Ask a teen what they want to be when they grow up, and there鈥檚 a fair chance being an  is on their list.

Digital media and the people who star in it have been cultural mainstays for teens鈥� entire lives, so creating social media, video or podcast content seems a natural, albeit nontraditional, career path. And now they can  in that very field.

Arizona State University recently launched a new bachelor鈥檚 degree in content creation, offered through its Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The curriculum overlaps with that of ASU鈥檚 mass communication and media studies degree, with the major departure being a slate of specialized electives on podcasting, studio production and on-camera presence.

ASU鈥檚 announcement was met with swift criticism from many sides 鈥� from people who feel content creation is not a legitimate profession to those who question the  in launching a social media career.

But the ASU program is not the first of its kind.

And the university, which declined an interview request about the new program, is not the first to offer content creation courses.

Universities, eager to compete for a , are rolling out new majors intended to prepare students for today鈥檚 careers. Whether they lead to jobs can be up for debate.

College courses in content creation have riled critics

Many higher education institutions have started offering classes focused on the burgeoning content creation industry over the past couple years, and several have certificate or minor programs. Syracuse University, Quinnipiac University and Colorado State University offer minors, and St. Bonaventure University announced a content creation major last winter.

To Brooke Erin Duffy, a communication professor at Cornell University, these college programs represent an inflection point. During the past year, Duffy said, institutions in education and beyond have been acknowledging content creation as a viable career path 鈥� even if the term 鈥渋nfluencer鈥� itself hits a nerve.

On social media, influencers are everywhere, sharing shopping recommendations and lifestyle content or promoting beliefs about health or politics. Because even influencers with relatively small followings have loyal audiences, brands also often pay them to talk about products.

The image of a prototypical influencer, Duffy said, is usually a 鈥測oung girl who is snapping selfies and just reaping in tremendous rewards for seemingly not doing anything.鈥�

But that鈥檚 not the reality for many content creators, who are working on media production, audience retention strategies, brand partnerships and business relationships associated with their online presence.

鈥淚t is a time-consuming, labor-intensive job that often doesn鈥檛 pay well 鈥� at least in the beginning,鈥� Duffy said. 鈥淏ut a lot of that gets concealed behind 鈥� this assumption that it鈥檚 a dream job.鈥�

The creator economy is booming, but not everyone reaps the riches

Even if someone has the skills to make it in content creation, it isn鈥檛 easy to break in.

Social media is already a crowded field, and it鈥檚 going to get even more competitive in the coming years, said Max Willens, a principal analyst at Emarketer who covers the creator economy.

Emarketer forecasts that social media creator revenue in the U.S. will climb above $20 billion this year, but Willens said it鈥檚 important to contextualize what that means for individual creators.

鈥淭he overwhelming majority of that money is not going into creators鈥� pockets,鈥� he said, even though their content and their followers form the foundation of the lucrative field.

Influencers can earn money from social media platforms, which reward high engagement, and some earn commission if people buy a product they鈥檙e promoting. But the largest share of influencers鈥� earnings comes from sponsored content 鈥� getting paid to talk about a brand or product. Willens said he expects the amount brands spend distributing and amplifying creator content will eventually surpass the amount creators earn making it.

The idea that a specialized college degree will 鈥渟uddenly turn people into viral content machines deserves a bit of a reality check,鈥� Willens said.

Duffy noted that becoming an influencer often is perceived, incorrectly, as a path to get rich quick. Colleges that introduce content creation degrees may be hoping to attract new students 鈥� and their parents 鈥� who are looking for 鈥渁 job that will pay off,鈥� Duffy said. 鈥淲hether or not it does is another story.鈥�

A degree鈥檚 price is also a factor: At ASU, base tuition for Arizona residents is about $12,000 per academic year, excluding scholarships, but the total cost of attendance can exceed $37,000 after factoring in room, board and other fees. For students from outside of Arizona, tuition is more than $35,000 and the total cost of attendance is around $60,000 before scholarships.

