The journey from detention to diploma is a challenging one for students transitioning from expulsion or the juvenile justice system to the classroom.
More than 25,000 youth reside in detention facilities on any given day in the United States. About two-thirds of those youth do not successfully re-engage with school upon their release, due to the lack of effective transition supports.
A few years ago, Michelle Hughes, an audiologist and professor of special education and communication disorders, came across a journal article about an individual who experienced a drug overdose and ended up with sudden hearing loss.
Then she found more articles featuring similar stories. She was fascinated.
In recent years, illnesses, quarantines and school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased emphasis on the importance of instructional time for children’s academic achievement following absences from the classroom.
There is also recent evidence that pandemic school closures disproportionately affected U.S. schools that had students with lower third-grade standardized test scores and higher shares of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Imagine being locked inside your own body, isolated and struggling to meaningfully connect and communicate with those around you.
Now imagine trying to cope with such isolation as a child.
For children with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI), the lack of a reliable communication methods has devastating impacts on their quality of life, well-being, medical care and social interactions.
Becoming a teacher is not easy. Along with the required formal education, the process requires plenty of patience, preparation, curiosity and enthusiasm.
One less-apparent ingredient of learning to be a teacher is the ability to navigate the ever-changing landscape of diversity in schools, including socio-economic, racial, linguistic, cultural and other demographic characteristics.
Nearly 28 million children in the U.S. experience childhood adversity — neglect, parental substance abuse, mental illness, racism and bias.
Such hardships cause significant stress to children at crucial stages in their development, putting them at risk for academic difficulties and health and behavioral issues — all of which have consequences into adulthood.
A student’s ability to read is a critical predictor of academic and lifelong success. In Nebraska, the COVID-19 pandemic hit students with reading difficulties especially hard, particularly students attending rural schools.
A team of Nebraska researchers is working to boost reading outcomes for rural students in kindergarten through third grade by providing professional learning opportunities to teachers across the state, speeding up pandemic recovery for students with reading difficulties, as well as those at risk.
Nebraska, like other states, faces a shortage of qualified early childhood professionals to meet its demand for quality care and education. This shortage not only poses significant problems for families with young children, but also threatens the state’s future economic prosperity.
