Indiana schools could award students a new excellence in civic engagement designation on their high school transcripts in coming years. A new law passed this year requires the Indiana Department of Education to develop guidelines to determine how students can qualify.

A new Indiana law was promoted by a WFYI investigation that found that some schools aren’t accurately reporting how often they forcibly isolate and restrain students.

The ten finalists come from suburban, rural and urban districts across the state.

The top 10 finalists have been announced for the 2023 Indiana Teacher of the Year. For over 60 years, the Indiana Department of Education has selected one teacher for the honor who has gone above and beyond to support and educate Hoosier students.

The Indiana State Board of Education approved a new temporary, special education teaching license designed to help schools address the special education teacher shortage.

Mike Hosinski, 61, was set to appear in court Thursday, but waived his right to an initial hearing. Elkhart Superior Court Judge Teresa Cataldo set his next court date for late April and a bench trial for June 13.

The Indiana Department of Education launches a database to track schools’ spending of pandemic relief funding. The state health department shuts down vaccine and testing sites during the winter storm. And statewide COVID-19 cases are down.

Indiana schools are getting nearly $3 billion in federal coronavirus relief to help safely operate and make up for the instruction students missed out on. But public information on how local districts are spending it is inconsistent and often hard to find.

Indiana will spend $2 million to help fully license special education teachers by offering scholarships for required training and streamlining required coursework.

In the upcoming legislative session, the IDOE plans to request $20 million in funding to support STEM programs across the state.