Mike Melia (@MikeMeliaAP) profile picture

Mike Melia

@MikeMeliaAP

Education news editor at the @AP. Reach me at [email protected].

 Hartford, Connecticut
Joined April 2009
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The Newtown class that lost 20 kids to a massacre when they were in first grade is graduating high school tomorrow. For the survivors, there’s anxiety over leaving the Sandy Hook ‘bubble.’ But also, excitement. Poignant story @DaveCollinsAP. apnews.com/article/newtown-s…
Sandy Hook shooting survivors to graduate with mixed emotions without 20 of their classmates

Sandy Hook shooting survivors to graduate with mixed emotions without 20 of their classmates

The children who survived the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, will be graduating high school with mixed emotions.

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Can teenagers live without social media? These families are giving it a shot. apnews.com/article/influence…
Life as a teen without social media isn't easy. These families are navigating adolescence offline

Life as a teen without social media isn't easy. These families are navigating adolescence offline

The damaging consequences of social media are increasingly well documented, so some parents are trying to raise their children with restrictions or blanket bans on social media use.

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The Associated Press (@AP) profile pictureThe Associated Press
@AP5 Jun 2024
Some say the best way to avoid the strains of social media is to stay off of it. This is a rule that a single mother in Brooklyn has implemented for her three daughters.
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Last week, @AP marked the 70th Anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, a landmark Supreme Court ruling that aimed to end segregation in schools across the U.S. I welcome you to take a look at our coverage... starting with some history. A thread (1/6)🧵
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In Topeka, the school system at the center of Brown v. Board, segregation persists 70 years later -- not as a matter of law, but as a reflection of underlying disparities. apnews.com/article/brown-boa…
Topeka was at the center of Brown v. Board. Decades later, segregation of another sort lingers

Topeka was at the center of Brown v. Board. Decades later, segregation of another sort lingers

The school system in Topeka, Kansas, was at the center of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that struck down segregated education 70 years ago.

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Seventy years after Brown v Board, efforts to slow re-segregation have stalled. Court rulings gradually have chipped away at tools districts can use to integrate schools. apnews.com/article/school-in…
70 years ago, school integration was a dream many believed could actually happen. It hasn't

70 years ago, school integration was a dream many believed could actually happen. It hasn't

Seventy years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled separating children in schools by race was unconstitutional. On paper, that decision — the fabled Brown v.

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Congrats to @biancavtoness @sharonlurye & the whole @AP Ed. Reporting Network for the @PulitzerPrizes honor today. When Bianca joined AP, she told me: "I want to find missing kids." The team's work turned the nat'l conversation back to this crucial issue pulitzer.org/finalists/bianc…
Bianca Vázquez Toness and Sharon Lurye of the Associated Press

Bianca Vázquez Toness and Sharon Lurye of the Associated Press

For a deeply reported series on the corrosive effect of the pandemic on public education, highlighting the staggering number of students missing from classrooms across America.

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Huge congrats to @biancavtoness and @sharonlurye for this honor! pulitzer.org/finalists/bianc…
Bianca Vázquez Toness and Sharon Lurye of the Associated Press

Bianca Vázquez Toness and Sharon Lurye of the Associated Press

For a deeply reported series on the corrosive effect of the pandemic on public education, highlighting the staggering number of students missing from classrooms across America.

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America’s child care crisis is holding back moms without college degrees. When arrangements fall through, they are far more likely to take unpaid time off or to leave a job altogether. apnews.com/article/daycare-c…
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Annie Ma (@anniema15) profile picture
Annie Ma@anniema1527 Mar 2024
What happens when the college essay becomes the only place where race can be considered in admissions? For students of color, it’s become a difficult set of trade offs in how to be true to themselves from me, @cbinkley and @noreensnasir apnews.com/article/f0c006a62…
Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice

Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice

When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. Yet the added weight of the college essay has...

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Teenagers, how is your use of social media evolving? We want to hear from you. bit.ly/3PrzrmK
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Where did the pandemic’s missing students go? We know a little bit better now, thanks to this series produced by an amazing @AP team effort. projects.apnews.com/features…
These kids have missed nearly four years of school. Their main obstacle? Paperwork

These kids have missed nearly four years of school. Their main obstacle? Paperwork

Thousands of kids went missing from schools during the pandemic. For some who have tried to return, school paperwork has proved a daunting obstacle.

