Progress for some Detroit schools, lifelong learning for seniors, a new city: What Education Lab is reading

There’s no need to dread a gloomy, rainy weekend when you can stay in and get cozy with these education reads. Hot toddy, fireplace and cat optional.

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Improvement in a tough place

Michigan’s worst schools — including some in Detroit, which then-U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan once called “arguably the worst” — are making progress, the Detroit News reports. One school that was almost closed is now thriving. A year into a new management model that involves partnering with the state, Michigan’s lowest performers have “early successes but also some challenges,” the News writes. At first, schools that were identified as low-performing saw a slight dip in outcomes, but that changed.

Lifelong education

A 22-year-old recent college graduate created a company, Viva Vita, that uses virtual reality to show different parts of the world to elderly men and women. The Washington Post follows several Virginia seniors through their journeys, which involved elephants, boats and Antarctica’s ice caps. One woman said she’s looking forward to exploring Ireland.

A city of their own

Residents of Louisiana’s East Baton Rouge Parish recently voted to create a new city, St. George, that supporters hope will eventually control its own schools and tax collection. It started years ago as an effort to create a new school district, and eventually morphed into a plan for a separate city. The measure had only 54% of voters’ support, but, The New York Times reports, it “illustrated just how strongly many residents wanted to separate themselves from Baton Rouge.” Critics say it’s a way for the white and wealthy to create their own municipalities, separate from poor and more diverse residents.