A new group called WINGS will help junior-high-school students in special education get into acting and other aspects of theater. Founder Lisa Terry says it's important for students with special needs to have multiple options for expressing themselves and connecting with the community.

Students in special education at William James Middle School teamed up with a local business to open a coffee shop at their school. The students will gain work experience and improve their practical and social skills, according to teacher Patty Johnson.

Teachers should consider promoting productive struggle among their students to improve learning, writes Kyle Cantrell, a fifth-grade teacher in Tennessee. In this blog post, Cantrell shares several strategies to help support productive struggle in elementary-school math lessons.

Most teachers say they believe in the value of digital learning tools, and about four in 10 are using their own money to purchase them, according to a survey from Gallup and the nonprofit NewSchools Venture Fund. The survey also notes that it remains difficult to determine the effectiveness of the classroom tools.

A report from Attendance Works and the American Institutes for Research outlines how frequent absenteeism -- and its underlying causes -- affect K-12 learning and offers an interactive map for comparisons. The report also provides data on how states are complying with Every Student Succeeds Act requirements to track and reduce absenteeism.

A study in JAMA Psychiatry showed that 12- to 15-year-olds who spent more than six hours on social media daily had a threefold higher likelihood of developing internalizing mental health problems, such as depression, as well as a fourfold increase in odds of developing both internalizing and externalizing issues, such as bullying, compared with those who used no social media. Shorter duration of social media use was also associated with increased risk, but the association between social media use and externalizing behaviors alone was inconsistent.