The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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The rising impact of character-focused education on academic performance Student performance in the classroom is rarely a one-size-fits-all metric. While we often lean on old assumptions about what drives results, a growing body of evidence suggests that our traditional obsession with strictly core academics might be missing the mark. The rise of character-focused education-an approach that prioritizes values to improve learning outcomes-is actively challenging the long-held wisdom of the past....
‘Stage is shifting rapidly’ for high schools: Are states helping them keep up? The rise of artificial intelligence and other technology has traditional high schools scrambling to keep up, with states doing an uneven job of encouraging schools to embed critical thinking skills and offer students access to internships and college courses, according to a new report reviewed by The 74. Today’s world, the nonprofit XQ Institute argues in its new report The Future Is High School, “requires an entirely...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (MAR. 17, 2026) – The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, will host the Southeast Aerial Drone Competition (ADC) Regional Championship April 17–18 at Spragins Hall on the UAH campus. The event will bring middle and high school students from across the Southeast to Huntsville to compete in a series of team-based aerial drone challenges designed to test their technical knowledge, piloting skills and problem-solving abilities. Part...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (MARCH 19, 2026) – For more than a decade, the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and Northrop Grumman have worked together to turn classroom learning into career opportunities. On March 3, the partners celebrated a major milestone: more than 60 full-time and internship offers were extended to UAH students and recent graduates. UAH is a part of The University of Alabama System. Northrop Grumman is currently the leading employer of UAH alumni, and the latest group of offer...
16 plans just got a major upgrade. Here’s what high earners need to know The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), enacted in July 2025, brought a wave of tax changes. Permanent tax brackets, updated standard deductions, and itemized deduction modifications got the attention. But buried inside the legislation are meaningful updates to 529 savings plans that are worth a close look, particularly if you’re planning to fund an elite education for your children. Range breaks down what changed wit...
Are America’s top colleges letting in more students from low-income backgrounds? It’s hardly news that America’s elite universities are largely populated by students from America’s wealthiest families. Yet in recent years, this has drawn increasing alarm. Research has documented just how large the admissions advantage is for well-off students. Bloomberg Philanthropies has pumped tens of millions of dollars into efforts to get talented lower-income students into better colleges. The College...
The schools where even young children change classes About two dozen second graders sat on the carpet at the front of Jacquelyn Anthony’s classroom, reviewing how to make tens. “Two needs eight!” the students yelled out together. “Six needs four!” “The numbers may get a little trickier,” Anthony told them next. “But remember, the numbers we need to make 10 are still there.” The students then turned confidently to bigger calculations: Forty-six needs four ones to make a new number divisible...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (FEB. 19, 2026) – The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, is hosting its fifth annual Engineering Showcase as the signature event of Engineers Week 2026, Feb. 22 – 28. Held Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 5 - 7 p.m. in Room 112 of the Student Services Building on the UAH campus, the 2026 Showcase serves as the highlight of the week. Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951, Engineers Week – also known as E-Wee...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (FEB. 24, 2026) – The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, and ASKA have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing a framework to explore collaborative research and development opportunities in advanced hybrid-electric, autonomous drive-and-fly vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Under the agreement, UAH's Rotorcraft Systems Engineering and Simulation Center (RSESC) and ASKA will examine potential areas of c...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (FEB. 27, 2026) – The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, hosted the inaugural Army Best Drone Warfighter Competition on Feb. 17–19 at its Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) and Counter-UAS Test Range, highlighting the university's expertise in advanced uncrewed systems research, testing and training. The competition reinforces the UAH's role as a national leader in uncrewed systems integration and innovation. Sponsored by the Army...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (FEB. 11, 2026) – The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, announced a major new partnership with Microsoft, which will join UAH’s Invention to Innovation Center (I²C) as a Corporate Innovation Partner. The collaboration marks a significant milestone for Huntsville and the federal technology community, reinforcing the region’s position as a national leader in defense, aerospace and advanced computing innovation. Through this p...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (FEB 9, 2026) – Founding head coach of Charger softball Les Stuedeman built the program at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) from its beginnings in 1996 into a perennial Gulf South Conference (GSC) powerhouse before retiring in 2025. Now, UAH is recognizing Stuedeman's legacy by naming the UAH softball field in her honor. The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees approved the resolution naming Les Stuedeman Field during its Feb. 6 meeting at The U...
The ‘access gap’ in trade school programs: How flexibility drives enrollment The challenging economic climate has pushed more people toward trade schools in recent years, as reflected in the strong revenue growth at these institutions. Despite the perception that trade school programs are more accessible and affordable than academic degrees, many would-be students are still held back by the cost of attending reputable programs. As a result, vocational training providers are adopting fle...
