Caitlynn Peetz

1 week ago | edweek.org | Caitlynn Peetz

Road trips have become synonymous with turning points in Jane Hodgdon’s life. As a teacher in Colorado in the 1990s, she swore she would never go back to the East Coast, where she grew up, and work for the federal government, even as she often worked weekends and summers in local restaurants to make ends meet. But in 1999, she set out on a road trip with her then-husband to visit a handful of graduate programs she was considering.

1 week ago | edweek.org | Caitlynn Peetz

The nagging chronic absenteeism problem that has hit schools nationwide especially hard since the pandemic remains top of mind for education leaders. But how much do you know about the factors that contribute to students’ absences?

2 weeks ago | edweek.org | Caitlynn Peetz

When Leigh Knapp became her school’s first full-time media specialist, she had a vision to change the library into a place where kids felt seen and encouraged, and could discover a joy of reading. This school year, her first in the role at Bethune Academy in Milwaukee, Knapp’s efforts to replace and add thousands of books, refresh the library’s seating and decor, and implement a schoolwide reading challenge have “changed the entire culture” around reading, she said.

2 weeks ago | edweek.org | Caitlynn Peetz |Ileana Najarro

Schools in Los Angeles are moving into graduation season and summer break just as immigration raids targeting workplaces across the city have sparked clashes between protesters and law enforcement, as well as President Donald Trump’s activation of National Guard troops and Marines over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials.

3 weeks ago | edweek.org | Caitlynn Peetz

One relatively simple and low-cost intervention for rural districts has the potential to reduce student absences by nearly 5%, according to new research. That intervention: Sending periodic, personalized messages to parents about their children’s attendance—the good, the bad, and the ugly—to equip them with more real-time, actionable data so they can be aware and intervene before attendance problems develop, or as they do but before they come more serious.