My new story, a deep dive on what it can mean to protest in America today. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/u...

A perfect storm of technology, cultural conditions and educational choices seem to be producing a generation of kids who are not readers. Read to the end (like our kids should be doing!) for some slivers of hope. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

The decline in English-class book reading is very real. We did a deep dive, and found many teens are assigned just 1 or 2 books per year. Instead, kids are reading excerpts on a screen, like this one, 859 words of "Beloved."

“A major benefit of a whole class reading a whole novel together is the muscle it builds for citizenship and debating big ideas, Dr. White argued. “Maybe most important is the common project… of engaging other young people in a conversation about a book that is open to multiple interpretations.”

The is my number one frustration as a parent. My highly-capable 8th grader has never been required to read a book in class ever. And when I’ve asked about it the answer is that every kid is at a different proficiency. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

[GIFT LINK] Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class. by @danagoldstein.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u... This has downstream effects for professors. I am all for prioritizing certain readings in courses, but we need students to engage with challenging texts over time.

Thanks to @danagoldstein.bsky.social for this article. It is very clear about a multiplicity of reasons why many U.S. students aren't reading full books in K-12. #GiftLink #GiftArticle

A few months ago, I started to hear from history teachers that the curriculum materials they’d used for years were being pulled from the market, or they were not being allowed to use them because of political pressures. My investigation of this trend published today: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/u...

Were you or your kids assigned full books to read in high school English — novels, nonfiction or plays from beginning to end — or mostly shorter excerpts? We are digging into this very controversial maybe-trend and need your help: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/u...

Read @danagoldstein.bsky.social ‬⁩ “The administration is using the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, which was established to protect racial and ethnic minority groups, to try to end programs meant to help some of those same students.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...

Federal judge halts Trump effort to withdraw federal funding from schools and colleges with "illegal D.E.I." Judge says the effort violated administrative procedure and threatened free speech. White House likely to appeal. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...

join us right now for a discussion on what's happening in K-12 education politics www.aei.org/events/whats...

Tomorrow, 3 pm, a discussion on what's going on in K-12 education politics, between me and Rick Hess of AEI. Please join us virtually. www.aei.org/events/whats...

The private-school-choice movement is on the verge of a victory that has eluded it: Pushing school vouchers into all 50 states, even the liberal ones. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...

Excellent piece by @danagoldstein.bsky.social about how both parties have walked away from efforts to improve student learning. We're caught in culture wars set in schools, but much less focused on whether kids can read and whether they graduate from high school. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/u...

must-read for parents to understand how college prices are set -- and why, if you ask for more aid, you just might get it! scarcity is a myth -- most colleges have trouble filling their seats www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/b...

GOT HAIM TIX

Essential reading for anyone who cares about education, for parents, and all citizens. I began using deep research AI over the past several months. It is challenging and reshaping my vision of what literacy and literate culture will be in our lifetimes. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Once a movement held at bay, the push to give taxpayer-funded vouchers to virtually any parent with a school-age child has secured wins in every major red state, Texas the latest and biggest. Now activists have their eyes on blue states, and Congress hopes to oblige. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/u...

President Trump just signed an order attempting to dismantle the Department of Education. Can he do that? What is likely to happen next -- and what does the agency actually do day-to-day? My explainer: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...

Two noteworthy things about the White House press release ahead of today's announcement regarding ED: (1) It's all about K-12, while most federal money goes to higher ed. (2) Most of the links are to NCES reports...and NCES is now down to about three employees. www.whitehouse.gov/articles/202...

An important story by the great Alan Blinder, stepping back to look at the historic role of the American research university, and the sector's failure to address its critics and tell its own story www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...

The latest on the case of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, the Brown Medicine doctor deported Friday night despite a valid visa. DHS says she had attended the Hezbollah leader's funeral. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/u...

Latest on the case of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, the kidney transplant specialist and Brown U professor detained and deported in potential defiance of a court order. Foreign doctors are crucial in her field, as there is a shortage of Americans: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/u...

NEW: 5 years later, what did we learn about school closures for the next pandemic? We interviewed over a dozen education, health and political leaders about where they now stand, any regrets, and what should happen next time www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...

