Education

Veteran actor Sheryl Lee Ralph has been nominated for an Emmy for her role as a tough but loving kindergarten teacher on the comedy series Abbott Elementary. With just a glance, Mrs. Barbara Howard can get an unruly class to quietly sit down or to line up single file — and Ralph is no slouch at classroom management either.

Journalist Will Bunch says instead of opening the door to a better life, college leaves many students deep in debt and unable to find well-paying jobs. His new book is After the Ivory Tower Falls.

Florida officials recently rejected a slew of math textbooks, claiming they included "prohibited topics." NYT journalist Dana Goldstein theorizes the objections related to social-emotional learning. The goal of social-emotional learning is to provide kids with a set of skills that they can draw on when they face challenges later in life, Goldstein explains. But some conservatives see it as something that opens the door to larger discussions about race, gender and sexuality.

Across the U.S., educators are being censored for broaching controversial topics. Since January 2021, researcher Jeffrey Sachs says that 35 different states have introduced 137 bills limiting what schools can teach with regard to race, American history, politics, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Journalist Adam Harris explains how the higher education system has been built on an uneven foundation from the start — and how slavery, segregation and racism have stymied Black education.

An NBC News analysis finds at least 165 local and national groups are trying to disrupt or block lessons on race and gender. NBC reporter Tyler Kingkade explores who is waging this fight, and why.

Serial reporter Chana Joffe-Walt says progressive white parents may say they want their kids to go to diverse schools — but the reality tells a different story. Her new podcast is Nice White Parents.

Scott Carlson, Senior writer at the Chronicle of Higher Education talks about the tough decisions colleges and universities are facing dealing with the pandemic.

A new PBS documentary series follows prisoners who earn college degrees while serving time. Director Lynn Novick and graduates Sebastian Yoon and Dyjuan Tatro talk about how the program changes lives.

As colleges and universities across the country report an explosion of mental health problems, a new book argues that college life may be more stressful than ever. Dr. Anthony Rostain, co-author of The Stressed Years of Their Lives, notes that today's college students are experiencing an "inordinate amount of anxiety" — much of it centered on "surviving college and doing well."

Stephanie Land's new memoir is about what it's like to work hard, but still live below the poverty line. It's also about how she went back to college, and became a writer.

Sigrid Nunez's National Book Award-winning novel is narrated by a woman grieving the suicide of her longtime friend and former writing professor, whom she slept with once.

Blurred Lines author Vanessa Grigoriadis says female college students were once told to protect themselves from sexual assault by learning self defense. Now, the focus is on changing men's behavior.

In the tribal region of Pakistan where Khalida Brohi grew up, girls didn't typically go to school. Instead, some were forced into marriage at a very young age — and punished by death if they don't act according to plan.

The former YouTube star says he wanted his film, Eighth Grade, to take an "emotional inventory" of what today's adolescents are experiencing. Originally broadcast July 18, 2018.

McCauley's novel, My Ex-Life, is a comedy about a couple whose marriage ended years ago when the husband came out as gay. "All relationships evolve — even for people who stay together," he says.

The women's history scholar, who died June 1, grew up on a remote Australian sheep farm and later went on to write three memoirs, including True North. Conway spoke to Fresh Air in 1989, '94 and '98.

So Longhand: Has Cursive Reached The End Of The Line?