Tweens, teens and their parents have mixed reviews of the new restrictions amid concerns about the effects on safety. Advocates cite benefits on young people's academic achievement and mental health.

Under a provision of the law, which took effect in July, teachers may not "provide to a student his or her preferred personal title or pronouns if such preferred personal title or pronouns do not correspond to his or her sex." The law defines sex as based on someone's reproductive organs at birth.

"So far the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive," said Brandi Waters, senior director of AP African American Studies at the College Board. Waters, a New Jersey native who holds degrees from Yale, Harvard, Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania, said many students have called the course "a transformative experience."

The largest publisher in America and several bestselling authors joined Iowa's teachers union in challenging the state's new education law that bans books depicting sexual activity in schools.

The proposal, which leaders of the Dublin Unified School District began testing with a cohort of teachers last year, was pitched as a way to shift emphasis from winning points on tests and homework to student mastery of material.

Head Start, the federally funded early childhood program for low-income children, has rigorous academic requirements and quality standards. Yet the average salary for Head Start teachers of all degree and job levels, across the country, is roughly $38,500.

This week, an advisory panel in New York recommended making the state's century-old Regents exams optional instead of a graduation requirement. The dramatic change for New Yorkers comes as the dwindling number of states that still require exit exams has become even smaller in recent months and years.

The "Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice" collection will be discontinued in January, Scholastic president Ellie Berger wrote in a letter to authors and illustrators posted to social media on Tuesday by author Vicky Fang.