Graduation rates didn’t budge, according to new study in Tennessee

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
The Report
A newsletter from The Hechinger Report
This week's newsletter is supported by:
[link removed]
Liz Willen Hi all!

For decades, educators have struggled with the best ways to help students who are underprepared for college, particularly those who start in the nation’s community colleges and get caught in a cycle of remedial classes that ultimately lead them to drop out.

One answer over the years is to simply get rid of these required courses. This week, Jill Barshay unpacks ([link removed]) reams of data to determine if this is a viable answer — but the answer, of course, is that it’s complicated.

Also this week, we take you to Vestavia Hills, Alabama, in a story about the replacement of a beloved principal ([link removed]) that was written by Laura Pappano in partnership with AL.com and Salon.

Lauren Dressback, once a school district darling, divorced her husband, and began dating a Black woman. This somehow became everyone’s business after Dressback shared a photo of the woman she was dating with the school custodian. Within days she was ordered to leave the elementary school where she worked, barred from district property and later placed on administrative leave. Community members rallied around her. You’ll be drawn into the story to learn what happened next.

Finally, a little staff news. We welcomed Marina Villeneuve ([link removed]) to our investigative team, and threw her right into a conference at Harvard Kennedy School ([link removed]) , where her first order of business was confronting Los Angeles Superintendent Alberto Carvalho over a failed AI chatbot ([link removed]) the district had invested millions of dollars in. Carvalho told her the district is navigating the company’s bankruptcy and will soon be announcing a “new and improve entity” that addresses student privacy concerns.

We are also celebrating a win ([link removed]) at by our development manager Ruby Franzen as “nonprofit newcomer of the year” at last week’s Online News Association conference in Atlanta.

As always, we love to hear from our readers. Please send us your tips and thoughts by responding to this email or using our tip line ([link removed]) .

Liz Willen, Editor
Was this newsletter forwarded to you?
S ([link removed]) ubscribe! ([link removed])
Main Idea


** A decade of data in one state shows an unexpected result when colleges drop remedial courses ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Students earned more credits at first, but graduation rates didn’t increase at Tennessee’s community colleges

A message from this week's sponsor:
[link removed]
The EGF Accelerator ([link removed]) is supporting strong leaders in sustainable nonprofits that are working to improve the education and life outcomes for low-income New Yorkers. We offer incubation, advanced leadership development, a remote Fellows program, and fund journalism about educational equity. Want to know more? Drop us a line. [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
Reading List
⭐ Extra credit! We offer most of our stories under a noncommercial Creative Commons license. What does that mean? You are allowed to repost or reprint our stories as long as you follow these guidelines ([link removed]) . Questions? Email Nichole Dobo, our Director of Audience Development at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Publication%20of%20Hechinger's%20stories&body=I%20would%20like%20to%20learn%20more%20about%20how%20I%20can%20republish%20The%20Hechinger%20Report's%20stories.%20) .


** A principal lost her job after she came out. Her conservative community rallied around her ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
In a wealthy suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, a beloved school leader tests the limits of tolerance in her hometown



** Trust issues: How schools profit from land and resources on tribal nations ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
State trust lands in 15 states generate revenue for schools, hospitals and prisons through leases for oil and gas extraction, grazing, rights of way, timber, and more



** Reviving a successful math strategy for the early grades ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Milwaukee is working to boost teacher confidence in the subject



** OPINION: A year after the Supreme Court’s historic affirmative action ruling, MIT’s drop in student diversity provides a cautionary tale ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Institutions have to obey the law, but there are still ways colleges that value diversity can and should consider race



** OPINION: Schools need more ways of knowing if AI and ed tech tools are working ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
More guidance is needed to keep potentially harmful, untested technologies out of classrooms



** States are turning to employers to boost child care benefits ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Seventeen states offer tax credits to businesses that operate or contract out for child care services for their employees

The Hechinger Report thanks its sponsors. Become one. ([link removed])
[link removed]

Was this edition of the newsletter helpful?

Your feedback helps me improve the newsletter. Let me know your thoughts below. If you like, follow the linked text to a page where you can write extended answers.
* 👍 This was relevant and interesting. Thanks! ([link removed])
* 😐 This was just OK. ([link removed])
* 👎 This was not interesting to me. ([link removed])

============================================================
Copyright © 2024 The Hechinger Report, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up at our website The Hechinger Report.

Our mailing address is:
The Hechinger Report
525 W 120th Street
Suite 127
New York, NY 10027
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.