State Rep Megan Cotter discusses the personal impact of the federal government shutdown on Rhode Island families, including her own household where her husband works for the federal government. She calls for state-level action to support furloughed workers and criticizes both parties for prioritizing politics over people. 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.
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
Brown University will eliminate 48 positions and leave 55 vacant jobs unfilled as part of efforts to trim spending by 2.5% and close a $30 million shortfall in fiscal year 2026 operations. The cuts, announced in a September 22 letter from President Christina Paxson and university leadership, come despite an August agreement with the federal government that restored NIH funding in exchange for ideological concessions including binary gender definitions in athletics and housing. Additional cost-cutting measures include consolidating health benefits to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, monetizing real estate holdings, and pausing net-zero carbon emission spending. Source: rhodeislandcurrent.com
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