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The last time Evan Gershkovich’s family gathered for Thanksgiving, the WSJ reporter helped take the lead on cooking. This year, family and friends saved an empty seat for Evan, who was detained on March 29 in Russia and remains in prison. #IStandWithEvan wsj.com/evan
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The reasons why kids stopped attending school are varied and, in many cases, entirely unknown. The odyssey of Deneffy Sánchez, 15, is but one example of how the pandemic wrecked the life of a vulnerable teen. @biancavtoness projects.apnews.com/features…
At 15, he is defending his home – and struggling to stay in school

At 15, he is defending his home – and struggling to stay in school

In much of California, the housing crisis has devastated students’ chances at recovery from the COVID pandemic like nothing else.

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The ‘science of reading’ is everywhere. Can math get the same attention? apnews.com/article/science-m… Via @sharonlurye
The 'science of reading' swept reforms into classrooms nationwide. What about math?

The 'science of reading' swept reforms into classrooms nationwide. What about math?

As American schools work to turn around math scores that plunged during the pandemic, some researchers are pushing for more attention to a set of research-based practices for teaching math.

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School attendance has plummeted since the pandemic. After months at home, many parents and students don't see the same need to go to class every day. projects.apnews.com/features…
Millions of kids are missing weeks of school as attendance tanks across the US

Millions of kids are missing weeks of school as attendance tanks across the US

School attendance has hit record lows since the pandemic. More than a quarter of kids were chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year.

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Schools lost track of thousands of homeless kids during Zoom school. @cheymumph shares the story of one of them, Aaliyah, who fell behind on the alphabet as the family moved 5 times in 4 years. apnews.com/article/school-ho…
Schools lost track of homeless kids during the pandemic. Many face a steep path to recovery

Schools lost track of homeless kids during the pandemic. Many face a steep path to recovery

Homeless kids often fell through the cracks during the tumult of the pandemic, when many schools struggled to keep track of families with unstable housing.

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At 12, Khloe Warne is an advanced reader. But after classroom outbursts, she’s limited to two hours a week at school. ‘She just wants a friend,’ her mother says. @ClaireARush @ByManuelValdes and @lindseywasson bring this look at informal removals. apnews.com/article/school-au…
'She just wants a friend': Families push for full school days for children with disabilities

'She just wants a friend': Families push for full school days for children with disabilities

Advocates say schools across the U.S. are removing students with disabilities from the classroom, often in response to challenging behavior, by sending them home or cutting back on the days they’re...

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Hundreds of thousands of students enroll at community colleges hoping to transfer later to universities. Many are derailed by credit loss — when classes they took won’t count toward a degree. apnews.com/article/bachelor-…

'Waste of time': Community college transfers derail students

America's high school graduates are often encouraged to start at a community college before getting a bachelor's degree, but the money-saving move rarely works as planned.

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Recently visited Georgia to speak with some Black parents about decisions they are making amidst bans on teaching about race and other controversial topics. So grateful to Kilombo and its staff for opening their doors. My latest for @AP: https://teapawt.net/t.co/5Nkz69M4lM
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Kindergartners when covid hit, many of today’s third-graders are far behind in reading. It’s an all-important year for helping them catch up. @biancavtoness and @sharon_johnson5 lay out the stakes from Atlanta. apnews.com/article/reading-t…
'Too much to learn': Schools race to catch up kids' reading

'Too much to learn': Schools race to catch up kids' reading

Third graders aren't reading well — and that poses an urgent problem. In one Atlanta classroom, will extra class time, plus phonics, be enough?

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The urgency is adding to a shift in how reading is taught, with more schools getting on the same page with phonics. apnews.com/article/phonics-s…
An end to the reading wars? More US schools embrace phonics

An end to the reading wars? More US schools embrace phonics

After decades of warring philosophies on how to teach kids to read, the “science of learning” – essentially, phonics – has won. Here’s what it is.

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In this vivid piece, @apheatherh shares the winding journey of her own third-grader, Thomas. ‘I know our situation is extreme. But I also know testing suggests we aren’t alone.’ apnews.com/article/reading-a…
The struggle to read: One third grader's winding journey

The struggle to read: One third grader's winding journey

Thomas is in third grade, but he reads as if he’s a few years younger. His journey has been a winding one. While third grade is considered a crucial reading year, Thomas has a learning disability,...

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