DOGE tore down the Education Department’s research and statistical agency. Now some in the Trump administration are pushing to rebuild it A year ago, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency swept into the Department of Education and devastated its research arm, the Institute of Education…

Politicians say left-wing professors push their views. New poll shows students don’t see it that way. Conservative politicians warn of “woke” college campuses, where liberal professors teach their opinions and stifle any dissent. Their concerns have led them to get involved in the day-to-day…

As business costs rise, child care programs are increasing tuition to survive It’s becoming markedly more expensive to run a child care business. And as public funding fails to keep up with inflation, those costs are getting passed on to families that in many cases can’t afford to pay more. Those…

Are microschools a solution to falling public school enrollment? One district thinks so GREENFIELD, Ind. — Seventh grader Taitym Lynch plans most of her school day herself, mapping out a schedule each morning on her school laptop. She typically starts with math when her brain is sharpest, logging…

TEACHER VOICE: We don’t have a math problem in Arkansas or in the United States. We have a culture problem For 23 years, I’ve taught high school math. And for 23 years, I’ve been told by people that they either are a “math person” or they are not. I get it: Math isn’t easy. Movies and TV shows…

Educators ‘climatize’ their classes to prepare students for work and life on a warming planet About four years ago, Holly Bailey-Hofmann’s English 101 class at West Los Angeles College got a complete makeover. She’d signed up to be part of a pilot program for professors interested in infusing…

Conservative-leaning civic centers now teach courses at public colleges COLUMBUS, Ohio — One glossy insert stuck out from the orientation packet handed to hundreds of Ohio State University freshmen last August. It advertised a tempting offer: Students could earn a $4,000 scholarship — close to a…

With reading scores slipping, Massachusetts is changing course. Some teachers aren’t happy WAKEFIELD, Mass. — One winter morning at the Woodville School in this town about 15 miles north of Boston, teacher Danielle Masse was guiding her class of kindergartners through a lesson on identifying the…

Parents trust report cards more than test scores — with consequences for kids Most parents want to help their children succeed. We check report cards, ask about homework and try to help our kids study. When that fails, we sometimes hire tutors. But in an era of rising grades, it’s easy to be…

OPINION: There is no clear strategy to prepare U.S. high schoolers for life after graduation, and that must change U.S. high schools and districts need to treat college and career readiness as a core, systemic responsibility — not an add-on. Sure, they are working hard to better prepare students…

Alabama made a big investment in elementary math, but underresourced schools still have a long way to go GREENVILLE, Ala. — Toward the end of a math lesson on a sunny Friday in October, fourth-grade teacher D’Atra Howard and math instructional coach LaVeda Gray ducked out of the classroom to…

Inside the fight to save Texas’ Native American studies course Savion Horn watched as “before” and “after” images appeared on a screen at the front of his classroom: black-and-white photos of boys and girls, much younger than him and his classmates, first with faces framed by long hair and…

OPINION: Want to get young people excited about learning? Give them hands-on programs, mentors and skills that lead to good careers Sitting in a classroom and being lectured day after day is no way to excite young people about learning. Students want educational experiences that engage them, link…

What’s behind explosive student behavior? Last summer, I was visiting a Head Start center in rural Ohio when a teacher offhandedly mentioned to me that student behavior has become markedly worse since the pandemic. The teacher was confident she knew why: too much time on iPads at home. The comment…

Biting, kicking, wandering the classroom: Teachers say there’s a rise in misbehavior even among the littlest kids SAN MATEO, Calif. — School had been in session at Lead Elementary for less than an hour, but already Andrea Quinn had paused teaching her first graders nearly 20 times. First, there…

When school size matters and when it doesn’t For two decades, New York City’s small high schools stood out as one of the nation’s most ambitious — and controversial — urban education reforms. Now, a long-term study provides a clearer picture of their successes and disappointments. In the early…

OPINION: Pathways for future scientists are becoming scarce, threatening a strong and innovative workforce When I was 17, I didn’t know a single scientist. I did not grow up around labs, research universities or people who talked about things like “STEM pathways.” The only reason I am a scientist…

