Kavitha Cardoza

Arkansas was the first state to start sending letters home flagging students' Body Mass Index. Twenty years later, they do not appear to have had any effect on childhood obesity.

Pediatricians historically have not had much instruction on how to deal with childhood obesity. But now medical schools are starting to train their students on leading with empathy.

State and federal governments have made hundreds of millions of dollars available to pay for Grow Your Own teacher programs. But researchers say it's unclear whether they actually work.

Puerto Rico has been pounded by natural disasters in the past few years – hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, landslides. Those disasters have taken a heavy toll on student mental health.

Talking about death makes many of us uncomfortable. NPR's Life Kit offers tips for starting an advance directive to prepare for a good death. (Story aired on All Things Considered on July, 12, 2020.)

Home health aides work for low wages, but they're critical for elderly and disabled people. A proposal to inject billions of dollars in federal funding may be an opportunity for sweeping change.

Educators tell NPR that the stress of teaching through the pandemic has affected their health and their personal lives. "It's like nothing I've experienced before," one teachers says.

For children learning English, speaking the language can be a way to fit in. But teachers worry that remote learning means some students aren't hearing even casual English outside their classes.

The pandemic is a major reason, but the number of international students has been falling for years.

Davon McNeal was one of several children killed by gun violence over the July Fourth weekend while doing everyday things: playing in the yard, walking through a mall, watching fireworks.