Parents

Education news, analysis, and opinion about how parents and other family members interact with schools and their children’s education
Thu., November 05, 2026, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET
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Collage of a Black female reading a book with her young daughter on her lap. Other pieces of the collage show an open book with non-legible text, speech bubbles, the letter "A" and a butterfly.
Collage by Gina Tomko/Education Week + Canva
Reading & Literacy Q&A Why This Under-the-Radar Piece of Literacy Reform Is One of the Most Important
Parent notification is a central piece of reading reform, this advocate says.
Elizabeth Heubeck, October 22, 2026
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5 min read
EL 20261015 TurningThePage 15
Ivana Moore, 33, reads a book to her son, Jahlil Moore, 4, during a community night hosted by the nonprofit Turning the Page at Lee Montessori-East End elementary school in Washington on Oct. 15, 2026.
Eric Lee for Education Week
Reading & Literacy Can Pizza Hut-Style Rewards Spark Lifelong Reading Habits?
Schools need to partner with parents and community organizations to help students read more.
Olina Banerji, October 19, 2026
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8 min read
Yair Lev, center, attends a Lower Merion Board of School Directors meeting in the Lower Merion School District Administration Building on Monday, May 11, 2026, in Ardmore, Pa.
A school board meeting of the Lower Merion school district in Ardmore, Pa., is shown on May 11, 2026. A new study finds that teachers' unions are competing with a growing array of actors for influence in school board elections.
Joe Lamberti/AP
School & District Management Teachers' Unions Face More Competition for Influence in School Board Elections
A study suggests that parents are perceived as more influential by board members than unions.
Mark Walsh, October 16, 2026
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4 min read
Student Elias Albert gets help from Nurit Foster, who is using artificial intelligence in her multilingual learners class at Hillside Middle School in Northville, Mich., on Jan. 13, 2025 . AI allows teachers in Northville to provide students with content for a class assignment and then adjust the levels for each student based on their English proficiency, officials said. Some districts are also using AI tools to help with translation for families.
Student Elias Albert gets help from Nurit Foster, who is using artificial intelligence in her multilingual learners class at Hillside Middle School in Northville, Mich., on Jan. 13, 2025. AI allows teachers in Northville to provide students with content for a class assignment and then adjust the levels for each student based on their English proficiency, officials said. Some districts are also using AI tools to help with translation for families.
Daniel Mears/The Detroit News via TNS
English Learners Strategies to Support English Learners: 3 Takeaways for School Districts
States and school systems are wrestling with how to help learners of English of all age levels.
Sean Cavanagh, October 13, 2026
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3 min read
Photograph of a mobile phone screen with Artificial Intelligence icons, internet AI app application ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, Claude, etc.
alexsl/Getty
Artificial Intelligence Download 6 Tips for AI Translation in Schools
AI translation apps can help schools connect with non-English-speaking families, but they are far from perfect.
Alyson Klein & Gina Tomko, October 8, 2026
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1 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Families & the Community Opinion Why Don’t We Talk More About Family Structure in Schooling?
A new report examines the role of family structure on academic success.
Rick Hess, October 6, 2026
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6 min read
Collage of two mountain shapes with school buildings on each. One has an old, one room schoolhouse building on top of it and the other has several modern, colorful school buildings on top of it.
Illustration by Emily Wright for Education Week + Getty
Equity & Diversity Opinion The Real Lesson From Nikole Hannah-Jones’s Public School Dilemma
The journalist’s essay on her daughter’s education went viral. Are people asking the right question?
Manikka Bowman, September 30, 2026
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4 min read
Row of three school desks. Each has a different color seat. One is red, one is white, and the third desk has a blue seat. Each desk has a voting booth on top with the familiar voting "American flag" and the word "VOTE".
Illustration by Taylor Callery for Education Week
States EdWeek's Guide to the 2026 Elections: Where Education Is on the Ballot
Education Week reviewed what's on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Matthew Stone, Emily Wright & Jennifer Vilcarino, September 24, 2026
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2 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Choice & Charters Opinion What Do Parents Look for in a School?
Test scores aren’t the whole story. The CEO of GreatSchools talks about what parents want.
Rick Hess, September 22, 2026
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5 min read
Illustration by Nicole Xu showing an ELL specialist in a classroom of older students, looking at the window of the classroom door as other teachers walk by
Nicole Xu for Education Week
Special Report Supporting English Learners: Practical Solutions for Today’s Schools
How districts are navigating older English learners, AI tools, and early screening to build practical paths to success.
September 21, 2026
Illustration by Nicole Xu showing a teacher in a teacher-parent conference with a laptop that translates a distorted depiction of the student. The female parent of the EL student has a swirly white line of confusion circling her head.
Nicole Xu for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence Can Schools Trust AI to Translate for Non-English-Speaking Parents?
AI tools can translate school materials for non-English-speaking parents, but there are challenges around privacy and accuracy.
Alyson Klein, September 21, 2026
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10 min read
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 17: The U.S. Department of Justice Building on August 17, 2026 in Washington, DC.
The U.S. Department of Justice Building on Aug. 17, 2026 in Washington. The Justice Department has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Education to fight school and state policies concerning transgender students it deems objectionable.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Law & Courts Trump Admin. Turns to Student Privacy Laws in Gender Identity Fights With Schools
The feds are increasingly citing student privacy laws in gender-identity battles with school districts.
Mark Walsh, September 17, 2026
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8 min read
An anti-AI flag is shown during a protest against artificial intelligence in San Francisco on July 11, 2026. Parents who are advocating against the overuse of technology in education say AI bans in schools are a good step to address their concerns, but they also want to see classroom restrictions on screen time and use of platforms such as YouTube.
An anti-AI flag is shown during a protest against artificial intelligence in San Francisco on July 11, 2026. Parents who are advocating against the overuse of technology in education say AI bans in schools are a good step to address their concerns, but they also want to see classroom restrictions on screen time and use of platforms such as YouTube.
Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Artificial Intelligence Banning AI Alone Won't Snuff Out the 'TechLash,' Parent Advocates Say
Parents worry about AI but also data privacy, video use, and screen time in general, advocates say.
Alyson Klein, September 16, 2026
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6 min read