Things I'm reading this week

Take a look:

• interesting research about keeping kids back in middle school grades correlating with higher dropout rates. Note that it doesn't seem to have that same hit if it's younger grades, and that summer school also doesn't seem to increase dropouts.
• this piece from New York on Cheshire, CT's schools trying out, then dropping out, of the Summit online learning program, is one of the more reasonable pieces I've read in the personalized learning freakout. And be sure you read about what Revere High has been up to along those lines, as it can be done well!
• this deep look at what racial segregation looks like in the Charlottesville, Virginia public schools. Note the disparities in discipline rates and in access to advanced classwork; then look north of the Mason-Dixon line. This isn't a "southern" issue.
• it's really troubling that conditions for LGBTQ+ students in our public schools are no longer improving, and are, in some cases, even getting worse, per GLSEN's annual survey