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Dear reader, 

Any day now, we expect the Supreme Court to rule on two cases determining whether colleges can consider race in admissions decisions. In advance, The Hechinger Report’s Meredith Kolodner and Fazil Kahn dug into public, flagship universities and found that many have poor records recruiting Black and Latino high school graduates to enroll; at most flagships, Black and Latino students are still very much underrepresented. Check out our story and interactive map and let us know if you have thoughts on what to do about a racial gap that could widen further after a ruling is announced. 

Also, while the need for educated and skilled workers in the U.S. is a perennial topic at the many higher education conferences I attend, I hadn’t fully recognized a major roadblock: Foreign-born applicants who want to work in the United States face red tape and long delays, while other countries such as the U.K., Australia and Canada and are using “talent visas” to lure away international students trained at U.S. universities. Hechinger’s Jon Marcus reports on this issue in an important story that also ran with The Washington Post.  

In addition, Proof Points columnist Jill Barshay gives us a rare glimpse inside classroom teaching, reporting on a study of teachers who observed their colleagues at work. Her story is filled with insights on different ways of teaching math and English, and we’d love to hear your thoughts. I also want all of our readers to know it’s not too late to fill out our math survey; you can read some of the results here and tell us what you think. And here’s my weekly reminder to let others know they can sign up for our free newsletters and never miss a story. 

Liz Willen, Editor