Parents and educators in Massachusetts are joining forces to end the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) high school graduation requirement. They re combining two ballot initiatives, which would require the state to replace the standardized exam with local certification of academic success to earn a degree. Lexington public high school parent Shelley Scruggs said it would also work retroactively to ensure those denied their diploma for failing the test can attain one. .
The new school year is approaching and schools in Oregon are using data to figure out what students need to feel like they belong. The organization YouthTruth conducts surveys of students to understand more about their experiences in school. With help from the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators, the group analyzed survey responses from more than 68,000 Oregon students from the last two school years. .
Attempts to ban books in libraries are increasing across the country, but a small group of residents in one Washington County are going even further. They want to completely close the local library. Voters in rural parts of the Columbia County Rural Library District will decide this November whether to close the Dayton Memorial Library. .
By Faith Fistler / Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration. During his freshman year at Kent State University, Nick Ditz found himself standing alone during an icebreaker activity in a classroom full of students. “One of the student teachers came to talk to me and it ended up going into a political discussion,” Ditz said. A senior digital production major, Ditz self-identifies as a modern-age conservative on a liberal-leaning campus. .