Patrick A. O’Donnell
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Articles by Patrick A. O’Donnell
Despite Rise of AI, More Skilled Trades Training Needed, Industry Leaders Say
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Businesses, local government and schools need to do more to attract students to skilled trades — and work harder to keep them in those jobs, a coalition of major manufacturers led by the Ford Motor Co. reported last week.
Ohio Reading Scores Rise. Is the Science of Reading Working? Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Ohio students’ reading scores rose slightly last school year, the first the science of reading was mandated, but it’s too soon to say whether the phonics-based lessons are making a difference. About 63 percent of Ohio third graders — the grade educators have long considered the most crucial for mastering reading — scored as proficient on spring 2026 state tests, up two percentage points from 61 percent in 2025.
Job Corps Training Centers Stay Open As Student Suit Thwarts Trump Closure Bid Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The federal Job Corps youth training program, under threat of shutdown by the Trump administration since May, 2025, will remain open after a group of students successfully fought the closure in federal court. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed Aug.
The Schools Turning to AI to Rate Students Beyond A-F Grades Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Artificial Intelligence will soon help teachers rate students’ academic and “soft” skills at schools using nontraditional report cards that skip A-F grading after an AI company purchased the non-profit Mastery Transcript Consortium last month.
The Massive Collapse in College Confidence Isn’t Getting Any Better Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter America’s collapse in confidence in higher education — with support for colleges falling four times as much as for other government and civic institutions — doesn’t appear to be getting better anytime soon.
A Restored Detroit Rail Station Looks to the Future, Offering Training for Teens Original
The teenagers at the entrepreneurship class at a new Detroit Boys and Girls Club had ideas for a business or product they could create. Now they had to refine them and think about how to pitch them to investors or customers. “Go back to your product statement, what your product is, and then tell us your core feature,” instructor Brandon Martin, founder of a startup company, told the four groups of high schoolers at a new training center in Detroit.
Rural Areas of Indiana Have Few School Options
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Indiana’s school choice program leaves its nearly 300,000 rural public school students with fewer options and fewer resources while funding the private education of others. More than one in four Indiana school students, or 28%, reside in rural areas. A recent analysis of each of Indiana’s 82 rural counties found that only eight, or fewer than 10%, have a charter or non-religious private school to attend.
Trump Admin. Eases Few of the Federal Grant Restrictions Indiana Requested Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The Trump administration on Tuesday gave Indiana just a fraction of the freedom the state wanted in loosening restrictions on how federal money is spent on low income and vulnerable students, suggesting other states are unlikely to win sweeping changes.
At this Ohio High School, Students Can Skip Lectures and Work On Their Own Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Letting students decide how they learn is almost as important a goal of Mayfield High School near Cleveland as learning itself. The school lets students skip traditional classrooms and lectures if they don’t fit how a student learns best. They can work independently at their own pace, earning credit based on what they learn, not for sitting in a class all year.
Maine Has a New Way to Prepare Teens for Jobs. Other States Are Noticing Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter A Maine non-profit hired by the state to teach students soft skills to better prepare for careers believes it’s found a way to train and measure those skills — and other states are taking notice.
Indianapolis Already Leads on Charters. Now It’s Going Even Further Original
Indianapolis, already one of the nation’s most charter-friendly cities, is going even further with the creation of a powerful and controversial pro-charter board. The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, created by the state legislature this spring, will help pay for charter and district school buildings, create a busing system that includes charter students and take over from the city’s elected school board the ability to ask voters for tax increases.
Building a Mindset: Amp Lab Makes Entrepreneurship, Work Skills Its Mission Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The project that teacher Matt Gebhard presented to students earlier this month at the Amp Lab entrepreneurship high school in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, was, in one way, straightforward: Help a company solve a problem. Steel Dynamics Inc., a local manufacturing company, wanted student help recruiting young women and candidates from different ethnic groups that don’t often seek manufacturing jobs.
‘Stage Is Shifting Rapidly’ for High Schools: Are States Helping Them Keep Up? Original
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.
Boys & Girls Club Was a Great COVID Learning Pod, Now It’s Home To a School Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Duane Wilson never liked that a shiny, refurbished Boys and Girls Club he oversees in South Bend was vacant all day, with its gym, computer lab and craft spaces unused until kids came in after school.
