I’m not sure it was wise for Nicola Sturgeon to invoke Nelson Mandela in her speech on the next steps (sic) to independence. He was a revolutionary who pursued a campaign of non-violent direct action, including strikes, boycotts and other acts of civil disobedience. That’s what many ardent Yessers were hoping against hope she might authorise.

It was a normal Friday night in the Red Lion pub in Whitehall, where journalists gather to gossip about the week. Charlie Whelan, former chancellor Gordon Brown’s personal spin doctor, was holding court as usual, white wine spritzer in hand.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans has always had a gothic element. The voodoo culture dates from the African American diaspora, though it’s now mostly for tourists. But this year there was an authentically macabre dimension to Fat Tuesday.

The Scottish political world is holding its breath this weekend.

The Meadowbank Stadium was one of the shabbier landmarks in east Edinburgh until it was knocked down last year. A new one is rising from the ashes, looking like one of those massive cruise liners that appear in the Forth.

Writers have been ransacking the Brainy Quotes website looking for inspiration for their coronavirus think pieces. But there is really only one that matters: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”. Franklin D Roosevelt’s epigram is appropriate because it is as disingenuous as it is paradoxical.

Next week, Nicola Sturgeon is promising to outline her proposals for lifting the lockdown. Good luck with that. She is unlikely to open the schools because she can't rely on parents to send their children.

Nicola Sturgeon won plaudits from some unlikely quarters this week for her “grown-up conversation” on lifting the lockdown.

“It's not the end; it's not even the beginning of the end; but it is perhaps the end of the beginning”. Churchill's famous wartime speech after the battle of El Alamein in November 1942 was an ambiguous rallying cry. After all, by saying it was only the beginning, he was suggesting that there could be worse to come.

The free literacy app Khan Academy Kids boosted early literacy skills in children and parents said it improved their home-teaching skills.

HELP is on hand for parents hoping to inspire their children at home during the coronavirus lockdown – and it’s all free.

Colin Turner thought he understood the dynamics of race and privilege. Until one of his students called him out for some insensitive comments he'd made in class.

The Long Beach, Calif., school district is deploying a multifaceted strategy to put more students of color in high-level math courses and help them succeed.

One particularly tense staff meeting helped educator Robert Parker rethink how his school celebrated Black History Month.

A pair of new studies find that, when given a choice, white parents tend to send their children to schools that are predominantly white.

The evidence that culturally responsive teaching can fix the nation's schools for children of color is promising, but woefully incomplete, writes Heather C. Hill.

When schools reduce racial segregation between schools, racial isolation within the classes inside those schools goes up, according to an analysis of 20 years of North Carolina data.

Here are five takeaways on the teaching profession from the newly released 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey.

In the wake of the 'Janus' Supreme Court case, teachers' unions are facing more than a dozen legal challenges backed by right-leaning groups that could further dampen their membership numbers and finances.

BORIS Johnson has said Britain needs the "same spirit of national endeavour" to defeat the coronavirus as Second World War veterans demonstrated to topple Adolf Hitler.

MSPs have penned a letter to the head of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) - highlighting “deep unease” by teachers at plans to overhaul exams amid the lockdown.

A report suggests that the $2.5 billion program should focus more on continuous improvement than on scattershot activities.

President Donald Trump wants to make the biggest cuts in the U.S. Department of Education's budget in about 35 years. Check out the highlights of Trump's plan.

Dr. Debbie Silver, Dr. PJ Caposey, Serena Pariser, Timothy Hilton, Dr. Beth Gotcher, Paula Mellom, Rebecca Hixon, and Jodi Weber offer their commentaries on how best to handle classroom management.

The video-sharing platform is a huge hit with teens and some teachers are beginning to integrate it into their lessons. But cyberbullying and data privacy are big concerns, experts say.

While schools are closed to coronavirus, districts are putting together a patchwork of lessons for students to do at home. But districts’ expectations for what students can accomplish at home vary widely, according to parents.

Leaders in some districts say remote teaching will now be a skill they will build even more in their existing teacher corps. Others are more skeptical.

Over two years, 27 communities have split from their home districts, and the new districts are mostly wealthier, whiter, and more property-rich than the ones left behind.

The appeals court put the brakes on a predominantly white community's racially tinged efforts to secede from a larger school system.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s recent remarks on his willingness to work with segregationists resurrected his long-ago efforts to oppose school busing. Will it hurt his campaign?

When schools reduce racial segregation between schools, racial isolation within the classes inside those schools goes up, according to an analysis of 20 years of North Carolina data.

Alan Gray – An Appreciation

An Illinois judge has dismissed the nation's first class-action lawsuit against a state high school association over its handling of concussions, ruling that it had made strides in that regard since the filing of the lawsuit.

A Chicago-based former Little League team has filed a lawsuit against Little League International over the organization's decision to strip the team's United States championship earlier this year.

Proposed changes to the massive trove of civil rights data the U.S. Department of Education collects from every public school in the country has drawn organized praise from advocates concerned about anti-Semitism in schools.

In a labor market hungry for employees who can work with data, some high schools have begun to offer a new breed of classes in data science.

As some districts try to dismantle racist and biased policies and practices, they are creating high-profile positions to lead that public, sometimes hostile, reckoning.

As superintendents, we must make the system work for all students—however socially, politically, and professionally dangerous it may be, writes Demond A. Means.

Race, education disparities, school-leader standards, and criminal proceedings (in Atlanta and Chicago) were among the top stories on the District Dossier blog.

The coronavirus crisis has made staffing and hiring decisions more uncertain, but planning needs to start now, writes Terry B. Grier.

Music

WHILE watching the daily Downing Street press conferences it is possible to feel a range of emotions. Frustration, for instance, as one inquiry after another goes unanswered, or disappointment at the quality of the questioning.

HELLO and welcome to Step on a Rake, the game show where clever people do dumb things. Previous winners of the show have included Catherine “Second Home” Calderwood, Scotland’s former chief medical officer, and Robert Jenrick, England’s well-travelled Communities Minister.

Crave pragmatic, honest, clear-eyed conversation about the realities of ed tech? Here's a reading list from Education Week, as presented at ISTE 2019.

Effective management approaches are not skills principals typically learn through the traditional pathways of education. To fill the gap, they are turning to business programs and publications.

Teachers say the technology ecosystems they experience in their schools are largely characterized by incremental, rather than transformational, changes.

When it comes to school technology, Superintendent Doug Brubaker emphasizes robust infrastructure, regular refresh cycles, and training. Taxpayers and teachers are buying into the practical approach.

The public-private initiative between the technology company and a city school aims to prepare students for future careers.