For students with disabilities, the opportunity to develop confidence in themselves can help make the college transition less uncertain. This includes supporting their self-advocacy skills, as well as allowing them to explore what a college environment looks like before they start that part of their education. Schools can effectively prepare…
On March 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced a massive reduction in force. The most recent cuts, coupled with the previously accepted employee “buyouts,” has eliminated almost 1,900 employees, which drops the employee count from 4,133 when the new administration took over to the current number of…
A high-stakes lawsuit, Texas v. Becerra, is currently making its way through the courts, threatening crucial protections for people with disabilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This federal lawsuit brought by Republican state attorneys general against the Biden Administration's updated disability discrimination regulation, challenges two aspects of that…
As reported by KL-12 Dive, in her February 13th confirmation hearing U.S. education secretary nominee Linda McMahon told a Senate panel that, if confirmed, she would not defund public schools but would seek to reform the U.S. Department of Education by reducing federal bureaucracy and bringing schools back to the…
In a January 24, 2025 statement, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) rescinded all guidance that said school districts could violate civil rights law by implementing book bans. The statement said that removing “age-inappropriate” books from schools is a decision that should be made by parents…
The Lakewood City Schools located in Lakewood, Ohio is looking for a new Director of Pupil Services for the 2025-26 school year. As longtime NAPSA member (since 2011) NAPSA member and NAPSA Spotlight September 2023 honoree Lisa Bruening retires from her position in July, Lakewood has been conducting a search…
According to a report from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit that works with Democrats and Republicans on legislation, increased access to youth behavioral health and substance abuse services is a dire need. The report recommends efforts to help meet the need, which include the following: -Schools should partner with…
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, the number of school shootings in 2024 (a total of 330) showed a bit of a decline from 2023, which saw an all-time high of 349 incidents. Sadly, the database also revealed that the highest number of annual school shootings over the past…
For many immigrant students, issues around immigration that may be affecting their social-emotional health....UCLA provides a number of age-appropriate strategies schools and individual teachers can use to help address those challenges in the classroom and beyond. For starters, without singling students out look for ways to check in and find…
According to research from sociologists at the University of Arkansas, students who are suspended or expelled can experience elevated rates of depression through their teen years and into early adulthood. Although previous studies connect suspensions and expulsions to a range of poor academic outcomes (e.g., lower standardized test scores and…