I keep hearing the question: What's the biggest impact of Trump education disruptions so far? My answer: Research. Data. Knowledge on how students are doing and how schools might improve. All of this is being decimated. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/u...

I’m on The Daily, unpacking the fundamental paradox at the heart of Trump’s education agenda: how he wants to abolish the agency he is also aggressively using to fight a culture war podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

40% of students who start college don't finish. Some high schools that once pushed "college for all" are grappling with that reality, and providing teens with more career-focused learning. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/u...

1. Scoop: DOGE staffers embedded in the Education Department plan a new role for generative A.I., interacting with kids and parents who have questions about student aid, and potentially replacing many human call center workers www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/u...

Today: - @danagoldstein.bsky.social on DOGE and the Dep't of Ed, - @elizabethkim.bsky.social on the DOJ's dropped charges against Mayor Adams, - Oscar Doc: Black Box Diaries, - @beyondplastics.bsky.social's Judith Enck on plastic pollution Live at 10 on 93.9 FM, AM820 or @wnyc.org

DOGE has cut nearly $1 billion in federal education research, affecting projects to understand challenges such as post-Covid academic recovery; disability issues; behavior problems; and the sharp rise in student absenteeism. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/u...

While researching recent college completion stats, I encountered a typical A.I. search problem. Google A.I. says college dropouts surged during the pandemic, but the source it links back to shows federal data on high school dropouts, not college. This is why we need this transparent sourcing!

Trump campaigned on a fundamental paradox: Shutting the Department of Education while also using its power to investigate/control schools on race, gender and civics. Turns out, he does have the appetite for a muscular fight to reshape public education. My story: www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/u...

What's the deal with Trump's ed order? It's a mess. Reality-show rules, but...for reality. As I told @danagoldstein.bsky.social: “To my mind, this executive order is a blast of steam ... dangerous especially because it can encourage local aggressive activism.” www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/u...

Post-pandemic learning recovery? In reading, no. Achievement is at historic lows and experts are looking at a broader range of causes: screen time, attention issues, and school absence. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/u...

It does not appear that federal K-12 funds for this school year will be affected by the funding freeze. Why? The money is already in hand. Report here: www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01...

Altadena, one of the neighborhoods devastated by the fires, has a very special history, deeply connected to stories of the arts, civil rights, segregation and integration in L.A. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01...

Will Trump send ICE agents to schools? We don't know. But the fear of this has already prompted undocumented parents to keep their children home, and has led a number of school districts to adopt protocols for potential deportation sweeps. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/07/u...

one option: opt out of this cultural sickness nymag.com/intelligence...

Thanks for featuring our voices on this important issue, @danagoldstein.bsky.social

What's true: There are dozens of new state laws attempting to control the curriculum. Trump has said he will bring this approach to the federal level. What's also true: Social studies teachers are often able to ignore, soft-pedal or even subvert these limitations: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/u...

a mystery pointing to a bigger question: do the rich have a responsibility to publicly display the art they own? www.nytimes.com/2024/12/17/a...

Writing goals for 2025, amid massive news/media upheaval and anxiety: remove obligatory-feeling sentences/phrases/paragraphs. Work toward readability without sacrificing accuracy. Emphasize people and voices. More partnerships with visual and data colleagues.

seeing "Wicked" with my 7 year old tomorrow and VERY EXCITED

another gutting and crucial dispatch from my colleagues. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/w...

So the new PIACC data shows that older adults—who of course weren't in school during the pandemic—have also experienced steep "learning loss." Not quite sure what to make of that! nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaa...

Help? 👀 at blue states (CA, MN, CT, VT, OR) that have rewritten social studies standards to include ethnic studies and structural racism. Would like to interview a social studies teacher who has grappled with changing their practice to teach these ideas. Please reach out! [email protected]

The Rage and Glee That Followed a C.E.O.’s Killing Should Ring All Alarms by @zey.bsky.social Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/o...

"Overall, American students’ performance in math was similar to their performance in 1995, when TIMSS was first given — a notable stagnation, given the energetic movement to improve American schools over the last three decades." www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/u...