Mindshift

Home / Digital Tools / MindShift There are small and large ways teachers, parents and administrators can cut back on the amount of screen time in school that detracts from learning. Sep 4, 2026 Updated 12:33 pm PT (Jeanne Sager Photography/iStock) Smartphone bans. Time limits on screens. Removing devices from young learners. Across the country, school districts are rolling out policies that signal a growing aversion toward the increasing use of technology in classrooms.

Home / Belonging / MindShift Food stamps have a direct link to other critical resources, such as free breakfast and lunch at school. Now, experts say they're starting to see that link break. Sep 4, 2026 Updated 11:49 am PT Seventh-graders sit together in the cafeteria during their lunch break at a public school in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Feb. 10, 2023.

Home / Higher Education / MindShift A new model in Vermont emphasizes hands-on learning while stripping away frills like gyms and meal plans that increase costs. Other newly created institutions are also reimagining college. Sep 4, 2026 Updated 11:43 am PT The Greenway Institute is taking over a former college campus in Vermont's capital city of Montpelier.

Home / Belonging / MindShift President Trump's Education Department is telling schools to stop considering race when it comes to school discipline. Aug 25, 2026 Updated Aug 28, 2026 (DragonImages | iStockphoto via Getty Images) The U.S. Department of Education recently announced it was investigating Fayetteville Public Schools in Arkansas, much to the district’s surprise.

Mindshift Podcast Home / Digital Tools / Mindshift Podcast Families and educators are starting to reconsider school-issued computers and tablets. Aug 25, 2026 Updated 9:25 am PT (Halfpoint Images/ Getty Images) View the full episode transcript. When Los Angeles parent Lila Byock’s son started middle school, his grades suddenly collapsed. It didn’t make sense. “He’d always been a bright, curious, engaged kid who did really well in school,” Byock said. She and her husband were confused and concerned.

Home / Belonging / MindShift Common greetings, like 'How are you?,' may do little to create real opportunities for building relationships. Aug 24, 2026 (Drazen Zigic/iStock) Science high school teacher Furahi Achebe remembers getting a phone call from a former student whom she hadn’t heard from in six months. He told her that doctors found a heart defect; he’d just woken up after life-saving surgery, and he wanted to let her know that he’s doing ok.

Home / Parenting / MindShift The Child Care and Development Fund, the U.S. government's main source of funding to help low-income families pay for childcare, serves over 1.6 million children in a typical month. Aug 21, 2026 Updated 11:04 am PT A student plays with interlocking toys at the Connecticut State University Early Learning Center in New Britain, Conn., on March 12, 2025.

Home / Education research / MindShift The practice continues despite broad consensus among psychologists that corporal punishment can be harmful to children. Aug 19, 2026 Updated Aug 21, 2026 Deanna Staffo for NPR One day, about eight years ago, when Tessa Davis’ son was in kindergarten, she got a call from his school outside Little Rock, Ark. She said the school told her he had grabbed a girl’s jacket in the cafeteria and twisted it – they thought he was trying to choke her.

Home / Education research / MindShift A randomized experiment involved more than 6,000 Tennessee middle school students learning fractions. Aug 17, 2026 Matthieu Rondel / AFP via Getty Images Artificial intelligence makes many tasks faster and easier. But a new study suggests that students may learn more when AI makes them slow down.

Home / Digital Tools / MindShift As educators in the nation's second-largest district prepare for the new limits on classroom screen time, some teachers say it will be a difficult adjustment. Aug 11, 2026 Updated Aug 14, 2026 (Charlotte Gomez for NPR | ) This year brings a new challenge for Armaghan Khan and many other teachers in the nation’s second-largest school district: Ban screen time for younger students, and significantly limit it for older kids.