The greening of career education: Students learn new skills they’ll need as climate change advances GREENVILLE, S.C. — On one end of the classroom, high school juniors examined little green sprouts — future baby carrots, sprigs of romaine lettuce — poking out of the soil of a drip irrigation…

Inside one state’s approach to fighting antisemitism in schools The town of Concord, famed for its Revolutionary War history, has highly rated public schools, standing out even in the already high-performing state of Massachusetts. But in June of last year, they were singled out in a negative way…

After affirmative action: Four takeaways — and puzzles — from college admissions data Most people believed that the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to end affirmative action in higher education admissions would cause a big drop in Black and Hispanic enrollment at the nation’s top colleges. What…

This state tried to overhaul math instruction. It didn’t go as planned LEHI, Utah — It was the last class before Thanksgiving break, and high school math teacher Sarah Gale was dishing out more than her usual lessons on data science. “I can smell it,” said one student, pressing her sleeve to her…

Getting in is getting easier Think getting into college is all but impossible? Think again. Sure, the most selective institutions still take only a tiny fraction of the people who apply to them. But at almost all the rest, the odds of getting in are good — and getting better. That’s because…

Without school vaccine mandates, many kids may never see a doctor Every December brings an end-of-year crush to Washington, D.C.’s pediatric clinics. In addition to the usual culprits — colds, the flu, RSV — that’s also the time when the city school district issues notices reminding parents of…

OPINION: Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance should last well beyond halftime and extend to classrooms  During Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show, my family, a mix of Filipinos and Cubans, was a hot and beautiful mess. We deeply resonated with the unapologetic pride, critical history and cultural…

Easy A’s, lower pay: Grade inflation’s hidden damage For more than three decades, grades in American schools and colleges have been going up, up, up. A’s are more common. Failure is rarer than it once was. At the same time, student achievement, as measured by standardized tests like the ACT and…

Funding cuts, shifts in aid could make college harder to afford for low-income families It was in the quiet of the summer when Jeff Kahlden heard that a promising young student he advised in a rural high school west of Fort Worth, Texas, was in trouble. The boy was left with no place to live after…

OPINION: Community colleges are uniquely positioned to train the nation’s AI workforce Every industrial revolution begins by creating a new middle class. The steam engine, for example, didn’t just replace blacksmiths; it generated a workforce of machinists, engineers and factory supervisors who…

Kindergarten readiness varies widely by income, new data shows. Cities are stepping in to help This story was produced by the Associated Press and reprinted with permission. SAN ANTONIO — Sandra Mosqueda watched with an amused smile as her 2-year-old son, Atreus, began sweeping the floor with a…

Parental stress, raids, and isolation: How immigration raids traumatize even the youngest children Last year, Susana Beltrán-Grimm was visiting Hispanic families for a research project about parents and math, when she started to notice a trend. Parents didn’t want to talk about math with the…

College admissions offices take on a new role: Coaxing accepted students to show up MINNEAPOLIS — Kathy Cabrera Guaman not only survived the nail-biting process of applying to college; she got into three. But the celebrations were short-lived. Now she was sitting somberly and absorbing how much…

Hispanic-serving colleges scramble to fill gaps left by federal grant cuts CHICO, Calif. — As an undergraduate studying psychology at California State University, Chico, Gabriel Muñoz thought that his degree might lead him to a career in human resources. Not because he was excited about that…

OPINION: The pipeline for women education leaders is broken. They need real systems of support and sponsorship In matters both big and small, women in education leadership are treated, spoken to and viewed differently than their male colleagues. And it impacts everything from their assignments and…

When the Spanish flu upended universities, students paid the price In the fall of 1918, Edward Kidder Graham, the president of the University of North Carolina, tried to reassure anxious parents. The Spanish flu was spreading rapidly, but Graham insisted the university was doing all it could to…

