As the number of special education complaints increases, some experts in the field and educators are wondering if artificial intelligence is playing a role in helping more families express their dissatisfaction with the services provided by their child’s school. Though the evidence is more anecdotal than empirical, this concern has…
On September 8, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) announced a new resource to help states build capacity for problem-solving and program improvements. The resource encourages states to take greater ownership of problem-solving and finding effective solutions to challenges as the USDE shrinks in both size and scope. It…
The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) quietly released results of the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) for the 2023-24 school year, but redacted data collected on nonbinary students’ experiences. A tranche of federal data related to some LGBTQ+ students and their experiences in schools was withheld, even though the remaining…
On September 2, 2026, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. House that seeks to prevent the transfer of four U.S. Department of Education (USDE) offices to other federal agencies. Those USDE offices lead activities for special education, postsecondary education, Native American education, and elementary and secondary education. According…
On August 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) disseminated a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) informing school districts it will consider all mental health screenings and other student surveys, such as those related to sex behavior or attitudes, to be “required” by a school district even when presented as…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in partnership with other federal agencies, has announced that it is developing a national autism elopement alert system for missing children and adults with autism. The goal of the project is to strengthen response coordination among emergency personnel, first responders and…
On August 24, 2026, the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Department of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) published proposed rules in the Federal Register that would give itself more leeway in how and why it cancels federal grant funding. The rule changes would codify methods for cancellation of grant…
In an August 20, 2026 Dear Colleague letter (DCL) issued by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), the agency defended technology use in classrooms, saying the use of educational technology is a separate issue from the use of recreational technology. The letter acknowledged the growing concerns from parents, educators, and…
As reported by K-12 Dive, on August 19, 2026 a federal judge partially blocked the Trump administration's effort to overhaul the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, saying its new emphasis on abstinence instead of contraception for pregnancy prevention and termination of grants that don’t align with that approach was implemented without…
According to a report by the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University, which included a 50-state policy analysis of state childcare licensing standards, as researchers compared states’ licensing standards to existing federal Head Start quality standards they found the quality of early care and learning programs with regard to…
