Overt and subtle biases at home and at school -- such as overlooking Black and Latino students and applying stereotypes -- can perpetuate racial disparities in math classes and affect the way young students view themselves. Danny Bernard Martin of the University of Illinois Chicago and other experts behind the Racial Justice in Early Math project explain how bias manifests in the classroom and share how the project is trying to disrupt these narratives.

Student achievement has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels five years after the onset of COVID-19, according to a report from Curriculum Associates. The report, based on data from more than 11 million K-8 students, shows modest gains in reading, but progress in math is slower, with students still lagging behind 2019 benchmarks by as much as 17 percentage points.

After four years as a corporate compliance analyst, Carl Thomas decided to pursue a more meaningful career in education six years ago. He is now the fourth-grade lead math teacher at KIPP Spark Academy in Newark, N.J., and draws from his own challenging school experiences to offer empathy and support to build student confidence, encourage self-advocacy and creating an environment for academic and personal growth.

Back-to-school night can be a powerful tool for building partnerships with families, instructional specialist Miriam Plotinsky writes. Plotinsky suggests that teachers can enhance the event by providing digital and hard-copy information, showcasing classroom learning through immersive mini-lessons and focusing on their professional purpose rather than personal details.

Schools are increasingly demanding evidence-based curriculum to ensure effective student learning, especially in light of the shift toward the science of reading, writes Stacey Black, research manager at Reading Horizons. However, many schools lack the resources to participate in the necessary research, creating a challenge for publishers, and Black suggests a more collaborative research model that is less burdensome for schools, including quick touchpoints, light classroom observations and built-in coaching.

Schools in Honolulu are emphasizing bilingual and multilingual education to foster global citizenship and cultural understanding. Maryknoll School's Mandarin immersion program, which began nine years ago, has students spending half their day learning subjects in Mandarin, while St. Louis School offers a multilingual approach, requiring students to study at least two world languages, including Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Samoan, Spanish and Hawaiian.

The Trump administration has rescinded a 2015 guidance that directed schools to accommodate English learners, raising concerns among advocates about the potential decline in support for the five million students who are not fluent in English. The move aligns with President Donald Trump's executive order declaring English the official language and aims to promote assimilation, but critics say it undermines decades of legal understanding and could lead to discrimination based on national origin.