New research from Jon Valant, Ariell Bertrand, Rachel M. Perera, and Nicolas Zerbino examines how COVID, culture-war conflicts, and political tensions have impacted America's school boards—and how board members themselves feel about serving during this pivotal moment.

I wrote about the quiet erosion of the five day school week. Take Wake County Public Schools, for example, where students will experience only two uninterrupted five-day instructional weeks in Sept, Nov, Dec, and Mar next year. I worry we haven't fully considered the costs of this policy choice.

In this blog post, I put together an updated dataset of how colleges have fared over the last decade on: --Net margin --Enrollment --State appropriations --Endowments Most colleges struggled with enrollment, but appropriations and endowment were generally strong. Play around with the data!

Kudos to my brilliant colleagues on their new report "America's school boards"! Using original surveys, media reports, & voter data, Jon Valant, Rachel Perera, Nico Zerbino & Ariell Bertrand dive into "the most accessible of our democratic institutions" www.brookings.edu/collection/a...

Turns out it is possible to make financial aid simpler for students! The FAFSA is working, more students are applying for and qualifying to college, and qualifying for aid. @donmoyn.bsky.social was nice enough to have me guest author for Can We Still Govern donmoynihan.substack.com/p/good-news-...

🚨 Getting state ‘free college’ right: Design choices that matter In a new report, @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social and I highlight what we know about state free college and suggest how policymakers can update programs for a changing higher education landscape: www.brookings.edu/articles/get...

Reflecting on #AEFP2026: @dbassok.bsky.social, Michal & I talk about the amazing work the @aefpweb.bsky.social community is doing 💗 Many thanks to the @brookings.edu team, especially Jon Valant, @rachelmarisa.bsky.social & Mike Hansen for helpful feedback. www.brookings.edu/articles/reb...

New data for the 2024 election and the 119th Congress is available here: www.brookings.edu/articles/vit...

Checking in on the Department of Education - a year(ish) into the second Trump administration and ahead of SOTU tomorrow, we looked back at what has happened to ED and what you might expect in the year ahead www.brookings.edu/articles/faq...

🚨Sharing my newest post - A coordinated retreat from college access: What TRIO and GEAR UP cuts reveal www.brookings.edu/articles/a-c...

A new report warns that AI poses a serious threat to children's cognitive development and emotional well-being. n.pr/4pA3kkl

It would appear I am now a columnist at Inside Higher Ed. My first piece focuses on McCarthyism, censorship, and our current moment in higher education. This is an essay I started nearly 6 months ago so I'm glad to finally share it with y'all. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

Addressing these questions requires a team effort. To that end, we're hiring a postdoc to start summer 2026. Please submit your materials by the end of the month and/or share the posting: postdocs.stanford.edu/prospective/...

The D.C. region saw the largest increase in home sale listings of any major metro area, according to the Brookings Institution. 2025 has changed the “trajectory of the District’s economy,” said one expert. Here's why:

This !@#$% year in review: the wrecking ball that was February 2025 brought the abrupt end to many Institute of Education Sciences contracts for data collection, evaluation and research. www.brookings.edu/articles/cut... 🧵

We first note that hand-wringing about the decline in US college enrollments has mistakenly linked such declines to the price of four-year colleges. But the decline is entirely driven by two-year community colleges (and by for-profit colleges). The four-year sector is the dog that didn't bark.

This Thanksgiving, my eight year old is thankful for quality higher ed 😂 We’ll maybe hold off on debt-to-earnings conversations until she’s a few years older…

The “professional” loan limit discourse this past week has been wild. I wrote up some thoughts on what recent policies and neg-reg actions actually mean and what impacts on graduate studies we should be focusing on: www.brookings.edu/articles/def...

5/5 Bottom line: extreme heat is undermining teacher productivity and reshaping learning in ways we’ve totally missed. As heat waves become more common, schools with older workforces or weak cooling systems will be especially vulnerable. Climate change is already affecting American teachers.

📢 New postdoc opportunity at Annenberg! The Annenberg Institute is seeking a postdoctoral research associate for a 2‐year appointment to join a diverse community of scholars committed to educational equity and improvement! More info here: annenberg.brown.edu/opportunitie...

📢 #EdWorkingPapers: Behind the scenes of student success interventions: Faculty & staff collaborate and make key changes that strengthen low-touch supports 🔍@ellenbryer.bsky.social, @catherinematah.bsky.social, @katharinemeyer.bsky.social & @linzpage.bsky.social 📄 edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1314

NEWS (?): The formula that USDA has asked states to use to get to 50 percent of SNAP benefits *does not produce a number that is 50 percent of benefits* for any family that has net income. Illustrative example below. www.fns.usda.gov/snap/benefit...

This is my last week at the Wall Street Journal. I'll be returning to Chalkbeat to launch a new section focused on the big ideas and debates in American education. More on this soon! You can sign up to keep following my work here: www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/...

Haven't been on Bluesky in awhile, but popping in to say I wrote a policy piece based on my transfer paper for @brookings.edu Chalkboard! Many thanks to @econsarahreber.bsky.social, @katharinemeyer.bsky.social, & Michael Hansen for the opportunity and the editing. www.brookings.edu/articles/com...