Creators see value and transferable skills in these programs

While many content creation students may be hoping to become viral sensations, Phoenix-based creator Aiesha Beasley said she could see programs like ASU鈥檚 being valuable even to those without that dream.

鈥淗aving a digital presence and a personal brand is very important nowadays,鈥� Beasley said. Building a platform and sharing that personal brand online can help a person network and gain entry to settings they may not have had access to otherwise, she said.

Beasley, who has been a full-time content creator for three years after more than a decade posting online, works with small businesses to help optimize their social media presence. She noted that ASU鈥檚 courses would teach several transferable skills in fields such as communications and marketing.

Content creator and actor Sammy Cristerna graduated from Arizona State University this spring with a degree in sociology and political science, but said he 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� would have taken classes in the content creation program and considered the major if it had been available.

The courses, Cristerna said, would have been useful in learning how to negotiate brand deals, maximize monetization opportunities and cultivate and keep an audience. Some of those skills can be self-taught through experience, he added. Still, 鈥渋t鈥檚 nice to have that formal education.鈥�

The one thing Cristerna said he isn鈥檛 sure will translate in the classroom is personality.

To connect on camera, a person needs to have 鈥済ood energy,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 hard to teach.鈥�

This was originally published by .

鈥淭he thing that really struck us as we looked across all of the data points 鈥� [is] there鈥檚 just a disproportionate impact for those [special populations of] students across the board,鈥� said Robin Lake, director of the at Arizona State University.  鈥淲hat I think really came through to us 鈥� especially in the parent interviews we conducted this year 鈥� was parents were experiencing a system that wasn鈥檛 functioning even before the pandemic effectively for them.鈥�

At a press conference Tuesday, Lake called the report鈥檚 findings a 鈥渨arning bell for systemic reform.鈥� 

Disadvantaged students continue 鈥渂earing the brunt of slow and uneven recovery鈥� from pandemic-era school closures, Lake said, and their struggles come at a time when their numbers are growing.

There was a surge of roughly 343,000 students identified for special education from the 2020鈥�21 to the 2022鈥�23 school years a trend which appears on track to continue. There are variations across states and student groups, with Black and Hispanic students being identified at higher rates.   

Lake said researchers are still trying to determine if this is just normal catch-up following under-identification during school closures, or if something more is going on.

The 2024 State of the American Student Report builds on two previous annual reports, which detailed the impact of COVID on students鈥� academic performance and well-being. Last year鈥檚 research focused on older students with little-to-no time left in the K-12 system, who saw what the organization described as 鈥渟hocking declines鈥� in college and career readiness. This year, CRPE interviewed parents and dug into data around particularly vulnerable student populations.

The academic impacts on students with disabilities and their rate of recovery varied from district to district, according to a CRPE-commissioned analysis by Georgia State professor Tim Sass. This, they believe, shows that what schools and districts did during and after the pandemic had real impact, but more research is needed to learn what kind of mitigation and recovery strategies proved most effective.

More than four years after COVID emerged, the average student who experienced school closures is still less than halfway to a , but Lake emphasized that averages can obscure particular students’ nuanced experiences. 鈥淯nder the hood of average,鈥� she said, she saw reason for both optimism and concern.

The good news: Students are bouncing back in some areas. The average student has recovered about of their pandemic-era learning losses in math and a quarter in reading.

Evidence-based practices, such as tutoring, high-quality curricula and extended learning time, are starting to get baked into school systems, she said, which she hopes will last beyond stimulus funds. 

Yet, many of these practices still aren鈥檛 reaching nearly enough students.

For example, across four major, urban public school systems in 2023, 8th graders with disabilities and English language learners continued to score significantly lower than their peers in English Language Arts. In New York City, 61% of all students demonstrated proficiency, while only 29% of students with disabilities and 9% of English learners did.

Chronic absenteeism also disproportionately plagues special populations, according to Sass鈥檚 analysis. And parents expressed frustration that during school closures their kids weren鈥檛 getting access to their legally required interventions. Simultaneously, they were concerned that expectations for their children were being lowered, while communication was dwindling.

