The gloomy headlines about the future of American higher ed been seemingly relentless. But the discourse is missing some basic(and surprising) facts about what’s actually happening right now. Here are 10....

This is a big if true situation....because it's not clear McMahon is accurately describing the admin's position here. (The regulations will come from Treasury not U.S. ED.) bsky.app/profile/chal...

2023 data for annual STICKER price at U.S. Colleges. Upper-bound on cost paid by students (because it does not consider aid and grants)

It's a real problem that so many people who write about higher education think that the typical college costs "hundreds of thousands of dollars." www.wsj.com/lifestyle/ca...

The nation’s second-largest school district is putting new limits on devices — a symbolic shift amid a broader backlash against ed-tech.

New: Since DOGE cut the statistical arm of the Education Department, basic facts about American schools are no longer readily available. Some of these data points can be found elsewhere but are now harder to track down. Others simply don't exist anymore. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/05/07/e...

New– There was recently a massive wave of attention on a report from the University of California San Diego, noting a sharp increase in the number of students who required remedial math. I talked to one of the students at the center of the controversy. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/05/05/u...

Yet another poll showing Dems lead with voters on education and schools (+8, it's their second best issue.) Perhaps surprisingly, this is unchanged since 2023, so it's not a Trump effect. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Part of a superintendent's job these days is beating back the onslaught of ed-tech pitches. bsky.app/profile/lily...

New: I roundup answers to the following —Did school reform work? —Has Democrats' edge on education waned? —Does simply sending young kids home with books boost reading scores? —Is education research trustworthy? cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/chalkbeat-...

New: There are large gaps in educational outcomes by race and family income. The natural assumption is that schools are vastly unequal. But in fact the largest resources inequalities emerge when kids are out of school, per a new study from @davidblazar.bsky.social. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/21/p...

Some students get tutoring but end up as ‘intervention lifers.’ This common sense tactic could help. - via @ericameltzer.bsky.social #EdResearch #EdPolicy #EduSky www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/20/t...

Two things are true here. First, lots of education research is of disturbingly low-quality — and that's a real problem for the field. But second, painting with such a broad brush about a large, intellectually diverse field is not right. bsky.app/profile/bren...

Terminating civil rights agreements could have ripple effects far beyond those cases or even transgender students as a group. “Once you open that door to something that is unprecedented, where does it end?" one longtime OCR employee asked. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/14/t...

New: There's an effort to reassemble the bipartisan school reform coalition that once dominated Washington. Will it work? I look at why it might and why it might not. These ideas are dominating the media narrative but it's not clear they have a real constituency. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/14/b...

NEW Just a few years ago Sal Khan was predicting that AI was poised to revolutionize education. But his experience launching an AI-powered tutor, Khanmigo, has been sobering, he says. The hope that it would quickly become a super-tutor still seems a long way off. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/09/s...

NEW Just a few years ago Sal Khan was predicting that AI was poised to revolutionize education. But his experience launching an AI-powered tutor, Khanmigo, has been sobering, he says. The hope that it would quickly become a super-tutor still seems a long way off. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/09/s...

New: When one teacher totally dropped ed-tech from his classroom, teaching and learning became harder. That might be why it's been successful. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/07/t...

Special education is one of our country's biggest investments—but does it actually work? Yes! According to a rigorous new study. Identification for services can fundamentally alter a student's trajectory. Via @joshua-goodman.com, et al. cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/special-ed...

Fascinating from @mattbarnum.bsky.social and co at @chalkbeat.org www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/27/t...

And check out this excellent write-up by @mattbarnum.bsky.social: cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/special-ed...

Pressured to exclude some high school students from career and college-credit opportunities, nearly every school district in Virginia agreed in order to keep federal money flowing. Important work here from @mattbarnum.bsky.social and @lilyalta.bsky.social www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/27/t...

NEWS— The Trump administration has made more progress than previously known chipping away at Plyler v. Doe, the decision guaranteeing public education access to undocumented students. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/27/t...

"The chain of events in Virginia shows the compromises school districts were willing to make to keep federal money flowing." Exclusive reporting from @mattbarnum.bsky.social and @lilyalta.bsky.social: www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/27/t...

I think this is a totally reasonable theory, but we should be clear it's just that — a theory. The size and direction of the effects of ed-tech and eased school-level accountability are both generally ambiguous empirically, imo. bsky.app/profile/matt...

Since this continues to be the source of a great deal of elite misinformation, it's worth noting that 4/4 polls this year, that I'm aware of, find that voters still tend to give Democrats an advantage on the issue of education.

