Tag: mental health

Young students learning about nature, forest ecosystem during biology field teaching class, observing wild plants with magnifying glass. Female teacher during outdoor active education.

^{Keri D. Ingraham
July 15, 2026
Innovation, Learning

5}

America Needs More Models Like the Outdoor Discovery Center Network

_{Keri D. Ingraham
July 15, 2026
Innovation, Learning

5}

For generations, education has been confined to four walls, desks arranged in rows, and a curriculum increasingly disconnected from the world students are preparing to enter. Sadly, the majority of students today are disengaged and unmotivated. It is not because they lack potential, but because school feels removed from real life. At the same time, today’s children spend an average of nearly seven hours a day on screens while engaging in only a few minutes of unstructured outdoor play. As opportunities to explore, wonder, and learn through firsthand experience disappear, so too do many of the conditions that help children thrive. In Holland, Michigan, the Outdoor Discovery Center (ODC) Network is offering a way forward. It demonstrates what becomes possible Read More ›

Top view closeup of unrecognizable kid hiding phone in school and cheating during class

^{Peter Biles
August 30, 2024
Technology in Education

4}

Finally Something the Politicians Agree On: Phone-Free Schools

_{Peter Biles
August 30, 2024
Technology in Education

4}

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California is making a call on schools to restrict phones in schools, putting him in a rare place of agreement with colleagues like Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee, his opposite in almost every respect. Read More ›

Cute boy and girl reading book in library

^{Peter Biles
July 16, 2024
Technology in Education

5}

Banning Smartphones Helps. Now Bring Back the Books.

_{Peter Biles
July 16, 2024
Technology in Education

5}

This summer, several states have proposed banning smartphones in public schools or introducing programs that will limit kids' phone use during school hours. So far New York, Indiana, Ohio, California, and Oklahoma have proposed bans or restrictions, showing rare bipartisan concern over the issue. Read More ›

Colorful crayons and a symbol of a transgender

^{Keri D. Ingraham
March 23, 2022
Indoctrination

7}

How Replacing Biological Sex with Gender Identity Harms Children

_{Keri D. Ingraham
March 23, 2022
Indoctrination

7}

The blatant promotion of transgenderism has infiltrated schools without parental consent. Curricula, books, videos, and activities promoting the transgender ideology are used with students as young as age five. Read More ›

^{Keri D. Ingraham
February 23, 2022
Indoctrination, Learning

5}

The New Norm in K-12 Public Schools

_{Keri D. Ingraham
February 23, 2022
Indoctrination, Learning

5}

Student motivation has plummeted. Graduation rates have backslid. Absenteeism has skyrocketed. Student misbehavior is commonplace. Violence on campuses has soared. In short, student well-being is at crisis low levels. And canceled school days due to teacher mental health days and staff shortages are becoming commonplace. Read More ›

^{Keri D. Ingraham
December 30, 2020
Education Policy, School Choice

7}

President Trump Issues Executive Order Expanding Educational Opportunity

_{Keri D. Ingraham
December 30, 2020
Education Policy, School Choice

7}

President Trump’s December 28 executive order expands educational opportunity by providing emergency learning scholarships to disadvantaged K-12 students to access in-person learning. These grants meet an urgent need among low-income, special needs, and minority students who have been disproportionately affected by school closures. Read More ›

^{Keri D. Ingraham
December 22, 2020
Teaching, Unions

10}

The Chasm Spanning Public and Private Schools Continues in a COVID-19 Era

_{Keri D. Ingraham
December 22, 2020
Teaching, Unions

10}

There was a stark difference between public and private schools in how they handled the launch of the school year in mid-August to early September as a response to COVID-19. The situation is no different as 2020 comes to a close. Half of all U.S. public schools are closed either entirely or partially, as opposed to private schools who scrambled last summer to open on day one of their scheduled school year and have remained in full operation since. Read More ›

Authentic school grounds. School backpacks and bags piled up outside a run down looking classroom. Lesson learning taking place inside room.

^{Keri D. Ingraham
November 22, 2020

6}

A Mass Educational Exodus

_{Keri D. Ingraham
November 22, 2020

6}

School closures began last March, and today over half of K-12 public schools remain closed to in-person learning. It is estimated that upwards of three million students have cut ties with schooling. Read More ›