The Chinese high school leaving exam’s English section is more challenging—in a foreign language—than SAT reading passages. —Yascha Mounk, Substack “A century ago, men stepped up to build spaces for boys and were cheered on for doing so.
Many pundits claim that the charter schools sector once had great potential for innovation, but because of dastardly authorizers and other red-tape-loving bureaucrats, charters instead became overly cautious, impeding innovation in a way that has hamstrung and limited the entire charter school movement. Is that true?
One could argue that the University of Virginia cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham is one of the most influential Americans of the 21st century. Willingham has observed that we have learned more about how people learn in the last 25 years than in the previous 2,500 combined.
States can play a powerful role in improving student learning by improving instruction. I know this from my experience working at a state agency and from observing how the districts and schools that partner with my organization, Instruction Partners, orient to the expectations and initiatives of their state agencies.
The four-day school week has become one of the fastest-growing trends in American K–12 education, particularly in rural communities. By 2023, roughly 850 districts across 24 states had adopted the shorter week, up from about 600 before the pandemic.
Alternative certification programs can help schools to fill vacant teaching roles with eager and promising teaching candidates.
On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, just 30 percent of eighth-graders were proficient in read
Five years post-pandemic, chronic absenteeism remains widespread across income and achievement levels. —The Hechinger Report The new federal voucher program sparks state-level political debates nationwide.
If reading truly makes us smarter, then picture books are where smart begins. They give children access to sophisticated language, teach them how stories work, and lay the groundwork for background knowledge and cultural literacy.
Education savings accounts in Texas. Open enrollment in Missouri. Each week seems to bring a new story and more education options for American students.
In her memoir, Dear Diary Boy: An Exacting Mother, Her Free-Spirited Son, and Their Bittersweet Adventures in an Elite Japanese School, author Kumiko Makihara recounts her son Taro’s experience attending first through sixth grade in her home country of Japan.
The education and healthcare sectors are doomed to face low productivity and rising wages.
What if a federal program reached four fifths of K–12 students nationwide for just 70 cents each, yielded a 9-to-1 return, seed-funded over 100 entrepreneurial education technology startups, and introduced AI and other novel solutions in classrooms? Skeptics might rightly raise an eyebrow.
Once upon a time, governors were the most potent drivers of K–12 education reform in America. It started in the ’80s, propelled by leaders on both side of the aisle. Today is different. As choice-focused reforms burgeon in red states, there’s backsliding almost everywhere when it comes to standards, assessment and accountability, leadership is scarce, and bipartisanship is rare indeed. Could a new NGA report represent a return to form?
Much of the education world is obsessed these days (and rightly so) with preparing students for the world of work.
Since ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in November 2022, educators have grappled with how and whether to engage AI for student writing.
For more than twenty-five years, Florida has been ground zero for school choice expansion. Among the many options for families are charter schools, private schools, tax-credit programs, microschools, ESAs, vouchers for students with special needs, homeschooling, and more.
A national tiny home construction contest highlights the power of hands-on CTE to engage students and prepare them for real-world success.
Will Democratic leaders opt their states into the new federal school choice provision, allowing families to accept scholarships that are funded by charitable donations from taxpayers nationwide? Or will they bow to the demands of the teachers unions and bar the schoolhouse door instead, creating a grand opportunity for GOP candidates running against them?
Over the last few years, schools and teachers have begun to realize the importance of building students’ background knowledge when it comes to new learning.
On Tuesday, the second week of state testing, I noticed an unfamiliar name on my roster. That was the day I met Darius. While it can be challenging to help transfer students get acclimated and caught up, it’s also a joy for me to get to know them. Some of my fondest memories come from students who arrived mid-year and found a good fit.
The future of the U.S. economy and workforce relies on effective STEM education, and that education begins with the basics.
Inside Peggy Carr’s final days as commissioner of NCES, plus her thoughts on the agency’s uncertain future.
Cheers A group of Senate Republicans took a stand against the (potentially illegal) delayed release of nearly $7 billion in federal grants for schools. —Politico Jeers
Writing in National Review, Audrey Fahlberg describes efforts by Republican governors in a growing number of states to ban candy and soda from purchases paid for with federal SNAP benefits—the program formerly known as Food Stamps. Will they apply the same standard to awful schools and fraudulent providers that are supported by payments generated by federal tax credits and state-level voucher and ESA programs?
Both supporters and detractors of a landmark education provision in the newly passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act have framed it, primarily, as a new funding stream to help families pay for private school.