鈥淥ne of our researchers started referring to this as ghosting,鈥� said Lake. 鈥淭hat the parents were being ghosted by their schools 鈥� [and] not getting information about how their kids were doing academically.鈥� 

Ultimately, they felt blindsided when they found out just how far behind their children had fallen. As students have returned to school buildings, more have been flagged as having special learning needs and requiring special education, after a dip during the pandemic. 

Especially when looking at 鈥淐OVID babies,鈥� those who didn鈥檛 necessarily get access to preschool or typical socialization, Lake wondered, 鈥淎re they being funneled into special education as a solution or do they really have a disability that needs to be addressed in special education?鈥� And, she added, 鈥淚s special education equipped to deal with this influx?鈥�

CRPE鈥檚 analysis found that special education identification rates varied greatly across school districts in Massachusetts, which reports more detailed data than most other states. For example, the rate of identification in kindergarten in Boston grew from 14% to 18% between 2018 and 2024, while about an hour away in Worcester, the pre-K identification jumped far more, from 26% to 38%. Lake said this variation demonstrates that the approach to identification matters, but still 鈥渢here are more questions than answers on this front.鈥� 

Lake emphasized that while special populations may be struggling more acutely, many of the issues they face in the classroom are similar to those of their peers. 

鈥淲hile we鈥檙e seeing a lot of kids moving into special education right now, maybe we need to flip the narrative and think about solving for the kids with the most complex needs,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd if we can figure out how to do that, making sure that all kids can be successful.鈥�

A philanthropic initiative launched in 2022 to get students back on track from COVID learning loss is returning promising results, a new study suggests: just four weeks spent in the program last year helped students regain nearly one-fourth of their reading skills and one-third of math skills, compared to students who didn鈥檛 participate in the program.

The initiative, underwritten by and other funders, serves charter school students about to enter grades 1 through 9.  

Researchers at Arizona State University examined over 35,000 Summer Boost students in eight cities, finding that in just 22 days of programming, on average, students saw about three to four weeks of reading progress and about four to five weeks in math. In reading, that works out to making up about 22% of COVID learning losses; in math, it鈥檚 about 31%.

While students across all demographic groups got a boost, English Language Learners saw the strongest growth, achieving about seven to eight weeks worth of learning in just over four weeks. Researchers said students moving into grades 4-8 saw particularly accelerated growth.  

Students took part in the study in Baltimore, Birmingham, Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, New York City, San Antonio and Washington, D.C. 

Schools participating in Summer Boost are free to use either a provided curriculum or a high-quality one of their choice, but researchers found that about a third of schools used a 鈥渂alanced kind of curricular approach鈥� that reserved time for both academics and engaging enrichment activities, said ASU鈥檚 Geoffrey Borman, who led the research.

Schools that struck that balance, he said, had 鈥渢he most positive impacts for kids.鈥� 

In summer school more broadly, Borman noted, the biggest challenges are getting kids to show up and stay engaged across the summer 鈥� and attracting high-quality teachers at a time when 鈥渂oth teachers and kids would probably rather be on summer break.鈥�

To that end, schools in the program are encouraged to use as much of their budget as possible to pay teachers, said Sunny Larson, K-12 Education Program Lead at Bloomberg. The incentive, she added, 鈥渞eally got those veteran educators back into the classroom.鈥�

Many prioritized hiring teachers who had already worked with these students during the school year. That allowed a continuity 鈥渢hat I also think was beneficial,鈥� said Borman. 

Previous research suggests that pandemic recovery has essentially stalled for most students, with many needing the equivalent of about four more months in school to catch up to pre-pandemic levels. Ninth-graders need a full year of extra school to catch up, according to 2023 findings from the assessment provider NWEA.

Morgan Polikoff, a professor of education at the University of Southern California, said the findings were promising, but that he鈥檇 like to know whether the effects persist throughout the school year.

