Author: Reporter

Dive Brief: The renovation backlog for college facilities has hit its highest point in years as institutions wrestle with budget pressures, according to the 2026 annual report released Wednesday by building intelligence firm Gordian. Deferred capital renewal — for major upgrades such as new roofs and mechanical components or aesthetic refreshes — reached $156 per gross square foot in 2025, an 8% year-over-year increase and nearly double 2007 levels, according to the report.  At the same time, spending on existing buildings is only 73.5% of what is needed to prevent the backlog from growing even more. The data “tells a…

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter There’s a rule every elementary school principal enforces without a second thought: no running in the halls. Once a month at Impact Puget Sound Elementary, I break it on purpose. We call it Hallway Holler. About once a month, teachers nominate scholars who have embodied our school’s Core Values and Commitments in meaningful ways. Those students get to sprint down the hallway — full speed, arms pumping, sneakers squeaking — while their classmates line the walls, arms outstretched to form a tunnel, cheering as loud…

Key points: Most project-based learning workshops are built around three domains: design, assessment, and implementation. In a model we developed for the Buck Institute for Education (PBLWorks) almost 25 years ago, day 1 of the workshop focused on project design, day 2 on project assessment, and day 3 on project implementation. One of the key features of project implementation is the suggestion to launch a project with a Need to Know activity. The goal of this activity is clear: Every student should leave with an understanding of what they need to know and what they need to do to successfully…

What happens when your district has great technology… but it lives outside the curriculum? Picture this. A coach spends weeks researching the perfect tool. There”s a PD session. Teachers are excited. A few early adopters run with it. But by November, the tool is gathering dust in a bookmark folder — because it was never connected to anything teachers were already doing. I’ve watched this cycle play out in district after district. New tool, big rollout, slow fade. And it’s not because the tool was bad or the teachers didn’t care. It’s because the technology was bolted onto the curriculum…

Canada is unlikely to reconsider lifting its cap on international student numbers despite a critical report that found the policy was badly designed and led to unintended consequences. The auditor general of Canada has identified significant issues with the limits the country introduced on study permit applications in January 2024, criticizing the design, monitoring and oversight of the restrictions with “critical weaknesses” in its integrity control. The drastic impact of the policy—with new international study visas issued by Canada dropping by nearly 90 percent, from 456,690 in 2023 to 50,370 by September 2025—was also not foreseen by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the…

Listen to the article 4 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive Brief:  Gen Z’s negative sentiment toward artificial intelligence has grown over the past year, and many are concerned about it harming their learning, according to a Thursday survey from Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation and GSV Ventures.  Anger over AI is increasing among Gen Z at the same time excitement is fading. Nearly one-third of the survey’s respondents, 31%, said AI makes them feel angry, up 9 percentage points from last year. And just 22% said the technology makes them feel…

Listen to the article 4 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Mentorship is a priority in New York’s Baldwin Union Free School District. The school system, located on Long Island, has provided faculty-to-student mentoring to Baldwin High School students for more than 25 years, with teachers, administrators and coaches offering sustained guidance on goals and challenges, from academics to social-emotional needs to future careers.  Baldwin broadened those efforts to include students at its middle school in September 2022. The original program began in 2001 with only five mentors and five mentees, with the…

Listen to the article 5 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Demonstrating a return on investment from the many ed tech products districts use has become increasingly important as pushback against screens in classrooms advances, and as financial challenges mount amid enrollment declines. At Peninsula School District in Washington, however, district administrators are beginning to find ways to use artificial intelligence to develop their own software that can replace some of the ed tech products currently in use.  Just a few months into this initiative of what is often described as “vibe coding,”…

Asynchronous online courses tend to follow a clear weekly pattern. Students often describe this structure as helpful and organized, yet they also note that the rhythm can feel a little flat. They move through the modules, complete the activities, and transition to the next week with few moments that feel spontaneous or fresh.  I wanted to introduce small moments of curiosity into this predictable flow by taking a page from the K12 playbook. Younger students often work with short, imaginative prompts that help them explore ideas without the pressure of a correct answer. These simple activities spark energy and help learners…

Congratulations are in order: Your college applicant has been admitted. You probably feel a rush of emotions, including pride, relief, maybe a little sadness at the thought of your baby bird leaving the nest, possibly some concern about the looming expense about to hit your budget.With apologies to Winston Churchill: This is not the end, it’s not the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Here’s my advice for what you and your child should be wrestling with. As always, your family’s mileage may vary.We’ll start with a look at the basics, then at…