Education

Education

ISU researcher: Sensors will reduce workplace injuries but need ethics safeguards
ByIllinois Public Radio January 25, 2023January 25, 2023

NORMAL — Illinois State University is studying data on whether wearable tracking devices could reduce workplace injuries. Sensors that workers wear around their waist can detect strained movement of the back and neck or repetitive motions that can lead to injury. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s402/audio/2023/01/james-jones-safety-prevention.mp3 Listen to this story here. James Jones, executive director of ISU’s Katie School…

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Education | Weather

Closings, delays and remote days for January 25
ByIPM News January 25, 2023January 25, 2023

Illinois Public Media is tracking a winter storm system. Forecasters expect it to bring heavy snow to Central Illinois on January 25. This story will be updated. Closed Decatur Public Schools: no school for students on January 25. All athletic and school activities are also canceled. This ‘snow day’ will be made up at the…

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Education | Race & Culture

Champaign school board keeps schools of choice, modifies middle school assignments
ByEmily Hays January 24, 2023July 28, 2023

Unlike initial plans, no students will have to switch schools next year – except the 13 students who live west of Champaign in Bondville.

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Education | Race & Culture

Champaign Unit 4 parents asked: does desegregation help close achievement gaps? Here’s what five education researchers say.
ByEmily Hays January 23, 2023January 23, 2023

“A lot of research suggests that that attending a high-socioeconomic status (SES) school kind of rubs off on you – more than your own SES even. It’s kind of amazing,” Palardy says.

Read More Champaign Unit 4 parents asked: does desegregation help close achievement gaps? Here’s what five education researchers say.
Education

‘We’ve seen an uptick in some aggressive behaviors.’ State task force talks increase in school violence
ByIllinois Public Radio January 20, 2023January 19, 2023

ROCKFORD — Around one-third of teachers in the U.S. say they’ve experienced at least one incident of verbal harassment or threat of violence from students during the pandemic. That’s according to a 2022 survey from the American Psychological Association. It’s a big jump from before COVID, when 10% of teachers reported being threatened. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s528/audio/2023/01/0118safef.mp3 Listen…

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Education | Race & Culture

How will ten Champaign County high schoolers continue Dr. King’s dream? Through environmental, health and housing justice.
ByEmily Hays January 17, 2023January 17, 2023

“I want to help as many people as possible get the mental health that they need and deserve,” says scholarship winner Halie Thompson.

Read More How will ten Champaign County high schoolers continue Dr. King’s dream? Through environmental, health and housing justice.
Education | Race & Culture

Champaign Unit 4 superintendent recommends keeping current schools of choice system
ByEmily Hays January 10, 2023July 28, 2023

The Unit 4 school board hired a consulting firm to figure out how to further desegregate its schools. But after months of parent pushback, both the company and the district superintendent are recommending keeping the current schools of choice system, with some tweaks.

Read More Champaign Unit 4 superintendent recommends keeping current schools of choice system
Education | Race & Culture

Rockford community disappointed by school board’s response to school violence protests
ByIllinois Public Radio January 5, 2023

ROCKFORD — In October, the family of a Rockford Public Schools student filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school board, a school resource officer and several administrators from Auburn High School. The suit says that in the fall of 2021, Parris Moore, who was a freshman at the time and stood less than…

Read More Rockford community disappointed by school board’s response to school violence protests
Education | Criminal Justice

Mastermind of the Varsity Blues college admission scandal is about to learn his fate
ByNPR January 4, 2023January 4, 2023

Updated January 3, 2023 at 9:37 PM ET BOSTON — The mastermind of the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, Rick Singer, is set to be sentenced Wednesday in Boston for a scheme that federal prosecutors say is “staggering in its scope and breathtaking in its audacity.” Prosecutors want him sentenced to six years in prison,…

Read More Mastermind of the Varsity Blues college admission scandal is about to learn his fate
Education | Weather

Superintendent: Paris HS must replace gym floor after pipe burst and flood
ByReginald Hardwick December 29, 2022December 29, 2022

PARIS – The superintendent of an Eastern Illinois school district says the gymnasium floor of the high school must be rebuilt after a pipe break and flood. It was the Christmas Day surprise that Paris Union School District No. 95 superintendent Jeremy Larson was not expecting. “When you walk into the school and into that…

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Education | Race & Culture

Urbana’s school board paused its vote for one Spanish-English school. Now, dual language parents and teachers are setting a deadline.
ByEmily Hays December 15, 2022October 3, 2023

URBANA – The Urbana school board will reconsider in January how to establish a fully dual-language elementary school for Spanish and English. This comes after renewed pressure from dual language teachers and families. The district currently has two schools with partial-building, dual-language programs. “White privileged families and community members can and do fight for justice…

Read More Urbana’s school board paused its vote for one Spanish-English school. Now, dual language parents and teachers are setting a deadline.
Education | Health

Students say Champaign schools fail to provide menstrual products
ByIPM News December 14, 2022December 14, 2022

CHAMPAIGN — Loreal Allen was not surprised when she went into a bathroom at Central High School in Champaign in late November. Everything was as expected. She found soap, paper towels and a white dispenser that was supposed to contain menstrual products. As usual, she said, it was empty. “I am at a dispenser right…

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Education | Race & Culture

Parent backlash delayed school desegregation plans in Champaign. What are the options now?
ByEmily Hays December 13, 2022December 13, 2022

CHAMPAIGN – After parent backlash, the Champaign Unit 4 school board has a new option for further desegregating schools – keeping student placements mostly the same. Consulting firm Cooperative Strategies presented this new option to the Unit 4 Board of Education on Monday. The board hired the consulting firm to improve racial and class equity…

Read More Parent backlash delayed school desegregation plans in Champaign. What are the options now?
Education

A Chicago private school defends LGBTQ sex ed after right-wing viral video
ByIllinois Public Radio December 8, 2022December 8, 2022

CHICAGO – An elite Chicago private school tightened security and disabled its Twitter and Facebook accounts after a video of its dean of students secretly recorded by a conservative group went viral on Wednesday. The video captures the dean talking last week about a visit to Francis W. Parker School by an LGBTQ health organization to…

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Education | Noticias | Race & Culture

Urbana decide mantener las clases bilingües de español en las escuelas primarias Leal y Dr. Preston Williams
ByEmily Hays December 8, 2022January 30, 2023

El consejo escolar de Urbana ha decidido no combinar sus dos programas bilingües de español en una sola escuela: Leal Elementary. El cambio hubiera movido a unos 170 estudiantes de las clases monolingües de inglés de la escuela primaria Leal a la escuela primaria Dr. Preston L. Williams Jr. y a otras escuelas cercanas. Aproximadamente…

Read More Urbana decide mantener las clases bilingües de español en las escuelas primarias Leal y Dr. Preston Williams