鈥淲hile I think many have the perception that summer school is rarely effective, these results show that well designed summer programs can indeed be a helpful tool to help catch children up or accelerate their growth,鈥� he said. The results suggest the impact of Summer Boost is 鈥渧ery promising 鈥� on par with regular school-year learning rates.鈥�

鈥楨ffective guardrails鈥� in place

The program includes at least 90 minutes each of English Language Arts and math instruction daily with a 25:1 student-teacher ratio. Summer programs must maintain an average daily attendance rate of 70% to get full funding 鈥� 鈥渆ffective guardrails鈥� that ensure high quality, Borman said.

While they have flexibility in how they recruit, they鈥檙e encouraged to seek out students who can most benefit. 

Summer Boost originated in 2022, when Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, likened stalled academic progress from the pandemic to 鈥渢he educational equivalent of long COVID.鈥�

鈥淪ummer is the most underused 鈥� and unequal 鈥� time of year educationally,鈥� said Harvard University researcher Thomas Kane, who served as an adviser to the research. 鈥淲ith so many students far behind, I hope this study inspires more school districts to expand their summer learning options.鈥�

Kane noted that to expand the school year beyond 180 days incentivizes districts 鈥渢o replace what students lost during the pandemic, which was instructional time.鈥� 

Kristen Huff, vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, whose helped gauge the program鈥檚 effectiveness, said she was glad to see its positive impact. 

鈥淭here is real urgency to use summer programs to provide specific, personalized support for struggling students so that they can return to school ready for grade-level work,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ssessing students relative to grade level standards is the most accurate way to understand where they are and what support they need.鈥�

Huff noted that Curriculum Associates will soon release research showing student academic growth 鈥渟till has a way to go鈥� to recover to pre-pandemic levels, especially for the youngest students. 鈥淭he Summer Boost program results underscore this, and show that when given the right supports, students can accelerate their learning.鈥�

In the new ASU study, researchers noted a few caveats. For instance, they admitted that the findings are based on only one year of data and can鈥檛 provide evidence of impact over time. It鈥檚 possible, they said, that the findings may change as more years of data are added and the sample size increases. 

They also noted that many student records in the sample were incomplete, missing either math or reading pre- or post-test scores.   

Also missing: key student demographic data, meaning that researchers couldn鈥檛 analyze all of the students鈥� scores in relation to indicators such as race, gender and socioeconomic status. And the data don鈥檛 include how students ended up in the program, limiting researchers鈥� ability to compare it to other types of summer learning programs that may have different enrollment requirements. 

But Borman noted that research on such large groups rarely yields such strong results, 鈥淎nd the fact that these outcomes are seen pretty consistently across thousands of kids and multiple cities, I think that lends even more power to these results.鈥�

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Michael Bloomberg’s party affiliation when he ran for president in 2020.

Higher education is under increased pressure to prove its value, and the pandemic presented us with an opportunity to reexamine outdated assumptions and approaches.

Opinion surveys capture part of the challenge. While the majority of Americans continue to trust in the value of higher education, the belief that colleges and universities have a positive effect on the country and local communities dropped from 69% in 2020 to 55% in 2022. This declining public trust, attributable to such factors as student debt and costs of attendance, underscores the work ahead. Here at ASU, as the New American University and a National Service University, we have centered the changing needs of students and their families as the pandemic pushed those needs to a new level.

We’re Responding to the Pandemic in Several Important Ways

Adjusting student support. The enforced isolation of the pandemic has delayed developmental milestones for many of our traditional-aged students, affecting their social development, emotional health, and cognitive readiness. Incoming students are displaying behavior we might expect of younger adolescents, with difficulties managing their daily responsibilities, challenges resolving interpersonal conflicts, and troubling incidents of violence, vandalism, and even vigilantism. Students who feel under-prepared for the learning environment may draw attention, albeit maladaptively, to their struggles.

We are testing several approaches to improve conduct, enhance safety, and promote success. In some of our residential settings, where we have noted an increase
in property destruction, our community assistants and community directors will ask students to set some of their own rules. Do you want quiet hours? If so, when? How should our common areas look? Do we establish a type of neighborhood watch? What happens to students who don鈥檛 abide by these expectations? Instead of rules imposed from above, students will be empowered to take the lead.

