINION: As diversity rates at elite colleges hang in the balance, some students still face increased exclusion and barriers ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Without race-conscious admissions, colleges risk erasing the voices and experiences of students of color


**
------------------------------------------------------------
⭐ Extra credit! You are allowed to repost or reprint our stories as long as you follow these guidelines ([link removed]) . Questions? Email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
Become a sponsor. ([link removed])
[link removed]
You made it to the bottom of this newsletter. Please support our nonprofit newsroom.
Donate Now ([link removed])
Donate ([link removed]) to make this message go away.
Was this edition of the newsletter helpful?

Your feedback helps us improve the newsletter. If you'd like to share a comment or question with our newsroom, follow the linked text to a page where you can write to us.
* 👍 This was relevant and interesting. Thanks! ([link removed])
* 😐 This was just OK. ([link removed])
* 👎 This was not interesting to me. ([link removed])

============================================================

Copyright © 2025 The Hechinger Report, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up at our website The Hechinger Report.

Our mailing address is:
The Hechinger Report
525 W 120th Street
Suite 127
New York, NY 10027
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
** ([link removed])