Special education teacher shortages are expected to worsen due to ongoing downsizing at the Department of Education and proposed changes under the Trump administration. Experts point to mass layoffs, particularly in the Office of Special Education Programs, and concerns about federal grant consolidations as factors that could make it harder to recruit and retain qualified special educators. With 45 states already reporting shortages in special education, the uncertainty around federal support is causing anxiety among universities and school districts about their ability to fill open positions with well-prepared teachers.

The practice of testing young children for giftedness lacks scientific backing and can be influenced by socioeconomic factors, experts say. In New Orleans, families could pay for private testing to secure a gifted designation for their preschoolers, leading to a two-tiered system. This issue raises questions about the fairness and effectiveness of gifted-only programming for young students.

Jessica Pack, a sixth-grade language arts teacher at James Workman Middle School in California, is using AI to enhance reading comprehension among her students. Using Adobe Express, students generate images based on prompts related to what they've read, which is especially helpful for English language learners and students of varying reading levels.

Team dynamics often suffer more from conflict avoidance than from overt disputes, creating a culture where accountability lapses and poor decisions go unchallenged, write Karin Hurt and David Dye, who highlight the "unspoken pact" in which team members avoid addressing issues to maintain politeness. They offer phrases to break the cycle and gently name what's not being said, reaffirm shared goals and create an opening for feedback and clarity.

A single grave mistake in your leadership, be it in private or in public, is enough to destroy the trust you've worked so hard to build with your teams and stakeholders, writes Allison Dunn, CEO of Deliberate Directions, who recommends owning your mistake without excuses, assessing the damage and creating a recovery plan that could include relinquishing some duties or communicating next steps to repair trust. "The people affected by your misstep are watching for signs that your leadership has grown from the experience. They might not be expecting perfection, but they do look for evidence of real change," Dunn writes.

Google Docs can be a powerful educational tool beyond its basic word-processing capabilities, says middle-school teacher Steffannie Alter, who uses the platform to facilitate real-time student collaboration, independent learning and multimodal assignments. Alter also leverages features such as Suggesting mode for peer feedback and document history for process tracking, and uses color coding to ensure balanced participation in group work.

Federal oversight of special education in New Orleans public schools is likely to end by the close of the year, according to District Judge Jay Zainey. This move comes after the Louisiana Department of Education and the Orleans Parish School Board -- both under court monitoring since 2015 -- requested an end to the consent decree, citing several years of substantial compliance. While the judge emphasized that the consent judgment was always intended as a temporary measure, most parents who spoke at recent hearings urged the court to continue federal monitoring.

The Education Department has resumed operations after a record 44-day government shutdown, thanks to a continuing resolution that funds the government until Jan. 30. The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, led to furloughs and disrupted programs such as Head Start and Impact Aid.