By Cid Standifer
Broadcast version by Mary Schuermann Kuhlman
Reporting for the Eye on Ohio, the Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism-Ohio News Connection Collaboration

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Educational apps aren't new for the Brimfield family. Kristin Brimfield said she's been using mobile learning games with her son, Logan, since he was two. But while schools were closed where she lives near Canton, she said she relied on them more often to fill Logan's free time.

But finding apps that were fun, functional, and educational wasn't easy.

"Oh my gosh, there's so many" options, she said. "I've probably read dozens of articles rating apps and getting ideas. And then there were some [apps] that I would get suggestions for and think they were going to be really great, and then download them and realize that they're junk."

Game-like educational apps seem like the perfect remote learning tool for 5 and 6 year olds, whose short attention spans and undeveloped reading skills make long Zoom classes and written packets difficult, if not impossible.

And school districts have been using a variety of apps to teach this fall.

"In Ohio you have 611 individual school districts, and it doesn't operate like in some states that are more 'state-driven.' We all have common standards, but you can meet them in different ways," said Sheryl Sheatzley, spokeswoman for the Hudson City School District, about midway between Cleveland and Akron.

She said the school worked for months to find the best apps, because some students are in school full time and some are fully remote.

"It's certainly been a challenge, but we've been getting better and better at it," she said.

The Cleveland Municipal School District, for example, loads up kindergarteners' online learning portals with a host of apps like Imagine Math, BrainPOP Jr. and MobyMax. The curriculum director for the Euclid school district said they use apps like RazPlus and Learning A-Z, and are setting up a process to select apps that can be pre-loaded onto tablets before they're given to students.

Lindsay Ceresnie, who teaches second-grade English-language learners in the suburbs of Washington DC, said her district has added so many apps to students' learning portals since the pandemic began that she hasn't had time to test all of them. They're not as easy for students to use as creators seem to think, she added.

"They love to tell us, 'Oh, the kids can do this independently. It's completely intuitive,'" she said. But "there'll still be something that presents a challenge."

Dozens of studies in the past decade have examined the educational potential of apps, and many have found that high-quality apps yield promising results. But experts say that most apps advertised as educational fall short.

Melissa Callaghan, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, systematically reviewed 171 of the top-rated apps advertised for kids under 5 from both the Google Play and Apple app stores in 2016 and 2017. She found that many of the apps left kids stranded when they got answers wrong or didn't understand instructions, and didn't introduce new material when kids mastered the initial questions.

Callaghan looked at four main criteria when analyzing each app: clarity, feedback, game structure and motion. The ideal app would have clear enough instructions and goals for a young child to use; tell them when and why they got an answer wrong or right; build new skills as kids master lower levels; and help kids build their motor skills as they interact with the app.

Callaghan said one common shortfall was in "scaffolding," where kids learn one skill, and then build on it to learn another, related skill, instead of retreading the same material.

"The overall finding was that preschool apps out there, they're really good at providing clear, simple guidelines at the very beginning ... they're really good at celebrating or providing positive, encouraging feedback," Callaghan said. "Unfortunately, the more scaffolded feedback, the more scaffolded rewards, were not commonly used among preschool apps."

While most apps told children when they'd gotten an answer wrong, they rarely told them why. Only a third of the apps gave kids increasingly difficult questions, and a mere handful asked them to use any physical activities other than drag-and-drop.

Ideally, Callaghan said, kids learn best if an app tells them why they got an answer wrong and helps them find the right answer. As they rack up right answers, an app should reward them not just with trumpets and confetti animations, but by giving them access to more advanced questions. They should also take advantage of cell phones and tablets' sensors, asking them to pinch at the screen, tilt the device, or speak.

"Unfortunately I did not find a perfect app," she said. "It's a pretty mixed bag."

For Callaghan's study, a team of undergraduate and graduate students, plus one professor, downloaded each of the 171 apps and rated them on a list of criteria. Few parents or teachers can commit that level of time and money to finding the right app.

Callaghan shied away from recommending specific apps because the digital marketplace evolves so quickly. However, she had positive things to say about a handful of app producers that seem to pay attention to pedagogical research. She highlighted Duck Duck Moose, owned by the Khan Academy; First 8 Studios, a project from the WGBH Education Foundation; Age of Learning, maker of ABCMouse; and PBS Kids.

Callaghan also recommended parents use resources like Common Sense Media when selecting quality education apps. The website reviews all kinds of media geared toward kids, including educational apps, and curates lists of apps they recommend for various age groups and topics.

