Legislation was introduced in the Senate to give students a Fast Track to and Through College. The House Education Committee passed a rewrite of the Higher Education Act. And both the Nation’s Report Card and ACT’s annual report on college and career readiness show declines.

Bobbi-Ann Barnes isn’t shy about how she feels about worksheets.

“I have never cared for worksheets. They are not engaging and simply require rote memorization,” says Barnes, assistant superintendent in Deer Lakes School District in northern Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. “Does a kid go home and say, ‘I had a great time doing a worksheet’? There are so many other things that you can be doing creatively as a teacher.”

What makes deeper learning schools so successful and how are networks scaling their efforts to bring deeper learning opportunities to more historically underserved students?

Today’s digest features a new report on how networks are scaling deeper learning, highlights from the iNACOL symposium, a quiz on the difference between projects and project-based learning, a webinar on deeper learning for students with disabilities, and a special Halloween edition of deeper learning in action!

Twenty-seven million—that is the approximate number of students who attend public middle and high schools across the United States.[i] While the period of adolescence does not include only the middle and high school years, teenagers are a significant part of this stage of development. Adolescence can be thought of as beginning with a biological change—the onset of puberty—and ending with a social construct determined by factors like family, culture, and society.[ii]

House Democrats introduced legislation to rewrite the Higher Education Act while the Trump administration worked on regulations that could increase segregation in schools and decrease the number of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch.

Between 2000 and 2015, the percentage of Latino students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools increased from 16 percent to 26 percent while the percentages of White students fell from 61 percent to 49 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. From 2015 to 2027, the percentage of Latino students is expected to continue to increase—from 26 percent to 29 percent—while the percentage of White students will fall from 49 percent to 45 percent.

As Latino students become a larger component of the K-12 student population, we must ensure they receive an education that prepares them for future success. In some ways we are–and they are delivering benefits to the economy in return–but in many other ways, we are not.

Digital displays. High-voltage battery cells. Computer controls. Repairing a car is not what it used to be, so how are career and technical education programs (CTE) preparing students to keep pace with electric and self-driving vehicles?

Today’s digest highlights how CTE programs are updating technology to keep on pace with industry trends, how to know when persistence is not working, and how one principal is bringing the world to her students.

Gifted programs are structured to cultivate and maximize the strengths of an individual. Through enriching instruction and engaging curriculum, students in gifted education are put on a path to achieve their full potential. But shouldn’t these ideals be applied to all students?

In New York City, a panel appointed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio thinks so. It has proposed eliminating the city’s gifted and talented programs, which largely enroll White and Asian American students, in favor of an approach that reduces inequality and segregation that is often perpetuated by gifted programs.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is proposing to eliminate aspects of the Civil Rights Data Collection. Today’s Federal Flash gives you the details on her proposal. It also covers recent congressional action to address school shootings and rising tensions in the Senate over the rewrite of the Higher Education Act.

Apprenticeships are a great way to show students how their learning connects to the world around them and potential options for future careers.

Today’s digest explores a new apprenticeship program in Kentucky, how a green screen can transform a classroom, ways to expand opportunities for 21^st century learning, and how to build an education “escape room.”