Talent & Education

High school students can’t find sites to take high-stakes tests, or are seeing sites cancelling exams due to COVID-19. With more colleges already going test-optional, could these entrance exams be on the wane?

Michigan’s attorney general joined AGs in several states in suing U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over CARES Act dollars going to private schools. A DeVos spokesperson said the funding is intended for all students.

Desks won’t be six feet apart at your child’s elementary school in September, even if that’s the rule in restaurants. School officials say bringing students back full time would make social distancing nearly impossible.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s school reopening plan has one surprising takeaway: Schools can choose whether or not to bring all students back to class at the same time, with no state requirement that forces schools to run classes in shifts.

Whether it’s fatalism, naiveté or both, college students appear to be less concerned about catching the potentially deadly virus than school officials, even after more than 100 people were infected at one East Lansing college bar.

Most parents want schools to reopen in September, according to a University of Michigan poll.

With Michigan facing a $2.39 billion shortfall in its education budget, schools across the state are bracing for what could be the largest cut in state history.

With an ongoing pandemic and Depression-level unemployment, the state superintendent, a bipartisan group of legislators and leading superintendents want to take a year break from the M-STEP in 2020-21.

A Michigan private college leader sends up a warning flare, saying that low-income high school grads aren’t enrolling or making deposits to save spots in upcoming college classes at the same rate as last year, a casualty of the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic.

Michigan Republicans propose shipping the majority of the state’s remaining CARES Act funds to schools, and requiring schools to offer in-person education for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

An analysis of K-12 schools found huge numbers of low-income students in rural and urban areas lack Internet access or the computers needed for online education. Without equal access, achievement gaps are likely to grow.

Students will return to campus in Ann Arbor, and at least some classes will be held in-person. But expect more online courses, fewer seats in dining halls, and a lot of face masks. Football? Ask later.

The coronavirus has left college officials with hard choices about the fall semester — bring students back, continue remote learning, or find a hybrid approach. Bridge will track plans as they are announced.

Preliminary indicators for first-year enrollment are steady or higher at Michigan’s largest universities. That’s a huge relief for college officials, who worried many would avoid campus until a COVID-19 vaccine is developed.

Liza McArdle taught foreign languages for 27 years. Now, she’s saying adios to teaching, saying she fears safety precautions won’t be enough to protect her from catching potentially deadly COVID-19 at Huron High School.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Wednesday that schools will reopen in September. But what those classrooms will look like will vary greatly among school districts.

High school graduation season in Michigan is always a special time. This year was like no other.

It’s just a map, and there are only 300 hotspots marked so far, but a new interactive hotspot locator is a step in the right direction toward increasing broadband access.

Many colleges and universities are planning for students to return to campus in the fall. But there are caveats due to the unpredictability of COVID-19. And on campus or off, college life promises to be much different.

Reopening the state’s K-12 schools is a matter of education and health policy. But politics has a big impact on views, according to a new poll.