Christine Elgersma, a senior editor for Common Sense Media, said that less than half of the apps for preschoolers they've rated over the last decade would be considered high-quality.

"In terms of the real cream of the crop," she said, "it's a small handful in comparison to the literally thousands of apps that are available to parents."

To rate apps, the site relies on educators and former educators who look at a list of criteria, but also rely on their own experience to judge what would work for their students. Where there's solid research on the outcomes of a particular learning app, Elgersma said the site takes them into account. However, she added that few companies invest in meaningful studies, and some of the research advertised by companies doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

In addition to pedagogical criteria like "scaffolding" that Callaghan examined, Common Sense Media takes into account whether games are appropriate for small children. Elgersma said many lose points because they have too many ads, or require in-app purchases for kids to keep playing. But many are simply lacking as educational tools.

"Developers seem to sometimes think if kids are looking at the ABCs or looking at the numbers and tracing them ...that's sort of enough to deem it educational. And while of course those things have some value, there are apps that do it so much better," she said. "They just don't cut the mustard in terms of 2020."

Elgersma said that, for her to strongly recommend an app, it has to offer something that kids couldn't do with just a pen and paper. For example, she pointed to Metamorphabet, an app in which animated letters transform to illustrate words that start with that letter. So, for instance, the letter P morphs into a pinwheel, or an O turns into an ostrich.

Metamorphabet, like many educational apps, isn't free. But other apps recommended by Common Sense Media are, and their site allows users to filter by their price range and phone or tablet operating system. Among the free apps recommended by Elgersma are the Sesame Street app; a storytelling app called Toontastic; a tangram-like game called Relationshapes; and My WonderBooks, which narrates and animates classic children's stories. All are available for both Apple and Android devices.

Ultimately, however, the most important part of learning with apps may not be about the apps themselves. Callaghan said the best way to use an educational app is with someone who can guide kids through questions, explain answers, and discuss what they've learned.

"I know, especially during this pandemic, that parents, caregivers and educators are all especially busy right now. But ideally, it'd be best for children to play these apps with an adult with them, particularly to help make up for whatever is lacking in these apps," she said.

Plymouth State University Professor of Education Patricia Cantor is worried that parents and schools are focusing on apps at the expense of personal interactions and play that are critical to early development.

"In preschool, what we really really want to focus on with children as kind of the beginnings of learning to read are sounds, hearing language, building vocabulary through conversational exchanges with people through their experiences," she said. "That's even more important than drilling them in recognizing letters. So I'm concerned that if preschool age children are in front of a screen, they're not getting the back-and-forth of a conversation. Their exposure to new vocabulary may be very limited."

For example, Cantor said, preparing a meal with a child can expose them to specialized vocabulary, like words for cooking utensils, that are reinforced by their physical interactions with objects. Talking with their caregiver during the activity builds their communication abilities. Using their hands increases their motor skills, which will be critical for learning to write. Even if the entire exchange takes place in a different language, it increases a child's understanding of the richness language can express, which will help them learn English later on.

If parents and caregivers aren't available for one-on-one interactions, Cantor said the best option for remote learning is one-on-one video conversations with teachers. But given young children's limited attention spans and the time demands on teachers, few educators can spend a whole school day conversing with a child on Zoom or FaceTime.

Some daycares can make up the gap in human interaction, but Cantor worries that low-income families don't have access to child care centers with high staff-to-child ratios and trained educators.

"There are so many factors that influence [daycare] quality," she said. "Chances are, if the parents don't have money...you get what you pay for, unfortunately."

Cantor suggested that districts educate parents about the benefits of simply interacting with their kids, even if, for example, the parents don't speak English or can't read. Schools can also help by giving parents ideas for in-person activities away from the computer screen, or even by sending them the recipe for playdough, an inexpensive toy that helps kids develop their hand mobility.

"Obviously, districts are going with these [app] programs because they're cheaper" than intensive online interaction, she said. "But that's a major worry, is that, because they're cheaper, they'll be the first choice, and then there won't be an exploration or experimentation with other ways of doing it."

This story is sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative, composed of 20-plus Northeast Ohio news outlets including Eye on Ohio, which covers the whole state.

This collaboration is funded in part by the Ohio News Media Foundation and The George Gund Foundation, and produced in association with Media in the Public Interest.









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Leaders of a teachers' union in Louisiana are voicing concerns about a package of bills they say would have the effect of dissolving labor unions in the state.

The list includes House Bill 571, which would prohibit public agencies from paying union workers for the time they do anything union-related, even if it's on paid leave.

