Education

Many teachers thought 2021 was going to be a better school year than 2020, but a lot have found it to be harder as students are struggling to catch up after a year of remote and hybrid learning.

Education

Teachers thought 2021 would be better. Instead, some say it's their toughest year yet

1:03pm December 23, 2021

Many teachers thought 2021 was going to be a better school year than 2020, but a lot have found it to be harder as students are struggling to catch-up after a year of remote and hybrid learning.

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Grimsley High School teacher Sierra Hannipole checks in with a student at the Greensboro, N.C., school's learning hub. According to new federal data, 6 in 10 schools around the U.S., including Grimsley, have given extra training to teachers to support stu

Here's what schools are doing to try to address students' social-emotional needs

7:01am December 23, 2021

by Anya Kamenetz

New federal numbers show the nation's schools are hiring and training staff and expanding previous curricula to address student mental health.

'Teachers are drowning' as they deal with students acting out, low staff and COVID

5:07pm December 22, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with two teachers and a teacher coach about the layers of stress they are currently facing amid the oncoming wave of omicron-driven COVID cases.

College kids contemplate the risk of seeing family and possibly infecting them

5:07pm December 22, 2021

by Tovia Smith

With plans of heading home, some students have now tested positive for COVID or been around others who did. Worried families must decide whether to see their loved ones or risk possibly getting sick.

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A graduate walks a tightrope balancing life's responsibilities.

President Biden extends student loan payment freeze through May 1

2:16pm December 22, 2021

by Elissa Nadworny

President Biden extended relief for federal student loan borrowers for an additional 90 days because borrowers are "still coping with the impacts of the pandemic." Payments now resume May 1.

Students walk on the campus of University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles in March 2020.

Some colleges and universities will start the new year online as omicron spreads

12:57pm December 22, 2021

by Joe Hernandez

Seven schools in the University of California system, Harvard University, Northwestern University and others are among those changing their plans in response to the highly transmissible variant.

Education

Anonymous donor's financial gift gathers dust for a year

5:57am December 22, 2021

Physics professor Vinod Menon was recently sorting through a pile of mail at The City College of New York when he found a box with $180,000 inside. The money had been sent by a grateful graduate.

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Virtual classes allow school districts to do away with traditional snow days

5:57am December 22, 2021

by Kate Grumke

Pandemic home learning efforts could spell the end of snow days. Up to 40% of school districts now say they won't cancel classes when the weather is bad.

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Sophomore Dreshon Robinson stands outside his high school cafeteria, where the learning hub takes place. He wants to go to college and be an audio engineer.

Extra learning time is helping these students catch up from COVID interruptions

5:47pm December 21, 2021

by Anya Kamenetz

After school "learning hubs" are helping some high school students in North Carolina catch up on academic time lost due to COVID — and stay on track for graduation.

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As the pandemic persists, more schools embrace outdoor classes

7:05am December 21, 2021

by Madeline Fox

Some schools moved classes outdoors when the pandemic began — now it's a growing trend. There are nearly 600 outdoor and nature-based schools across the U.S. One of the newest is in western Wisconsin.

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