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How One City Saved $5 Million by Routing School Buses with an Algorithm

Emma Coleman

August 12, 2019 |

Route Fifty |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

A well-designed algorithm can help increase the efficiency of complex, and troublesome, transportation systems. In 2017, Boston Public Schools hosted a competition to redesign its complicated bussing system. The selected proposal, an algorithm created by PhD students, increased efficiency by 20% overall, helping BPD cut tons of carbon emissions and ease budget constraints. The savings will allow BPD to reinvest in its schools.

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One year after Red for Ed, teacher shortage plagues AZ schools

Morgan Loew

August 12, 2019 |

KPHO-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Arizona

Over the past year, a school in Arizona has filled the gap in teacher vacancies by growing its own teachers from within the community and issuing "emergency teacher certifications." The approach is helping but doesn't make up for the shortage of fully certified and qualified teachers, district officials say.

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School on Wheels Program Turns Bus Into School for Asylum-Seeking Children

Chloe Kellison

August 11, 2019 |

NowThis News |

Video |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

School on Wheels is a program serving children in a refugee camp along the U.S.-Mexico border by transforming an old school bus into a space for learning. The school can fit up to 80 children, all of whom are waiting for asylum in the U.S. It is run by the California-based nonprofit, Yes We Can, and it currently has 3 teachers and over 30 students. The school aims to teach the children values like love, happiness, and being a good person while they are at a particularly tumultuous time in their lives.

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How a State Plans to Turn Coal Country Into Coding Country

Dana Goldstein

August 10, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Sheridan, Wyoming

Since Wyoming passed legislation in 2018 requiring all grade levels to teach computer science curriculum by 2022, teachers have spent significant time outside of work getting themselves up to speed. The idea is that these coding skills will transition the state's economy away from the coal industry and keep young people in the state. However, some critics note that there are few success stories of technology clusters in remote areas.

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Can monitoring social media help prevent violence at Montgomery schools?

Krista Johnson

August 09, 2019 |

The Montgomery Advertiser |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alabama

A growing number of U.S. schools are partnering with technology companies and using software programs to monitor students' social media for violent posts. However, some are expressing concern about how this practice and its algorithms may violate student privacy and lead to further discrimination against students of color.

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Improving our own environment

Madison Kuklentz Gabriella DeMelfi Thomas Garlick

August 09, 2019 |

The Mercury |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Schwenksville, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy has built a grassroots base of volunteers that help clean up the local environment. Through education at schools and summer workshops, outreach projects, and asking volunteers to recruit new people, the Conservancy saw over 1,000 volunteers at its annual stream cleanup event. While the organization is still trying to figure out how to retain volunteers for long-term projects, the response to immediate projects has been overwhelming.

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Anatomy of a failure: How an XQ Super School flopped

Tara Garcia Mathewson

August 07, 2019 |

The Hechinger Report |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Somerville, Massachusetts

In 2016, a proposal for a new innovation school which would incorporate elements of private and charter schools into a public school in Somerville, Massachusetts won a $10 million XQ grant, funding awarded to promising nontraditional high schools. Despite years of planning and early support from town leaders, in 2019, the school was unanimously vetoed by the school committee. Why did the plan fall through?

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Skilling South Sudanese Refugees In Bidibidi Settlement Restores Lost Hope

Kisseka Umar

August 07, 2019 |

Things That Work Uganda |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Bidibidi

The Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda offers refugees a chance to learn a skilled trade at the Yoyo Youth Vocational Skills Center. At no cost to them, students can learn brick laying, carpentry, tailoring and cutting garments, hair dressing, environmental protection, and more. Since its opening in 2018, most of its students are making a living off of their acquired skills, and many testify to how the center changed their lives.

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Refugees and host community gang up to fight climate change

Noah Omuya

August 02, 2019 |

Things That Work Uganda |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Bidibidi

The Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda, the largest such settlement in the world, is working with a number of agencies including the UNHCR and The Office of the Prime Minister to address environmental issues in their ever-growing settlement. They are strategizing about a number of initiatives to improve life and conditions where they live with topics like Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Education, Health, or Infrastructure. Current solutions include planting over 470,000 trees, local communities donating land for settlers to build their own crops, and environmental education in the local schools.

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First Group Of Students Graduates From Wesleyan's Prison Education Program

Shawn R. Beals

July 31, 2019 |

Hartford Courant |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Middletown, Connecticut

The first class of students enrolled in the Wesleyan University Center for Prison Education has just graduated. The program awards participants with an associate degree from Middlesex Community College in general studies and intends to serve as a tool against recidivism by offering an opportunity for success after incarceration. The Center for Prison Education has existed since 2009, serving 138 students thus far, and started offering a degree option in 2016.

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