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.

About 20 years ago, Arkansas started weighing children in school and sending home letters to try to combat obesity. Even though obesity rates only have risen, many other states picked up the policy.

Districts store all kinds of sensitive student data, which means the consequences of a school cyberattack can follow pupils well into adulthood. And it's not just their credit that's at risk.

School systems of every size have been hit by cyberattacks. "It's not Johnny in his room trying to break in and change his grades anymore," says one superintendent.

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, the nation's sixth-largest school district, is in crisis. It's both uniquely vulnerable to natural disasters and unusually ill-equipped to help children recover from them.

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.)

If you're noticing the dust on the bookshelf or the crumbs on the floor, here are tips and tricks from NPR's Life Kit for how to clean better, starting with your bedroom.