Week in Review: McMahon touts special education interagency agreement

一周回顾：麦克马洪吹捧特殊教育机构间协议

Most-clicked story of the week:

本周点击量最高的故事：

In an Aug. 4 address to special education project directors and staff, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon touted the U.S. Department of Education’s controversial June interagency agreement to transfer some of its special education responsibilities to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

在8月4日对特殊教育项目主任和工作人员的讲话中，美国教育部长琳达·麦克马洪吹捧了美国。教育部在 6 月份签署了一项备受争议的跨部门协议，将其部分特殊教育职责移交给美国卫生与公众服务部。

McMahon defended the Education Department’s interagency agreement — one of 14 agreements it has with six other federal agencies — and said that “none of the rights guaranteed to individuals with disabilities under federal law will change.” She added that the changes are the “start of a brighter future” for individuals with disabilities.

麦克马洪为教育部的机构间协议--教育部与其他六个联邦机构签订的 14 项协议之一--进行辩护，并表示 “联邦法律中任何保障残疾人的各项权利都不会改变”。她补充说，这些变化是残疾人 “更光明未来的开始”。

HHS attempts sweeping changes

HHS 尝试彻底变改变现状

Under a proposed rule announced by HHS on Aug. 6, Head Start programs would face significant changes, including the removal of federal regulations for class ratios and sizes, curricula expectations and certain staffing mandates. The reforms to the 61-year-old early childhood education program are projected to add 236,000 Head Start slots for children and save $2.2 billion, a senior HHS official said.

根据 HHS 于 8 月 6 日宣布的一项拟议规则，Head Start 项目将面临重大变化，其中包括取消对班级比例和规模、课程期望和某些人员配备要求的联邦法规。一位HHS高级官员表示，对已有61年历史的幼儿教育项目改革预计将为儿童增加236,000个入学名额，并节省22亿美元。

Earlier this summer, HHS also abruptly canceled 53 of the 66 current grants issued under the bipartisan Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, which awards $101 million annually to nonprofit, community and school-based partnerships nationwide. The program aims to help teens reduce risky sexual behaviors and, ultimately, decrease sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. A lawsuit has since been filed against HHS, asking for the agency to administer the existing grants as required by federal law.

今年夏天早些时候，HHS还突然取消了两党青少年怀孕预防计划下目前发放的66笔赠款中的53笔，该计划每年授予全国范围内的非营利、社区和学校合作伙伴1.01亿美元。该计划旨在帮助青少年减少危险的性行为，并最终减少性传播感染和意外怀孕的发生。此后，有人对HHS提起诉讼，要求该机构按照联邦法律的要求管理现有拨款。

Efforts exploring safeguards, effective use of tech

HHS在努力探索保障措施，并有效利用技术平台

As pressures mount to pass federal online safety laws for young people, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Aug. 5 greenlit the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act along with three other bills seeking youth protections for artificial intelligence use. The four bills approved during the markup session now head to the Senate floor for a full vote. KOSA, which also previously passed the full Senate in 2024, would require online platforms, including social media, to implement tools and safeguards for children and teens.

随着通过针对年轻人的联邦在线安全法的压力越来越大，参议院商业、科学和交通委员会于8月5日批准了两党儿童在线安全法案以及其他三项寻求保护年轻人使用人工智能的法案。在加价会议期间批准的四项法案现在将提交参议院进行全面表决。KOSA 此前也于 2024 年在参议院全体会议上获得通过，该法案将要求包括社交媒体在内的在线平台为儿童和青少年实施工具和保障措施。

While schools grapple with their own use of technology in the classroom, a new study by WestEd found that implementing outcomes-based contracting in some schools for tutoring and ed tech interventions led to positive effects on academic achievement. This new type of procurement process allows districts to tie a portion of their compensation to an ed tech provider based on a product’s ability to produce measurable results for a certain group of students.

当学校努力在本校课堂上使用技术时，WestEd的一项新研究发现，在一些学校实施基于结果的合同进行辅导和教育技术干预会对学业成绩产生积极影响。这种新型的采购流程允许学区根据产品能否为特定学生群体产生可衡量的效果，将部分补偿与教育技术提供商挂钩。

Google’s AI-generated summaries appearing at the top of the search engine’s results have become the norm. But many school districts are skeptical of the tool. Amanda Kordeliski, president of the American Association of School Librarians, said she’s noticed that many schools nationwide are prohibiting students from conversing with Google’s AI summary chatbot on district devices.

谷歌人工智能生成的摘要出现在搜索引擎结果的顶部已成为常态。但是许多学区都对这个工具持怀疑态度。美国学校图书馆员协会主席阿曼达-科德利斯基（Amanda Kordeliski）说，她注意到全国许多学校都禁止学生在校区设备上与谷歌的人工智能摘要聊天机器人进行对话。

Quote of the week:

本周摘要：

In a CNN interview on Aug. 2, Kennedy said the measles vaccine is effective. The comment was notable given Kennedy’s history expressing antipathy to vaccines and as measles cases reported this year have already reached a 35-year high nationally, as of July 30, at 2,371. With this trend in measles rates, health experts are advising schools to prepare for potential outbreaks of the highly contagious virus.

肯尼迪在8月2日接受美国有线电视新闻网采访时表示，麻疹疫苗是有用的。鉴于肯尼迪历来疫苗的反感态度来看，截至 7 月 30 日，今年全国报告的麻疹病例已是 35 年来的最高水平，达到 2371 例。基于这样的麻疹发病率，卫生专家建议学校要对高传染性病毒的潜在爆发做好准备。