If passed, said Roberto Furtado, a special-education teacher in the Jefferson Parish Public School System, the bills would end collective bargaining and prohibit payroll deductions for union dues. Furtado said all this would make it harder for new teachers to join the union, further silencing their voices.

"If they make it more difficult for the new teachers, young teachers, to get involved," he said, "then basically, it's a roadblock so they're probably more than likely going to just not do it."

House Bill 572 would prohibit public agencies from collective bargaining with unions, except for police and firefighters. Similar bills have been introduced in multiple states by conservative groups.

The teachers' union has posted petitions on its website for teachers to sign and send to their lawmakers.

Educators in Louisiana have said they're dealing with low pay, overcrowded classrooms and school safety issues. However, state lawmakers have advanced a budget proposal that would cut teacher pay, and the House Appropriations Committee forwarded a spending plan that reduces a $2,000 pay stipend teachers got this school year to $1,300 next year.

Furtado said the end result is forcing good teachers out of the profession.

"Teachers are an invaluable resource for our community, and so we need good, well-rounded educators that want to be there and continue their jobs to help these young men and women, because again, they are our future," he insisted. "That's kind of corny to say this, but yes, our children are our future. If you don't take care of them, where does our future lie?"

The legislative committee also allocated $25 million for a differential teacher compensation strategy for the second year in a row. The union opposed the strategy, because it said the raises wouldn't be permanent and could be taken away from year to year.


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By Lane Wendell Fischer for the Shasta Scout via The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration

Hiring and maintaining a qualified educator workforce is often a primary concern for rural schools across the country, requiring local education leaders to create innovative solutions.

The University of Wyoming’s College of Education has recently partnered with local community colleges across the state to repair a pipeline for future Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers at high schools and community colleges. 

CTE programs offer students an array of skills-based learning opportunities for many high-demand industries ranging from construction, to nursing, to marketing.

For decades, Wyoming has relied on traditional methods to fill out its CTE teacher workforce. After completing a two-year associate’s degree at their community college, students could either enter the trades or take another two years of teacher training. 

“It was very much a fork in the road,” said Rob Hill, a CTE consultant for the University of Wyoming and president of SkillsUSA Wyoming. Hill became a Wyoming CTE teacher through this traditional path.

“You had to take life off and go to school,” Hill said. “That limited a lot of people, especially students with families, jobs, and homes.”

As it turned out, most students never completed the final two years of teacher training and just entered the trades after the first two years at their community college, Hill said in an interview with the Daily Yonder.

This outdated pipeline has contributed to a shortage of both CTE teachers and skilled workers in the state.

According to a 2023 report from the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board, the median age of CTE teachers in Wyoming schools is 52, and national numbers are similar. Compare this to the average age of all teachers in the U.S., which is just over 42. 

On average, a state employee in Wyoming retires at 62. This means that in the next 7 to 10 years, Wyoming could lose close to half of its CTE workforce to retirement.

“We’ve seen a number of things that have impacted us and that rural part is very real,” Hill said.

In rural communities, a CTE program might only consist of one or two teachers. When that school loses a teacher, the whole program is at risk until a qualified replacement is found. 

During a recent tour of Wyoming’s school districts, Jenna Shim, PhD and interim dean of the College of Education, learned that some high school CTE programs are closing down because they couldn’t find replacements.

“One CTE teacher shared with me that he has a specialty in welding, but he has to teach culinary arts,” Shim told the Daily Yonder. “I could see welding and construction, but welding and culinary arts seem like a far stretch.”

And it can be difficult to attract new talent to small schools and communities. 

“We tend to do best with people that are invested in that community previously and become teachers, as opposed to bringing in teachers into small communities,” Hill said.

The CTE Domino Effect in Rural Communities

Adding to the difficulty of attracting new teachers is a domino effect caused by current teacher shortages, Shim and Hill said.

A shortage of educators leads to a shortage of high school CTE programs, which leads to a shortage of students pursuing CTE in the state, followed by a shortage of tradespeople in the state, and a shortage of essential services, which, in turn, leads to less attractive communities.

On top of educational advancement for students, repairing CTE teacher pipelines through state and local partnerships helps assemble the next generation of rural water experts, plumbers, electricians, technicians, mechanics, and more, Hill said.

“It has a trickle-down effect into the stability of the community,” Shim said.

And in rural communities, small fluctuations in population, programs, and services can be especially catastrophic — or especially beneficial. 

“It doesn’t seem like a big deal if you don’t have one teacher,” Hill said. “But that one teacher in a town of 2000 people that teaches welding, where you have a huge welding industry, that has an extremely large impact.”