New— The backlash to ed-tech is growing, with some prominent voices making the case that it's at the root of recent learning declines. I took a look at the evidence. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/17/j...

"There’s no smoking-gun data showing that ed-tech is at the root of, or even contributing to, recent learning declines. But Horvath’s case should still give schools and educators some pause." - by @mattbarnum.bsky.social www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/17/j...

The Tennessee House passed a bill that would collect immigration information about students. A competing version in the Senate would charge those children tuition. Both bills are intended to tee up a Plyler challenge. www.chalkbeat.org/tennessee/20...

⚠️ TODAY ⚠️ How should parents, teachers, counselors, and high school students think about the costs and benefits of higher education? What explains the disconnect between the data and the vibes in higher ed? RSVP: ckbe.at/4apQCQO

@mattbarnum.bsky.social of @chalkbeat.org highlights our research about the relationship between students’ gifted and special education identification and family income. Higher income -> gifted education Lower income -> special education There’s a lot to ponder about why this happens.

Yep these numbers are incredibly striking. Full newsletter is here with additional tidbits on AI-cheating, state funding effort, and "zero-percent proficient" schools. cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/chalkbeat-...

Plus quick hits on AI cheating, strikes, gifted ID, and time in class in this Chalkbeat Ideas roundup.

New: There's a lot of enthusiasm for tough early-grade retention policies, modeled after Mississippi. And there's some good reason for this. But a new study complicates matters: In Texas, retained third graders were far less likely to finish HS as a result. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/10/t...

h/t @mattbarnum.bsky.social - you should sign up for his newsletter if you haven't already! www.chalkbeat.org/newsletters/...

Are assignments helping kids learn — or just adding stress? Take our short survey and share what you’re seeing in classrooms and at home.

California keeps getting dragged as the counter example to the Southern surge in fourth grade reading. But in reality there has been a "California climb," which, while not as impressive as Mississippi, is still notable. Many other, better states to pick on!

New @mattbarnum.bsky.social discussion with Amber Northern about her future of IES report: cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/amber-nort...

New– Because of Trump's rhetoric and efforts to close the Education Department it's easy to think there's less federal involvement in schools. And yet that's simply not the case. The Trump admin is still aggressively wielding federal power. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/03/03/t...

@mattbarnum.bsky.social on one of the most important developments in K-12 ed politics during the last year: - The dismantling of the U.S. Dept of Ed AND - The aggressive use of federal power to shape state and local decision-making, esp. on policies related to race and gender

Read this @mattbarnum.bsky.social piece with @vkoganpolisci.bsky.social and decided to buy the book. cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/no-adult-l...

New- I spoke with political scientist Vlad Kogan about his provocative new book "No Adult Left Behind." He argues that the politics of public education privilege the interest of adults over students. I tried to pressure test his arguments in this Q&A. cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/no-adult-l...

New: Perhaps you've seen this graph showing school staffing rising in even as enrollment has fallen. Some think that's unsustainable. But here's the same data shown as a ratio with a longer time horizon. It doesn't look quite so dramatic. I explain more here: www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/24/p...

It was 84 years ago today that FDR signed Executive Order 9066, setting in motion Japanese American incarceration. These high school students are protecting the memory of one of those incarceration sites, in a conservative part of the country, in a polarized time. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/19/s...

This evidence is consistent w/ real declines in teacher performance when teachers move to schools w/ less supportive working conditions and very different student populations. This suggests teacher effectiveness is more dynamic than often assumed & school contexts matter. 5/

Don't miss @mattbarnum.bsky.social's great @chalkbeat.org piece about our findings & how they fit within the broader context of research on teacher effectiveness and past/current policy efforts to raise achievement through reforms to teacher pay & evaluation. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/17/t... END

New– A great teacher might not stay great in schools with less supportive learning environments. This is an important wrinkle on the "teachers are the most important in-school factor" line. It's more like: teachers + context. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/17/t...

Nice @mattbarnum.bsky.social piece describing an important new study on whether really effective (85th%ile) teachers who have a big change in school context continue to be really effective. They don't: they continue to be effective (66th%ile), but not top tier. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/17/t...

New– Should top colleges only admit the very top students? Kelsey Piper, of The Argument, and I discuss this here. cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/selective-...

"Schools ... have recently touted a record share of students who receive Pell grants [for lower-income families]." But Pell rules changed. "[T]op colleges are still filled largely by students from advantaged backgrounds." @mattbarnum.bsky.social for @chalkbeat.org www.chalkbeat.org/2026/02/10/t...