Why have student test scores been declining for a decade in America? It’s hardly breaking news that American students are behind academically from where they used to be. But the specifics can get lost in a haze of headlines and data points. Chalkbeat reviewed multiple pieces of testing data to find out where U.S. students stand on learning loss and recovery. In sum: Test scores have been trending down for over a decade. There are some signs of recovery in math, but not many in reading. L...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (FEB 16, 2026) – A podcast duo invites us to rethink the world through our ears instead of our eyes. An acclaimed scholar explores an American literary icon's journey to the righteous fury of civil rights activism. And humanities researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) share the varied ways they examine people and cultures across time. Humanities Week 2026 offers this broad showcase of ideas and discoveries by guest and resident researchers Monday through Th...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (JAN. 28, 2026) – The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, is accepting student applications for the Charger Innovation Challenge (CIC): Serious Games Edition, a semester-long 'hackathon' launching in Spring 2026. Open to students of all majors, the challenge invites participants to design and develop "serious games" – games created to educate, train, improve health or drive social impact. Sign up by February 11th. The cha...
Students’ skills and interest in science tumble in first post-COVID-19 test U.S. eighth graders are less prepared to be the scientists of tomorrow than they were before the pandemic. In the first nationwide test of students’ science knowledge since 2019, the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level fell to 29%, down from 33%, and the average score dropped back to levels last seen in 2009, when a new version of the test was introduced, according to the National Assessment of Educati...
Before special ed, there was the school-to-asylum pipeline. How one lawsuit helped end it The moment, Thomas Gilhool would tell a historian decades later, “seemed providential.” It was 1969. Two men from the Pennsylvania Association of Retarded Children made an appointment to meet with the young lawyer with a reputation for taking pie-in-the-sky cases more experienced attorneys wouldn’t touch. Gilhool was five years out of Yale Law School, practicing out of an office that was no wider than...
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - February 6, 2026 – Transforming doctoral research into patented technology is a challenging achievement, particularly while completing a Ph.D. Dr. Aaron Werth and Dr. Rishabh Das, former doctoral students at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, successfully navigated this process, earning U.S. patents for innovative cybersecurity technologies developed through their dissertation research at UAH's Center for Cybersecurity R...
As school choice programs grow, parents are demanding better customer service As states continue to launch and expand private school choice programs, one of their biggest challenges is building online platforms that meet the overwhelming demand. Tennessee families experienced a bottleneck earlier this year as they waited hours online to submit applications for the state’s new Education Freedom Scholarship program. In July, the state told 166 parents that they had received a scholarship, only t...
Are trade skills now more valuable than a college degree? Going to college used to be a defining milestone in the classic American Dream. But as costs rise and returns on investment shrink, many young people are rethinking what “success” looks like and redefining the traditional path altogether. A new study by Skillit finds that a growing majority of Americans now view trade skills as more valuable than a college diploma for landing a high-paying, stable job. This shift is driven by mounting fru...
Why parents aren’t reading to kids, and what it means for young students Jeana Wallace never enjoyed reading as a child. The books she read in school didn’t interest her and “constant deadlines made it even harder to connect with the stories,” she said. Reading was a chore, something to rush through for a test or school assignment. So when Wallace became a mother in 2019, she didn’t read to her son at home often — about once or twice a week, “maybe not even that,” said Wallace, who lives with...
Is interest in a 4-year college degree drying up? Not really. American colleges are under siege. The Trump administration has waged a legal and rhetorical battle against the country’s elite universities. Voters have grown increasingly skeptical of higher education. Some high school students are questioning the value of a college diploma. In turn, there’s been a veritable firehose of news stories about a generational pivot away from college due to some combination of ruinous costs, clo...
Staying home to raise the family? Here’s what the working spouse needs to earn While the cost of raising a young child can now reach over $40,000 in pre-tax income annually, depending on where you live, many families find ways to mitigate some of the larger costs associated with parenthood. This often includes considerations about who will work in the household and whether young children will require paid daycare services while their parents are occupied. With tradeoffs abound, many parents m...
AI tutors, with a little human help, offer ‘reliable’ instruction, study finds An AI-powered tutor, paired with a human helper and individual-level data on a student’s proficiency, can outperform a human alone, with near-flawless results, a new study suggests. The results could open a new front in the evolving discussion over how to use AI in schools — and how closely humans must watch it when it’s interacting with kids, The 74 reports. In a randomized controlled trial involving 165 British s...
