The advent of ChatGPT creates demand for software to detect its use

Feb 1, 2023
Since the chatbot launched, schools have sought tools to inform teachers when students try to pass off AI-generated writing as their own.
Some students are using artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT to do their homework. Now school districts are seeking software to identify AI-generated writing.
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

Harvard Medical School is the latest institution to opt out of U.S. News rankings

Jan 19, 2023
Harvard Med joins a number of prestigious schools boycotting the rankings, saying education is too complex to be ranked numerically.
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The costs of banning women from education in Afghanistan are felt everywhere

Jan 6, 2023
The World Bank estimates the costs of not educating girls through high school is between $15 and $30 trillion dollars in lost lifetime productivity and earnings. But the costs go beyond the financial.
Afghan women and girls take part in a protest in front of the Ministry of Education in Kabul on March 26, 2022, demanding that high schools be reopened for girls.
Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP via Getty Images

When school buses are delayed, the costs add up

Dec 15, 2022
Nearly 8% of all transportation positions in American public schools were vacant as of this October. The lack of staff can lead to delays.
A school bus pulls up to Dumbarton Middle School in Baltimore County, Maryland, on Dec. 13.
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Most financial aid offers have a fuzzy bottom line, GAO reports

Dec 9, 2022
More than 90% of American colleges write offers without stating the net price. That makes it hard for prospective students to compare schools.
More than 90% of American colleges either don’t supply the final price in those letters or understate it, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.
Andy Jacobsohn/AFP via Getty Images

What it means to be a new teacher in 2022: "I'm a student teaching students"

Dec 1, 2022
School districts, flush with cash from federal Covid relief funds, are looking to hire, and new teachers are figuring out how schools must adapt in the wake of a pandemic.
New teachers are navigating the start of their careers in the wake of the pandemic.
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School districts mull how to spend surprise donations from MacKenzie Scott

Nov 18, 2022
"One moment, we had, like, $1,200 in this account, and then we had, like, $20,001,200."
The recipient school districts are now considering how to use their donations, whether on improvements like a new gym or investments like college scholarship funds.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Some Texas school districts are pivoting to a 4-day week

Oct 31, 2022
One district that has made the move is finding it easier to recruit and hire teachers. But some working parents say it is harder to manage.
The Athens Independent School District launched a three-year pilot program in 2019 as it transitioned to a shorter week with longer days. That schedule is now permanent, and the district isn’t looking back.
Bill Zeeble/KERA

Could getting more tech employees in classrooms help college students stick with STEM?

Oct 28, 2022
It's not common for companies to be involved with teaching freshmen-level courses. A new program in Chicago is trying it out.
Alejandro Martinez, left, and Nate Beasley listen to an M1 employee through Zoom in a class at Illinois Tech.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

How colleges can adapt to a shape-shifting economy, with Rice University’s new president

Marketplace's David Brancaccio checked in with Reginald DesRoches, Rice's new President who took the reins in July.
Reginald DesRoches (right), Rice University's  president, spoke David Brancaccio (left) about the benefits of attending college and the university's focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Erika Soderstrom / Marketplace