One of the key focuses of effective family engagement is communication, so important that communicating effectively is the second of National PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. The University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research has just released a research brief on the lessons learned during remote schooling about how to improve school-family communication. The lessons can be used by PTAs as well to strengthen the relationships between families, schools, and PTAs...

Key Findings

1. Colleagues and Collaboration

Massachusetts Institute of Technology now requires students to submit standardized testing scores — beginning with the class of 2027, the university announced earlier this month.

The standardized testing requirement had been suspended for the past two years as the COVID-19 pandemic caused many educational disruptions...

It’s springtime across America, and the familiar sounds fill the air — birds chirping in the early hours, the cracks of baseball bats on opening day and classrooms filled with utter silence. It’s testing time, one of my least-favorite times of year as an educator and as a parent of elementary school-aged children.

In Chicago and beyond, the pandemic strained the ties between schools and families like never before: Some students tuned out virtual instruction, disengaging from learning completely. Once students were back in the classroom, parents craved information and reassurance about how schools were keeping their children safe amid surge after COVID surge.

Bryan is from Chicago, where he attended the University of Chicago Charter School Woodlawn campus in high school. He currently attends Denison University as a first-year where he majors in politics and public affairs, with a minor in Black studies.

Illinois school districts are reporting a shortage of bilingual education teachers with as many as 100 vacancies, as of October.

To help fill the void, the Illinois State Board of Education announced the launch of a $4 million grant to cover tuition costs for teachers interested in becoming licensed to teach English-language learners...