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** Weekly Update
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A newsletter from The Hechinger Report


Sponsored by:
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In this week's edition: A look at how one school district is reimagining cellphone bans. ([link removed]) Colleges work urgently to recruit Hispanic students. ([link removed]) Federal cuts threaten the future of NAEP ([link removed]) .
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[Teachers recruited friends as volunteers to help run a popular knitting club and other new clubs at Longfellow Elementary School in Spokane, Wash. Credit: Neal Morton/The Hechinger Report]


** Knitting, cheerleading, fishing: This is what a cellphone ban looks like in one school district

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Spokane Public Schools welcomed students back to class last fall with new rules: Elementary and middle schoolers must keep smartphones, watches and other internet-connected devices in a backpack, pouch or out of sight. The policy loosens at high schools, with phones allowed during meals and between classes.

Through its Engage IRL campaign, the district has expanded extracurricular programs at each of its 58 schools. It also allows teachers to plan up to two field trips a month, with the city offering free rides on public transit. A local nonprofit is kicking in $3 million over three years to pay for “engagement navigators” who track participation data at each campus, finding new activities or making them easier for students to join.

District officials shared what they see as early signs that their two-part approach could be working: As of March, nearly 18,000 students had participated in an after-school club, sport or activity — a gain of 19 percent from all of last school year. And chronic absenteeism fell about 13 percent among students who engaged in an IRL activity, a district spokesman said.

At the same time, researchers have started to collect data on the impact of smartphone restrictions elsewhere, with recent indications that bans in class — at least on their own — won’t be enough to reverse the apparent harms from the technology.

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This week's newsletter is supported by:
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The EGF Accelerator is supporting strong leaders in sustainable nonprofits that are working to improve the education and life outcomes for low-income New Yorkers. We offer incubation, advanced leadership development, a remote Fellows program, and fund journalism about educational equity. Want to know more? Drop us a line: [email protected].

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** As colleges lose enrollment, some turn to one market that’s growing: Hispanic students

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Universities and colleges have historically not done well at enrolling Hispanic students.
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Now their own success may largely depend on it. ([link removed])
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** NAEP, the Nation’s Report Card, was supposed to be safe. It’s not

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Funding pauses, layoffs and looming budget cuts threaten a critical test.
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“Risky things are happening. It’s going from bad to worse.” ([link removed])
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** Reading list
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Tribal colleges win reprieve from federal staff cuts ([link removed])

Officials are still looking for answers on whether the rehirings will be permanent. The workforce was cut as part of the Trump administration’s downsizing of the federal government

Tracking Trump: His actions to dismantle the Education Department, and more ([link removed])

Read the latest updates about Trump's actions on education

Head Start is in turmoil ([link removed])

Staffing cuts and budget uncertainty face the 60-year-old federal child care program

As EPA pulls back, advocates warn it’s schoolchildren who face the steepest risks ([link removed])

Nearly 10 percent of children attend a school within a mile of a chemical facility, one study found. Those students are less protected under new federal policies

En Puerto Rico, la campaña de Trump para desmantelar el Departamento de Educación pega más fuerte ([link removed])

El sistema educativo de la isla depende en gran medida de la agencia. El gobierno de Biden hizo de su mejora una prioridad pero ahora los puertorriqueños temen lo que viene

OPINION: We have a crisis in public school leadership: Our leaders are overwhelmed, overworked and lack the training they need ([link removed])

We must make helping our school leaders a priority if we want them to help our schools and children succeed
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