Another approach will be to increase the presence of our campus safety aides, students paid to circulate around campus and in the residential communities. They identify security risks (e.g., unlocked or propped doors, damage), and we have found their presence helps to deter problematic behavior. We are also moving toward the tightened access

controls that were more common during the pandemic, evaluating who needs access to what portions of the residential community or building.

To improve health, well-being, and student success, we are continuing some of the approaches
that the pandemic forced on us while expanding other supports. Notably, we will continue using technology to increase access to services, resources, and care at the times convenient for students. We expect to see continued use of Zoom advising appointments, telehealth, telecounseling, and texting. We are also expanding the use of our chatbot, Sunny, to deliver information and interact with students. Sunny has the ability to refer students to the appropriate resources and alert our teams to students in distress.

Expanding inclusive and compassionate learning practices. We are accelerating our efforts to redesign everything, from buildings to instruction, to serve the diverse range of students. Not only the nearly 10,000 students who receive disability resources or accommodations from us, but all students will benefit from increased flexibility in instruction and assessment. Instead of a test at the end of every course, what about allowing students to choose how to demonstrate mastery of material? Instead of insisting that all students come back to class now that the pandemic is over, how do we serve the students for whom remote learning was a godsend鈥攖hose students who would rarely speak in class but were avid users of the chat function on Zoom?

Compassionate and inclusive learning strategies can benefit everyone, yet they have an especially marked effect on students with disabilities and others who were disproportionately affected during the pandemic. Requiring students to document a disability in order to receive accommodations favors those with means, access, and resources. Inclusive learning practices challenge us to deliver content in a variety of ways, allowing students to engage with the materials and express their comprehension through
various mechanisms. If we want more students to succeed, compassionate and inclusive design should become the norm; thus, we are working closely with faculty to implement these practices.

Blurring the lines between K-12 and higher ed. Another way that higher education can capitalize
on this moment is to blur our lines with K-12. When students can get a degree faster through dual enrollment or credits for passing scores on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams, the financial and time investment may prove less daunting. Our ASU Preparatory Academy (ASU Prep; brick-and-mortar) and ASU Prep Digital offer ideal pathways for this kind of acceleration.

We can also move career exploration earlier in the educational journey, to middle school, helping students discover their interests and then mapping out possible choices and options. Knowing the relationship of a particular degree to a particular career will help connect the dots in meaningful ways. If students and their families understand that college increases the likelihood of a secure career, then we might have a chance to convince those critical of higher education that it still offers the most promising pathway for enhanced economic, social, physical, and emotional well-being.

This leap of faith requires that we address those students and their families who choose work over school for very immediate and understandable reasons. One solution that we offer students who tell us they need to work: 鈥淐ome work for us. We have no shortage of jobs on campus, plus you鈥檒l get a tuition benefit.鈥� This is a win-win for us and for them.

Prioritizing access. Despite the selectivity that many colleges maintain in order to increase their rankings, we must shift our focus to providing both accessible and excellent learning environments. Higher education has long needed to reconsider its admission requirements and allow students
to demonstrate readiness in different ways鈥攕uch as the test-optional admissions that increased significantly during the pandemic. Increased accessibility will help to ensure a diverse student population, contributing to a richer learning environment. We should also encourage and

empower the return of students who needed to step away from their studies during the pandemic. Furthermore, at ASU we have contemplated next steps for two other types of students: 1) those whose learning loss or disruptions during the pandemic may have kept them out of higher education institutions, and 2) those who may have long ago given up on the idea of a college degree. Opportunities like Earned Admission provide a reasonable and attainable pathway for entry into higher education.

Last year鈥檚 State of the American Student report observed, 鈥淎 public education system built for rigidity and sameness collapsed in the face of uncertainty and highly varied needs.鈥� A higher education system built upon the same principles encounters a similar dilemma. We must consider what subjects are best taught in what ways for what learners. Students shouldn鈥檛 feel forced to learn only in the ways that we find convenient but in ways they need, want, and can learn most effectively.

See more from the Center on Reinventing Public Education and its .

