Weekly Update

_{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

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.

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

Universities and colleges have historically not done well at enrolling Hispanic students.

NAEP, the Nation’s Report Card, was supposed to be safe. It’s not

Funding pauses, layoffs and looming budget cuts threaten a critical test.

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