The broken pipeline has also raised economic concerns. “Without a sufficient number of teachers, it’s hard to prepare a sufficient workforce,” Shim said.

Two key industries in Wyoming are energy and tourism. Both rely heavily on skilled workers. And both are susceptible to booms and busts that give local communities economic whiplash.

“Over the last decade especially, there’s been a real desire to diversify our workforce,” Hill said. “And that means a different generation of career and technical education, like manufacturing, cybersecurity, and data analysis.”

Repairing the Pipeline

The biggest problem in the previous CTE teacher pipeline was continuity, Hill said. The pathway to teacher certification in rural communities must be both attractive and achievable.

This spring, the College of Education piloted a new course that aims to do both by exposing community college students to CTE teaching before they complete their associate’s degree and decide between trades work or teaching. 

“Creating a more seamless pathway is a real goal here,” Hill explained. 

The bridge course will be offered each semester in partnership with all eight community colleges in the state and is inherently low stakes. The course credits can be applied toward an associate’s degree at the community college, toward their teaching degree at the university, or toward any other bachelor’s degree they pursue.

In the course, students get a taste of what a career in CTE teaching is like. Coordinated by Hill, the course is one dose online learning and one dose on-site learning. Hill leads the online classroom, where students learn about different national and statewide topics. “But students will learn about how it’s implemented locally,” Hill said. 

Each community college has a community college professional and a school district professional that serve as a mentor and safety net for local students, introducing them to CTE leaders at both levels. 

One area of misconception is how much CTE teachers are paid, Shim said.

“I think wages scare them most,” Hill said. “But in Wyoming, our hourly wage is higher than many of the trades folks. We have pensions. We have healthcare. It’s a lot more competitive than folks think it is.”

The organization of the course is a masterclass in rural ingenuity. By using technology, the course eliminates long distance travel to the university campus in Laramie on the southern border of the state. It allows students to remain in their local communities, while still being connected to the state’s CTE teacher network.

“We knew we had a statewide problem and we needed to create a statewide solution, or in this case, a local solution for a statewide problem,” Hill said. “This is about connecting people in Wyoming. Because we have these vast distances between us, we have to have a way to connect people.”

Twenty-two students are currently enrolled in the pilot course. Half of the inaugural cohort are community college students. The other half includes veterans, community college instructors, K-12 instructors, and paraprofessionals who are exploring their future career options.

The course has garnered support from state legislators, the university, the colleges, local high schools, local business, and from the students themselves. 

Each of the enrolled students is taking the course tuition-free, thanks to scholarships from local businesses and private donors.

“Word is getting out,” Shim said. “I think that’s a testimony for how important this work is.”

Strong CTE programs lead to strong communities, Shim and Hill said. A lot of high school CTE programs are embedded into community culture. Organizations like FFA provide opportunities for social gathering and community service, for example. 

“We’ve come up with a mutually beneficial solution and this takes a partnership and teamwork,” Hill said. “No significant advances take place without a group of us working together in a mutually beneficial system.”


Lane Wendell Fischer wrote this article for the Shasta Scout via The Daily Yonder.


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Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick has released 57 "interim charges," the topics he wants Senate committees to study in preparation for the 89th legislative session next year.

Four charges are for the committee overseeing public education. They include improving reading and math readiness in grade school, and redesigning the state's standardized tests.

Eli Melandrez, government relations associate for the American Federation of Teachers-Texas, said educators are surprised the list does not include pay increases for teachers or controversial school vouchers, which use public money to pay for private schooling.

"It's interesting to see both of those key issues absent from the interim charges," Melandrez observed. "Across the state we've seen school closures; we've seen teachers being let go. We've seen a greater percentage of our teacher workforce as uncertified educators."

Two unsuccessful special sessions were held in the past few months, in an attempt to pass a school voucher proposal. Other charges for public schools include examining how school districts used COVID-19 funding, and monitoring the implementation of bills passed in the last session.

Patrick also directed the Higher Education Committee to analyze faculty senates, monitor bans on DEI policies at colleges and universities and revise policies for faculty tenure.

Melandrez noted their union is now affiliated with the American Association of University Professors and members are concerned the lieutenant governor is inserting his own political views into the education system.

"That's worrisome for us," Melandrez emphasized. "In public education and higher education, we are seeing a concerted effort to minimize educator voices."

Patrick also wants senators to review university antisemitism policies and protecting the First Amendment rights of faculty, staff and students. The next legislative session convenes Jan. 14, 2025.

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