Banning Books and Cellphones but not Conflict: Scanning the Headlines for Reviews of Education in 2024

IEN’s annual roundup of the end-of-the-year education headlines features stories about efforts to ban books and cellphones in the US, while some of the international stories emphasize the conflicts and crises affecting children around the world. To see how education in 2024 compared to previous years, take a look at IEN’s scans from the end of the year of 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 part 1, and 2019 part 2.

Although relatively few of the international education media IEN follows reviewed the biggest stories from 2024, organizations focusing on children highlighted the crises affecting many young people, particularly those caught up in conflicts. In the US, many journalists and educators noted the impact of AI and other technologies and Education Week highlighted the efforts to limit technology use by declaring that “cellphone ban” was the word/phrase of the year (The education word of 2024 is…) Given the number of articles that discussed efforts to ban books and regulate curriculum and other aspects of schooling, just “ban” may have been a more appropriate choice. To get a sense of the extent of book banning, the American Library Association tracked books banned in 2024 and The Guardian reported on a survey rom PEN America showing that more than 10,000 books were banned in US public schools from 2023 to 2024. That same survey suggested that bans of books nearly tripled in the US from 3,362 the previous year (US public schools banned 10,000 books in most recent academic year). But bans were not limited to books or cellphones. The California legislature also passed a number of laws in 2024 banning or restricting a variety of practices including limiting libraries abilities to ban “books based on subject matter focused on race, gender identity, sexual orientation or other characteristics.” The California legislature also banned legacy admissions in private universities in California, and school districts can no longer institute policies requiring teachers or staff to disclose a child’s gender identity to the child’s parent or guardians (Ten things California is banning in 2025).

Headlines from around the world

2024 in Review – One in three children in conflict and fragile countries out of school, Africa.com

‘Not the new normal’ – 2024 ‘one of the worst years in UNICEF’s history’ for children in conflict, Unicef

“More than 52 million children in countries affected by conflict are estimated to be out of school. Children in the Gaza Strip, and a significant portion of children in Sudan, have missed out on more than a year of school, while in countries such as Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Syria, schools have been damaged, destroyed or repurposed, leaving millions of children without access to learning.”

The Top 15 Education For All Blogs of 2024, GPE

2024 Review of the Year in Comparative International Education: Some reflection on the past year – Gaza, Genocide, Higher Education Crisis and much more, The FreshEdPodcast

Kenya’s 2024 academic year marred by multiple crises, The Eastleigh Voice

Isiolo Secondary school teachers during a strike earlier this year.

“The 2024 academic year in Kenya faced significant disruptions, stemming from funding delays, natural disasters, industrial action, and social unrest, severely affecting learning activities across the country.”

Seven major events in Education Sector in Ghana in 2024, Ghana Web

2024 Review: Major events, reforms that shaped Nigeria’s education sector, Premium Times

Looking back 2024: Education sector in Bangladesh remains neglected, New Age

“Learning losses to the students of all levels [in Bangladesh] were caused by not only the mass uprising, which began with the student movement against government job quotas, but also natural calamities of cold wave, heatwave and flood that caused the closure of educational institutions several times in 2024.“

The year of interrupted learning in Pakistan, T Magazine

How Crises Affect Students and Teachers, *T Magazine*

2024 wrapped: The biggest education stories of the year in Singapore, and what’s next, The Straits Times

Norway, IQ Tests and Child Care Deregulation: Our Favorite Early Ed Stories This Year, The Hechinger Report

In the UK From recruitment crisis to class war: 2024 in review, School Management Plus

Headlines from the US

Public Schools by the Numbers: How Enrollment, Funding, and More Changed in 2024, Education Week

The Year in Education: Our Top 24 Stories About Schools, Students and Learning, the 74

Federal Funds Lifted Learning — But Not Enough, *The 74* (source: Calder Center)

2024 in Review, From Your Point of View, Edutopia

Pandemic, Politics, Pre-K & More: 12 Charts That Defined Education in 2024, the 74

The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2024, Edutopia

“Warm demanders are teachers who insist on the highest standards but remain sensitive to a student’s need to belong—and to succeed. By bracketing the most frustrating lessons with work that elicits a child’s feelings of competence, teachers can “bolster students’ math motivation and engagement” in a way that does not “involve reducing the rigor of the material that students learn.'”

Jealousy List: 16 Education Articles We Wish We Had Written in 2024, The 74

2024 Must-Reads: 9 Stories About Early Care and Education That We Can’t Stop Thinking About, The 74

A dozen of the best opinion pieces on education that we read in 2024, Michael Petrilli, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

The Best and Worst Education News of 2024, Larry Ferlazzo, Education Week

The best and worst of ed reform in 2024, Thomas B. Fordham Institute

2024 Year-in-Review: Reforming K-12 Education, Hoover Institution

Philanthropy Awards, 2024, Inside Philanthropy

7 Curriculum Trends That Defined 2024, Education Week

How AI Is Changing Education: The Year’s Top 5 Stories

The Best in K-12 EdTech—Last Year and Next, eSchool News

Cellphones in the Classroom: The Year’s Top 5 Stories, Education Week

School Shootings in 2024: More Than Last Year, But Fewer Deaths, Education Week