You can’t build a house if you don’t have the foundation.

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Liz Willen Dear reader,

Kentucky math teacher Jeffrey Coots considers learning algebra to be something like a Lego problem. “You can’t build a house if you don’t have that first foundation,” he told The Hechinger Report, in our intensive look ([link removed]) at why pandemic-related learning loss spells trouble this fall for students and for their teachers, who struggled to keep them on track while learning online.

What happens in ninth-grade math matters greatly for students’ lives and careers, particularly if they want to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Some schools will be confronting these issues full-on in the fall. Others became aware of how far behind students were when they returned to reopened ([link removed]) schools this spring, and are now immersing them in intensive tutoring programs.

Also this week, our Proof Points columnist Jill Barshay looked at the latest research on rural students, a population that struggled with sufficient math even before the pandemic. They are often not equipped to enter STEM fields because they don’t get the proper training ([link removed]) , especially the foundation in algebra. “Algebra I is the air you breathe to be in STEM,” Nathan Levenson, the former CEO at a crane manufacturing company who became a school superintendent, told us ([link removed]) . Reminder: we love to hear how our schools are coping with all of these issues, and we especially love to hear from our readers.

Liz Willen, Editor
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Main Idea


** Kids are failing algebra. The solution? Slow down. ([link removed])
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One class often makes the difference between a STEM career and dropping out of high school — and this year the warning signs are everywhere that students have fallen behind.
Reading List


** How one district went all-in on a tutoring program to catch kids up ([link removed])
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A North Carolina district figured out early that tutoring could make a difference for kids who missed instruction, and they plan to keep it up for months and even years to come.



** PROOF POINTS: Rural American students shift away from math and science during high school, study finds ([link removed])
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Lower math achievement, fewer course offerings and lower quality teachers block path to science.



** Reluctance to require suicide prevention education could cost lives, but it’s complicated ([link removed])
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Wyoming has the highest rates of suicide in the nation and some teens here say learning about prevention in schools is a “no-brainer,” but adults are still debating how, and whether, to make it happen.


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Five ways you can help ease kids’ stress from the last year ([link removed])
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As children transition to post-pandemic life, here’s how adults can help.



** OPINION: Let’s give unaccompanied immigrant children a better chance in school ([link removed])
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Based on my own experience, here’s what we can do to make things better.
Solutions
"How can a one-minute kindergarten test help teachers tackle the ‘COVID slide'? ([link removed]) " Dallas Morning News

This week’s solutions section came from SolutionsU ([link removed]) powered by Solutions Journalism Network and their database of solutions journalism. Search ([link removed]) for more solutions.
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