Providence City Council Ward 2 special election heats up with five candidates competing as early voting is underway. Democrat Jill Davidson secured a key endorsement from former Ward 2 Councilmember Helen Anthony. A public candidate forum is scheduled for Oct 28 at Temple Beth-El, with the Democratic primary on Nov 4 and general election on Dec 2. Source: steveahlquist.substack.com
While a federal court has temporarily blocked government shutdown layoffs, education policy experts warn that key U.S. Department of Education programs remain at risk, potentially affecting funding and support for schools nationwide including Rhode Island.
A new report from Brown University's Annenberg Institute for School Reform recommends significant changes to professional development and teacher learning programs to improve educational outcomes across Rhode Island's school systems.
Rhode Island state officials and Providence Public School District leaders celebrated the groundbreaking of a major remodeling project at Mount Pleasant High School, marking a significant investment in modernizing educational facilities for Providence students.
A Newport resident and Narragansett High School educator has been named Rhode Island's 2026 Teacher of the Year, recognizing outstanding dedication, innovation, and impact in the classroom serving Ocean State students.
The principal of St. Peter School has been placed on administrative leave following the resignation of multiple teachers, raising questions about school leadership and working conditions at the Rhode Island Catholic school.
The Class Disrupted podcast returns with a new season exploring critical questions about artificial intelligence in education, examining how AI tools are transforming teaching, learning, and student outcomes in schools including those in Rhode Island.
Seven months after the Trump administration eliminated hundreds of jobs at the U.S. Department of Education and gutted research contracts, several developments offer researchers cautious optimism. The department plans to reinstate 20 of the 100+ canceled research contracts and is seeking public guidance on modernizing the Institute of Education Sciences. Researchers note recent poor NAEP results have catalyzed support for IES, though severe staff shortages continue threatening data quality and research progress. The American Educational Research Association rates the current situation at 3 or 4 on a scale of 10, compared to 1 a month ago. Source: the74million.org
Stefanie Steffan, coordinator of elementary literacy for Missouri's Rockwood School District, shares how their approach of keeping students together in grade-level cohorts with flexible, needs-based small groups has produced impressive results. The district's kindergarteners outperformed national proficiency averages in every skill group by more than 17 percentage points in some areas, while first and second graders outpaced national averages across nearly every domain. Rather than grouping readers by ability across grade levels, Rockwood provides whole-class instruction with evidence-based curricula followed by targeted intervention or enrichment based on real-time data. Source: the74million.org
Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angelica Infante-Green outlines the state's strategy to address science achievement, where about two-thirds of students miss proficiency benchmarks. Rhode Island includes science assessment results in school accountability ratings and has strengthened graduation requirements to specify multiple required lab classes. The state has expanded career and technical education programs by 60 percent since 2019, now offering over 318 programs connecting to high-demand STEM fields. Infante-Green, who serves on the National Assessment Governing Board, emphasizes integrating more hands-on scientific inquiry experiences and high-quality instructional resources. Source: thehill.com
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