More than three years after the pandemic began, a crisis in teaching quality may be stalling academic recovery, new research shows. 

Faced with exhaustion, staffing shortages, and frequent student disruptions, many educators are using 鈥渙utdated and ineffective鈥� methods and content below grade level, according to a by the Center on Reinventing Public Education at Arizona State University, part of a research project done in conjunction with the RAND Corporation. 

Researchers analyzed interviews from 30 leaders, predominantly superintendents and chief academic officers, across five traditional districts and charter systems. 

To cover extra classes amid shortages, teachers lost prep periods and opportunities to collaborate with colleagues, the report found. Many went years without feedback from principal observations, and are managing higher rates of challenging student behavior. These challenges, and a tight labor market that leans on early career educators who don鈥檛 yet have the experience to weather them, are all contributing to the crisis.

As a result, educators reverted to older, more basic strategies. For instance, students were asked to work in groups without further direct instruction from the teacher; prompted to use screens or technology unnecessarily; and were frequently disengaged. 

鈥淛ust like we’re hearing about student learning loss, these leaders were seeing that their teachers were also experiencing teaching loss,鈥� said Lydia Rainey, who co-authored the last of four reports that explored how school leaders were responding to the pandemic with Paul Hill and Robin Lake.

Teaching quality is not solely responsible for the stall in academic progress 鈥� high dosage tutoring and technology supports, baked into recovery plans to help fill academic gaps, were ideals difficult to obtain in practice. 

It鈥檚 possible, too, that teachers鈥� classroom choices have been impacted by .  

鈥淲hen folks are stressed or depressed, or have not fully mastered what policy is asking them to do, they will revert to what they know. And what a lot of people know is how they went to school,鈥� Rainey said. 

Both researchers and the leaders they interviewed were shocked by how much the quality of instruction had suffered in the wake of the pandemic 鈥� something leaders didn鈥檛 anticipate when drafting recovery plans. 

鈥淣o one was thinking about this possibility, that teaching would suffer returning to school,鈥� Rainey added. 鈥淏eyond just these leaders, this was not in the national conversation about COVID recovery, either. This was a surprise to them and to us.鈥�

As one leader at a mid-sized, suburban district in the West summarized, there鈥檚 鈥渁 survival mode in teacher practice鈥� right now.  For an urban charter system leader on the East coast, 鈥淚t’s difficult to point to a model classroom at this point.鈥�

Staffing and mental health crises that put teachers under daily duress also strained efforts to boost instruction quality. Leaders knew teachers 鈥渨ere 鈥榚xhausted,鈥� and they worried about asking them to do more,鈥� according to the report.

Beyond the classroom, a compounding challenge is making accelerated learning a nearly impossible task: ambitious school district recovery plans have gone unrealized.

鈥淭utoring has been difficult, retention bonuses were ineffective, technology tools that they purchased didn鈥檛 work exactly as hoped,鈥� said Rainey.

Still, teachers were tasked with bringing pandemic learners back on track, without planned support from key interventions like quality high-dosage tutoring. 

In the 2022-23 school year, leaders diverted time and resources away from tutoring or other student interventions in order to rebuild teachers鈥� core skills.

The response, because resources are limited, 鈥渕eans there are few, if any, of the extra supports that research suggests will help the students who need them most,鈥� the report stated. 

Researchers recommend that federal Title I funding become more flexible, so that schools can afford both to address learning and teaching loss, and encourage states to subsidize and evaluate high quality tutoring options. 

Principals could continue to ask teachers directly about what supports they need and provide regular feedback from classroom observations, Rainey said. 

They also suggested leaders leverage quality resources already in their communities, like bringing parents in to tutor as has, and consider creative ways to support students who may graduate with core gaps in knowledge, like gap year programs.  

While findings are not representative of all U.S. public schools, they do provide some explanation behind in academic performance. Systems represented in the report serve 6,000 to 40,000, predominantly students of color and large proportions of low-income students.

鈥淭hese five systems are showing that they can鈥檛 get out of this on their own,鈥� said Rainey. 鈥淭his is really an all-hands-on-deck moment.鈥