OPINION: Shuttering public schools is a strategy that rarely saves much money and often leads to test score declines As a researcher who studies school closings and counsels local districts facing closure decisions, I know the pressures are multiple. Many districts are facing dropping enrollments.…

She offers free child care after disasters. It’s a lifeline as families rebuild their lives This story was produced by The 19th and reprinted with permission. When Hurricane Helene swept through Kelsey Crabtree’s small hometown of Black Mountain, North Carolina, two years ago, its fierce winds…

OPINION: On a college campus in Minneapolis, a sense of danger and anxiety prevails  Spring semester at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, where I serve as president, began with the sound of helicopters on January 20 — one year after the second Trump inauguration, two weeks after the killing of…

OPINION: The debate over AI in education is stuck. Let’s move it forward in responsible ways that truly serve students Artificial intelligence is already reshaping how we work, communicate and create. In education, however, the conversation is stuck. Sensational headlines make it seem like AI will…

5 big questions to help you understand the current state of student loans Washington is sending confusing and even contradictory signals to people with student loans. New repayment plans, reversals on wage garnishment for people in default and trouble getting staffers on the phone to clear up…

Their value attacked and funding cut, universities and colleges start fighting back A narrator speaks over images of busy cityscapes, children playing in a field and ominous scenes of natural disasters and civil unrest. “There’s no sugarcoating it,” the deep voice warns. “America’s future is under…

STUDENT VOICES: Two recent college graduates have a message to their 17-year-old selves: Don’t go it alone Like millions of students across the country, we recently graduated from college. We know how unlikely this moment once seemed. It wasn’t easy to get to college in the first place, let alone…

Young, employed — and unhappy For decades, economists could rely on a comforting graph about happiness over a lifetime: It followed a U-shape, like a smile. Young people were carefree and happy. Middle age was rough but joy returned again in old age. This wasn’t a flimsy finding. More than 600…

OPINION: After studying early childhood education for decades, I have some advice for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani  New York’s youthful mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is buoying the hopes of families and educators, boldly seeking to create universally available child care starting when infants turn…

Educating teachers to use AI without harming the planet  This story appeared in our climate and education newsletter. Sign up here. I’m one of those rare people (there are others out there, right?) who have yet to try ChatGPT or any other generative artificial intelligence program. Part of my…

Fear, arrests and know-your-rights: How one school district is grappling with ICE coming to town NEW HAVEN, Conn. — “They took her, they took her, they took her.” Those were some of the words Assistant Principal Cora Muñoz could discern while on the phone with the guardian of one of her students.…

Trump’s national school voucher program could mean a boom in Christian education LACONIA, N.H. — Three dozen 4- and 5-year-olds trooped out onto the stage of the ornate, century-old Colonial Theatre of Laconia in this central New Hampshire town. Dressed in plaid, red, green and sparkles, some were…

Homeless kids get special treatment at Boston-area child care center To an untrained eye, the “gross motor room” at the Edgerley Family Horizons Center in Boston looks like any other indoor gym for preschoolers. There are mats on the floor, large foam blocks, shapes and stairs to play with and…

OPINION: U.S. colleges need more men. Trump’s new policies inadvertently disadvantage them, especially at selective schools While attending a gathering of Ivy League women years ago, I upset the audience by commenting that a real challenge for U.S. higher education was the declining participation…

Women far outnumber men in law school, med school, vet school and other professional programs  WATERTOWN, Mass. — Amanda Leef remembers thinking for the first time about becoming a veterinarian when she was 4 and found a garter snake in her Michigan backyard. “I think every girl goes through a…

Trump’s admissions data collection strains college administrators Lynette Duncan didn’t expect to spend 20 hours over the past two weeks digging through a mothballed computer system, trying to retrieve admissions data from 2019. Duncan is the director of institutional research at John Brown…

OPINION: We cannot wait until high school or college to integrate computer science lessons  The future of work will demand fluency in both science and technology. From addressing climate change to designing ethical AI systems, tomorrow’s challenges will require interdisciplinary thinkers who can…