🛝 Kids Stopped Reading for Fun, Schools Lose Health Funding, State Readiness Metrics

Welcome to Playground Post, a bi-weekly newsletter that keeps education innovators ahead of what's next.

This week's reality check: While higher education institutions admit they're unprepared for future challenges, K-12 schools are grappling with immediate crises - students abandoning books, health services facing budget cuts, and states scrambling to measure college readiness with wildly different approaches.

💎 Data Gem

Only 12% of higher-ed leaders rate their institution "extremely resilient" and just 23% use scenario-planning tools, according to an EDUCAUSE survey. The disconnect between confidence and preparation suggests most institutions are flying blind into an uncertain future.

Why Are So Few Kids Reading for Pleasure?

The numbers are startling: 31% of 13-year-olds now say they "never or hardly ever" read for fun. 

That's nearly quadruple the 8% who said the same in 1984.

Daily reading for pleasure has collapsed even further. Only 14% of middle schoolers read for fun almost every day, down from 35% four decades ago.

The decline spans all age groups, with daily pleasure reading dropping more than 40% over the last two decades. 

Students are reading constantly, but in fragments. 

Text messages, social media posts, memes. The average American reads the equivalent of a slim novel daily, but it's not the same as sustained reading.

College professors report students are intimidated by readings longer than 10 pages. Some emerge from 20-page assignments with "no real understanding."

The culprits? 

Overscheduling, poor literacy instruction, test-driven pedagogies that emphasize short non-fiction passages over sustained reading. And smartphones—the iPhone just turned 18.

The market opportunity is massive for solutions that make sustained reading engaging again. 

Think gamified reading platforms, social reading communities, or tools that help schools balance structured literacy instruction with pleasure reading.

Traditional publishing proved kids will read 734-page books if they're compelling enough (see Harry Potter). The challenge is creating digital experiences that capture that same sustained engagement.

What Will Medicaid Cuts Mean for School Health Services?

Congress just passed a budget bill reducing federal Medicaid spending by $1 trillion over the next decade. 

About half of U.S. children - 38 million kids - are covered by Medicaid or CHIP, making schools their primary healthcare access point.

Schools use Medicaid funds to pay for speech therapy, mental health counseling, vision screenings, and basic medical care. Children are six times more likely to access healthcare at school than anywhere else.

District leaders expect devastating cuts to health staff and services.

But the bigger problem? Entire district budgets will suffer as schools redirect education funding to cover mandated health services.

"We'll have to cut other programs in order to meet mandated services because we have less money," one district leader explained. Others will raise taxes or reduce support for students with health needs.

The opportunity lies in building tools that help schools maximize remaining Medicaid dollars while delivering cost-effective health services. Schools will need creative alternatives as federal funding disappears. Those that can deliver healthcare solutions within education budgets will find eager customers.

States Struggle with College and Career Readiness Metrics

While 42 states now use college and career readiness indicators in their accountability systems, there's no uniform approach to measuring whether students are actually prepared for life after high school.

The variation is huge. Advanced Placement courses are the most common college readiness measure (35 states), followed by dual enrollment (34 states) and college admission test scores (26 states).

For career readiness, most states rely on industry credentials or completing career and technical education pathways. 

Some include work-based learning or internships.

But there is a problem. 

Many states don't report how many students are ready for college versus career versus military service. 

They lump everything together, making it impossible to identify gaps.

North Dakota offers a better model with its "Choice Ready" indicator. Students must demonstrate essential skills, then show readiness in two of three areas: postsecondary, workforce, or military.

Meanwhile, eight states still have no college and career readiness indicators at all: Alaska, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

The fragmentation creates opportunities for companies that can provide standardized measurement tools and data analytics platforms. Schools need better ways to track student progress toward multiple pathways, not just college enrollment.

⚡️More Quick Hits

This week in education:

Federal seed program powers EdTech innovation — IES SBIR program reaches 130M+ users but funding delays are stalling school-year pilots and startup hiring

Rural LGBTQ+ teens find online support — Research shows 57% of rural LGBTQ+ teens meet depression threshold vs. 45% of urban peers, but maintain same identity pride levels

FAFSA promises smoother rollout — 2025-26 FAFSA opens for testing Oct. 1, available to all students by Dec. 1 after last year's problematic launch

Disability expectations problem revealed — Only 33% of teachers believe students with disabilities can perform on grade level with supports, creating "opportunity myth"

District-run microschool model emerges — Wichita Public Schools' CIO details project-based microschool approach and supporting technology stack

📚 Weekend Reads

Monthly roundup of resources you might like:

• The Fiscal Effects of Enrollment Changes on School Districts — EdWorkingPaper analyzing 1998–2019 data finds declining districts saw larger per-pupil funding increases than growing districts because revenue losses weren't proportional to enrollment drops

• Parent Perspectives on School Choice Research — Conjoint experiment reveals parents prioritize test scores and college outcomes, with subgroup differences based on income, age, and political/religious views on school selection

• UNESCO: AI and the Future of Education — Collection of 21 essays examining ethical, pedagogical, and policy challenges of AI in education, advocating for human-rights-centered approaches to human-machine collaboration

• Common App End of Season Report 2024-25 — Record 10.2 million applications from 1.5 million applicants, with faster growth among underrepresented and first-generation students

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