📢 #EdWorkingPapers: Do RCTs in higher ed risk contamination? From a large in-person college course intervention, @catherinematah.bsky.social, @katharinemeyer.bsky.social & @linzpage.bsky.social show when individual-level randomization is preferred 📄 Full paper here: edworkingpapers.com/ai24-1083

Join us for an online @brookings.edu event Mon 9/15 @ 4PM, ET to discuss the state of the Trump administration's K-12 education agenda with education & legal scholars & civil rights attorneys. Submit questions in advance via email or the registration form! www.brookings.edu/events/what-...

"At a time when schools are in dire need of more resources and support, the Court has added only more challenges to their plate," says @rachelmarisa.bsky.social. Experts on education law and policy share their reactions to some of the Supreme Court’s decisions this term.

New at @pseocoalition.bsky.social, @julia-turner.bsky.social & I have a new report on grad school debt & earnings over the medium term. For some key professional fields (🩺⚖️🦷💊🐾), we show the varied patterns both within & across areas of study, looking at the first decade of earnings after graduation

Lawfare is hiring! We are looking for a new full-time senior editor. Responsibilities of the role include contributing analysis of key issues in national security law and policy and more. The ideal candidate will have a professional background in journalism, law, policy, or academia.

Pell grant cuts threaten state college access goals In my latest, I explain how the multipronged cuts to federal financial aid would shift costs to states, who in turn will likely have to shift costs to students to take on more debt or forego college www.brookings.edu/articles/pel...

Terrific new WP from @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social examining the composition of higher education governing boards (pretty timely topic...).

Governing boards are at the center of every higher ed story these days. What do we know about board governance? What does board composition look like nationwide, and how is it shaped by partisan appointments? My new working paper introduces new data to these questions: edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1212

One of the best explainers on higher education reconciliation proposals I've seen so far (and there are a lot of good ones out there!)

Our EEPA paper on the media's role in shaping our understanding of student loans, race, and racism is here! Email me if you don't have access & want a copy. One of my fav papers for a few reasons but, most of all, it's my first paper with my husband 😍 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...

NAGB just voted (reluctantly) to kill several NAEP exams over the next 10 yrs. Cuts: 1) No Long-Term Trend NAEP at all until 2033. 2) No 4th grade science in 2028 and no 12th grade science in 2032. 3) Writing scrapped altogether. 4) No 12th grade history in 2030 (1/3)

With all of the targeting of higher ed, it's critical that we have a good understanding of who governs our institutions - I wrote this piece for Brookings to summarize what we know. I also show some new data on the politics and representativeness of public boards. www.brookings.edu/articles/und...

🚨New from @isabelmcmullen.bsky.social-"The political stakes of who sits on university boards." Isabel does brilliant work documenting who sits on public college and university governing boards - and how those boards reflect (or don't!) student and faculty bodies www.brookings.edu/articles/und...

🚨Earlier this month, Jon Valant and I sat down with former Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona. Five years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Cardona reflects on leading through the national emergency and shares his thoughts on the future of ED www.brookings.edu/articles/a-c...

Are you, or do you know, a recent or soon-to-be college grad who's interested in research and deep dives on Congress? @sarahbinder.bsky.social and I are hiring an RA to start this summer. More info here: careers-brookings.icims.com/jobs/3627/re...

Amidst all the chaos and upheaval in the education policy world, @annenberginstitute.bsky.social will be hiring several senior research associates in the coming months. Hopefully this helps some of the stellar education policy people find their footing again!

An executive order or other unilateral executive action that “eliminates” the Department of Education would unambiguously violate the law, say @katharinemeyer.bsky.social, @rachelmarisa.bsky.social, @econsarahreber.bsky.social, and Jon Valant.

New tenure-track school psych job at Montclair State! montclair.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/JobOpp... You'd be working in the same college as @wcastillophd.bsky.social!

NCES released school year (SY) 2022-23 Common Core of Data (CCD) Dropouts Public- and Restricted-Use Data Files nces.ed.gov/use-work/res...

Come to hear @sarahbinder.bsky.social and I weigh in on what’s happened to our system of checks and balances, stay to listen us debate whether our jokes are funny. www.brookings.edu/articles/how...

🚨 Join us this Fri 2/28 @ 1:30PM, ET for an online webinar with education and legal scholars, including experts in civil rights enforcement, to discuss the legality of the Department of Education's Feb 14 Dear Colleague Letter & the potential threat of enforcement. www.brookings.edu/events/what-...

Breaking: CA students have more time to apply for state financial aid after a key deadline moved from March 3 to April 2. There's a 25% drop in HS student fin aid apps compared to this time in past years. Context: Many students fear Trump's immigration enforcement plans may target their families.

Two new pieces in our series on why we have and need a US Department of Education! First up, from the past, current, and presidents-elect of AEFP and SREE - "Cutting research funding would make education less effective and efficient" www.brookings.edu/articles/cut...

Heading to #AEFP2025? We've been thinking a lot about what's happening at the Institute of Education Sciences and what it means for the field. More news coming soon on programming updates. For now, some thoughts with our SREE colleagues www.brookings.edu/articles/cut...

Why we have and need a US Department of Education 🚨 New from @brookings.edu scholars, an initiative to walk through the federal role in education, particularly the ongoing need for a Department of Education and all it does www.brookings.edu/collection/w...

With so many crazy things happening, focusing on them all is impossible. So, I am trying to pay attention to the things I have expertise The new admin floated handing over FAFSA and student loan repayment guidance to AI. Here is why that is a terrible idea #EduSky www.newamerica.org/education-po...