As ‘Free College’ Plan Turns 20, Advocates Celebrate, Brace for Political Changes Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Correction appended Jan. 30, 2026 Zjanice Carter was just a child in Seattle when her parents moved the family more than 2,000 miles to Kalamazoo, Michigan, all for a chance at free college for their six children. “My parents always dreamed of having a big family,” said Carter, now 25 and a college graduate.
Indiana Leads Republican Push To Cut ‘Red Tape’ of Federal Grants Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Indiana has become one of the first states seeking to cut restrictions on federal grants currently targeted for low income and other vulnerable students so the state and school districts have more freedom in using the money.
Indianapolis Tries to Shape a ‘Grand Bargain’ for Charters, District Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Indianapolis’ fast-growing charter schools could soon have a chance to share buildings with the city’s school district and offer more students busing — but with a possible “grand bargain” of giving up some autonomy.
Cleveland Abandons Small Schools in Favor of Boosting Larger High Schools Original
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Cleveland’s MC2STEM High School was once the crown jewel of a failing and nearly bankrupt school district — an “island of excellence,” as officials once crowed, in a system in danger of state takeover.
Push for Indiana Schools to Share Buses and Buildings Ramps Up
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter A push from Indiana’s legislature for the Indianapolis school district and charter schools to share buses and school buildings is raising tempers, as opponents jockey over scarce resources and control over how to divide them. Meanwhile, a friendlier bid for schools to voluntarily cooperate has enlisted a few participants — a microschool chain, Indianapolis charter schools and schools in and near South Bend.
Push for Indiana Schools to Share Buses and Buildings Ramps Up
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter A push from Indiana’s legislature for the Indianapolis school district and charter schools to share buses and school buildings is raising tempers, as opponents jockey over scarce resources and control over how to divide them. Meanwhile, a friendlier bid for schools to voluntarily cooperate has enlisted a few participants — a microschool chain, Indianapolis charter schools and schools in and near South Bend.
What’s a College Degree Worth? It Depends on the Major
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The debate over whether a four-year college degree is the best way to success is complicated, but one theme is increasingly emerging: It depends on what you study.
Gold Price Drops Again. What’s Halting Its 9-Week Winning Run.
The price of gold was dropping again at the end of a turbulent period for the precious metal as it stood poised to end a nine-week winning streak.
Gold Price Rebounds After Sharp Selloff. Why It's Back in Demand.
The price of gold rebounded Wednesday despite investor caution after a sharp selloff over the past two days.
Oil Price Rallies as Trump Sanctions Russian Producers. Why China, India Are Key.
Oil prices were rallying in early trading Wednesday after President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russian producers Rosneft and Lukoil.
‘Disappointing’: Ohio’s Science of Reading Switch Not Yet Bringing Results
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Ohio’s drive to boost reading scores using the science of reading has had a rocky start in the two years since Gov. Mike DeWine fought for the change, with scores going the wrong direction. Even with millions spent on new textbooks, and teachers required to take online science of reading training, third grade English Language Arts proficiency fell from 62% in spring of 2023 to 61% earlier this year.
How microschools are giving rural families more educational options
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How microschools are giving rural families more educational options
How microschools are giving rural families more educational options The schools will add to the fast growth of microschools both nationally and in Indiana, which has the third-most in the country after Arizona and Florida, according to the National Microschooling Center, a Las Vegas-based advocacy group. The charter microschools in East Hancock won’t be the first in Indiana: The well-regarded Purdue Polytechnic High School has a microschool spinoff in Indianapolis.
How microschools are giving rural families more educational options
Posted 10/1/25 The 74 reports Indiana's new microschool network will offer rural families educational choices similar to urban areas, starting this fall. This item is available in full to subscribers. E-mail Password Print and web subscribers If you're a print and web subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one. Non-subscribers Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
How microschools are giving rural families more educational options
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How microschools are giving rural families more educational options
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How microschools are giving rural families more educational options
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How microschools are giving rural families more educational options
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How microschools are giving rural families more educational options
A new network of charter microschools east of Indianapolis hopes to give rural families separated by acres of farms and woods a choice of schools similar to what's available to urban families, The 74 reports. Starting this fall, the new Indiana Microschool Collaborative will create several small schools of 30 to 75 students around the Eastern Hancock school corporation, a rural district about 30 miles from the state capitol.
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