What We're Reading | Week of December 5, 2022
Timely reads from the MCC team about teaching in politically divisive times, teen mental health, and the need for colleges to provide more transparent financial information to prospective students.
The Washington Post | Building empathy in children takes practice. Parents can help.
During politically divisive times it can feel even more critical to parents—and even more challenging—to build empathy in their kids.
In this piece, The Washington Post’s Elizabeth Chang speaks with MCC’s Rick Weissbourd about three key dimensions of empathy and tips for developing empathy in children.
NPR | School principals say culture wars made last year 'rough as hell'
"Something needs to change or else we will all quit."
In a new national survey of public school principals, more than two-thirds (69%) reported "substantial political conflict" with parents or other members of the school community during the 2021-22 school year over issues that included teaching about race and racism, policies related to LGBTQ+ student rights, social-emotional learning, and student access to books in the school library.
The Washington Post | The crisis of student mental health is much vaster than we realize
What should the role of schools be in supporting teens’ mental health? And do schools have sufficient resources to address youth mental health at the scale of the current national crisis?
“The need is real, the need is dire,” said Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The Chronicle of Higher Education | Most Colleges Omit or Understate Net Costs in Financial-Aid Offers, Federal Watchdog Finds
The Chronicle examines a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that found that most colleges—9 out of 10—either do not communicate the net cost of attendance or underestimate it in their financial aid offers to prospective students.
“Colleges present cost and financial aid information differently, making it difficult for students and parents to compare offers and college affordability,” the report says.
