Public Sector, Education & Research

Dahlem-Marienau – September 13, 2026 -- One in four 15-year-olds in Germany now fails to meet basic science competency standards, according to the newly released PISA 2026 study, which recorded the country's worst results since the assessment began. In response, private boarding school Schule Marienau in Lower Saxony is investing roughly €800,000 in a new STEM facility designed to reverse the decline in scientific literacy among students.

PISA 2026 data show only 10% of German students rank as high performers in science

The study found science performance at an all-time low nationally, with the top-performing segment stagnant while the broader student base loses ground. Marienau's leadership frames the results as a structural problem rather than statistical noise, arguing that schools have shifted too far from applied, problem-solving education toward rote knowledge transfer.

Berlin – September 13, 2026 -- German Education Minister Karin Prien is preparing cabinet proposals for an age restriction on social media platforms, citing a direct link between screen time and Germany's weak PISA test results.

Prien ties declining literacy to social media use

Speaking on rbb24 Inforadio on Wednesday, the CDU politician said children's shrinking attention spans, lack of endurance, and inability to read for comprehension are connected to social media and screen time. She argued the digital and AI era demands stronger safeguards against declining critical thinking among students.

Cabinet proposal expected within weeks

Prien confirmed she will present concrete legislative proposals to the German cabinet in the coming weeks, combining an age restriction with expanded media literacy education in schools.

Los Angeles – September 13, 2026 -- Changing Perspectives, a national non-profit focused on K-12 inclusion, will be featured on "All Access hosted by Andy Garcia," with filming scheduled for September 13, 2026, according to a production announcement.

Broadcast targets systemic gaps in special education resourcing

The segment examines how schools use qualitative and quantitative metrics to identify institutional needs and address shortages in special education support. Traditional rigid classroom models struggle to support varied cognitive, behavioral, and communication profiles, according to the organization, leaving reactive, siloed interventions in place of proactive institutional design.

Wiesbaden – September 13, 2026 -- Germany's youth welfare authorities granted 174,000 integration assistance measures for children and young adults with mental disabilities in 2024, more than double the 80,800 recorded in 2014, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

Spending on integration aid triples to €3.5 billion in a decade

Federal, state and municipal expenditure on these measures for minors reached €3.5 billion in 2024, up from €1.1 billion in 2014. Their share of total child and youth welfare spending on individual and group assistance rose from 8% to 12% over the same period. Overall child and youth welfare spending climbed 108% to €78.8 billion between 2014 and 2024.

Frederick, Md. – September 13, 2026 -- PeerTrust has launched a public researcher due-diligence service, PeerTrust.Report, that flags anomalies in citation records used by universities, research funders, insurers and science investors to make hiring, funding and partnership decisions.

Know Your Scientist tool screens for three citation anomaly types

The new Know Your Scientist (KYS) module examines coauthor network concentration, reciprocal citation relationships, and abrupt publication velocity changes. PeerTrust weighs these signals into an evidence-based report intended for human review rather than automated verdicts. An unusual pattern does not constitute a finding of misconduct, as legitimate factors such as consortium publishing or rapid team growth can also generate anomalies.

Littleton, Colo. – September 13, 2026 -- Dr. Angie Paccione, Chief Impact Officer of Verus Global, has been named a Pinnacle Professional of The Year by The Inner Circle for her work in transformational leadership, education advocacy and global impact.

Paccione leads leadership programs for Fortune 300 clients through Verus Global

In her role at Verus Global, Paccione designs and delivers large-scale executive coaching and culture-transformation initiatives for Fortune 300 companies and global organizations across multiple continents. Her programs focus on leadership alignment, executive facilitation and activating workforce potential to drive measurable performance results.

San Diego – September 13, 2026 -- Regpack, an online registration and payment platform, has launched Program Insights, a real-time dashboard that tracks enrollment and family retention while a program season is still underway.

Dashboard tracks enrollment fill rates and returning families in real time

Program Insights lets directors watch enrollment percentages populate by class as sign-ups come in, identify which sessions are nearing capacity, and see which families from the previous season have re-enrolled and which have not.

Tool flags exact drop-off points in registration forms

The platform identifies where prospective participants abandon the sign-up process. If a class loses most of its interest at a specific step, that step becomes visible, allowing directors to adjust the form, wording, or pricing and measure whether subsequent sign-up groups complete registration.

Melbourne, Australia – September 13, 2026 -- UNSW Sydney has selected D2L Brightspace as its new institution-wide learning platform, a multi-year deal set to reach more than 80,000 learners and thousands of educators.

UNSW ranks #19 globally in the 2027 QS World University Rankings and taps D2L for full-scale digital overhaul

UNSW, Australia's top-ranked university and a member of the Group of Eight, will deploy D2L Brightspace as the foundation of a redesigned digital learning environment covering both on-campus and flexible learning pathways.

Rollout bundles four D2L products, including AI tools Lumi Chat, Lumi Tutor and Lumi Feedback

The deployment spans D2L Brightspace, the Creator+ content tool with more than 50 H5P interactive content types, the Lumi suite of AI-driven tutoring and feedback tools, and the Performance+ analytics dashboard for tracking learner engagement and retention.

Lincoln, Nebraska – September 13, 2026 -- Nelnet Government Services said its ADA Web Accessibility Consulting services are now listed on Civic Marketplace, letting state and local agencies procure compliance work without issuing a new request for proposal ahead of Department of Justice deadlines set for April 2027 and April 2028.

Cooperative contract removes the RFP bottleneck for public agencies

Nelnet's services were awarded through the Alliance for Innovation (AFI) cooperative purchasing program, meaning they have already been competitively solicited under public procurement rules. Listing on Civic Marketplace lets eligible cities, counties, school districts, and other public agencies access Nelnet's pre-negotiated pricing directly, cutting a process that typically consumes about a year down to an immediate purchase.

Lakeland – September 12, 2026 -- The Detroit Tigers and Florida Polytechnic University are launching a partnership that embeds a university faculty member directly inside a Major League Baseball performance science unit, aiming to convert academic data research into operational decisions on player health and injury prevention.