Even pre-pandemic, teachers were creative when choosing instructional materials to use with students. When presented with a recommended or even required curriculum, RAND research has found, teachers exercised great autonomy in modifying teaching materials and finding additional resources to supplement them. So, what do teachers want when it comes to instructional materials, particularly now? Knowing...

Luis Martinez, an 11-year-old fifth grader with autism, rarely missed a day of school before the pandemic. Though non-verbal, he delighted in seeing his friends and teachers, and his mother, who quit her job five years ago to care for him, was thrilled for his small gains in communication. But that all changed during the...

As families nationwide fret about “COVID learning loss” due to months of remote instruction and uncertain class schedules, key educators are advocating an unusual remedy: a national volunteer tutoring force, a sort of digital Peace Corps meets Homework Helpers. Three former U.S. education secretaries — Margaret Spellings, Arne Duncan, and John King — have endorsed...

It can be difficult to see the bright spots in this challenging year, but for those of us who work to engage college students in civic life, it has been heartening to see the explosion of activism and informed dialogue around the elections, public health and racial justice. Amid pandemic lockdowns and social distancing, these...

The $130 billion for K-12 in President Joe Biden’s proposed relief plan doesn’t cover the full price tag of what the administration thinks it will cost to reopen schools, according to a White House breakdown of expenses. The various categories, such as $50 billion for reducing class sizes and $3 billion for school nurses, total...

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...