Vowing to “forge opportunity” out of the tragedy of the pandemic, education secretary nominee Miguel Cardona faced mostly friendly questioning from senators Wednesday in a confirmation hearing that focused largely on reopening schools, but also touched on the divisive question of whether transgender students should compete against girls in sports. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington...

Despite his clear election win, President Joe Biden has faced staunch rejection by many state and federal Republican policymakers. If he cannot find opportunities to build political capital with Republicans quickly, his administration, the planned COVID-19 response and American democracy are in jeopardy. If Biden hopes to rebuild bridges and end the political polarization that...

It’s a foundational premise of the American dream: that through hard work and diligent study, young people can use education to access opportunities that were denied to their parents. However, mounting evidence suggests that segregation — not just by race, but also by income — within the school system may stymie those meritocratic aspirations. Income-based...

This essay originally appeared on the FutureEd blog. Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos touted the Trump administration’s controversial Title IX rule that increased protections for students accused of sexual harassment as one of her most significant accomplishments. In a farewell letter to Congress, she urged legislators to uphold the rule. While the Biden administration...

Many teachers and students are struggling with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. And with a new, nationally representative survey of school district leaders confirming that remote coursework is likely here to stay, school systems are going to need to apply the lessons from their forced experiments with remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic to...

President Joe Biden’s nomination of Miguel Cardona for education secretary has been largely well received. But his choice for the number two spot at the department is prompting some objections from education interest groups. Charter school leaders and some members of the Black community have sounded alarms over the nomination of Cindy Marten, superintendent of...

Michael Kadisha wanted to make it easy for students to engage in meaningful community service. So last year, the 26-year-old entrepreneur launched the Treedom app, helping to connect high school students to local partners. But while Treedom had some early success after its fall 2019 launch, its entire model was built upon in-person connections. The...

With millions of students still lacking reliable internet to complete their assignments and interact with teachers, the incoming Biden administration is expected to take multiple steps to address the digital divide, according to sources who have participated in conversations with the transition team. Bart Epstein, CEO of the nonprofit EdTech Evidence Exchange, said he understands...

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, school districts and public health experts have sought to solve a key missing link for safe in-person learning: how to identify asymptomatic COVID-19 cases among students and staff. Asymptomatic carriers might come into school buildings and transmit the virus unknowingly, officials worry. In Los Angeles, the district superintendent...

The damage wrought to American education by the COVID-19 pandemic beggars description, and so we are reduced to metaphor: Schools have been hit by an earthquake, a hurricane, a war. There is a need for disaster relief for children who have lost precious time in school and are traumatized by the effects of COVID-19 on...