EdWeek's Must Read Articles

Bringing you the must-read articles in K-12 education on some of the hottest topics, so you can improve your subject matter expertise quickly.

You can also browse these topics pages: student achievement, opportunity/achievement gap, and the digital divide.

High-Performing & Dedicated Team

A middle school student unlocks a Yondr pouch on an unlocking base at Bayside Academy while others wait in line for their turn to unlock their pouch at the end of the school day on Aug. 16, 2024, in San Mateo, Calif. Gavin Newsom sent letters Tuesday, Aug. 13, to school districts, urging them to restrict students’ use of smartphones on campus.
A middle school student unlocks a Yondr pouch to retrieve a cellphone at Bayside Academy in San Mateo, Calif., on Aug. 16, 2024. Most educators are supportive of schools putting restrictions on student cellphone use during school hours.
Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Facility and prospective applicants gather at William Penn School District's teachers job fair in Lansdowne, Pa., Wednesday, May 3, 2023. As schools across the country struggle to find teachers to hire, more governors are pushing for pay increases and bonuses for the beleaguered profession.
Facility and prospective applicants gather at William Penn School District's teachers job fair in Lansdowne, Pa., Wednesday, May 3, 2023. As schools across the country struggle to find teachers to hire, more governors are pushing for pay increases and bonuses for the beleaguered profession.
Matt Rourke/AP
Teach for America teacher Channler Williams with kindergartners at Templeton Elementary School in Riverdale, MD on April 12, 2016. Teach for America has seen its applicants drop in each of the last three years so they are retooling the way they recruit students. One thing they are doing is taking prospects to see TFA teachers at work. Today, students from Georgetown and George Washington University got a glimpse of life in the classroom and Mrs's Williams class was among those visited.
Teach For America has had success getting undergraduates to tutor, some of whom later go into its teaching corps. The organization is seeking ways how to respond to newer teachers' needs and expectations. TFA teacher Channler Williams works with her kindergartners at Templeton Elementary School in Riverdale, Md. on April 12, 2016.
Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty

You can also browse these topics pages: teacher quality/effectiveness, retention, and recruitment & hiring.

Efficient Operations/Budget & Finance

FemaGrant Maiorella 02
A new gym under construction in Wisconsin's Cuba City school district, pictured April 16, 2026, would have also served as a tornado shelter, thanks to an $8.8 million FEMA grant. But nearly four years after it was awarded the grant, the district still doesn't have the money.
Arthur Maiorella for Education Week
An image representing disputes over property taxes.
DigitalVision Vectors
Budget & Finance How Do Schools Solve a Problem Like Property Taxes?
Mark Lieberman, February 12, 2026
11 min read
Teachers utilize a team teaching model, known as the Next Education Workforce Model, at Stevenson Elementary School in Mesa, Ariz., on Jan 30, 2025.
Teachers utilize a team-teaching model that spreads out teacher expertise and facilitates collaboration at Stevenson Elementary School in Mesa, Ariz., on Jan 30, 2025. Some of those models depend on having coaches and interventionists—positions that risk getting cut during lean budget times.
Adriana Zehbrauskas for Education Week

You can also browse these topics pages: budget & finance and school funding.

Parent & Community Engagement

Four-year-old Ethan Quinn leaves home for his daycare center in Concord, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Ethan's parents opted to keep him in a private daycare center instead of enrolling him in “transitional kindergarten” — a program offered for free by California elementary schools for some 4-year-olds. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A four-year-old prepares to leave home for his daycare center in Concord, Calif., on Nov. 1, 2023. His parents chose private daycare over California’s free “transitional kindergarten” program for some 4-year-olds—a decision that reflects how families often navigate limited time, work demands, and early education options in shaping school readiness.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Photo collage of a young English learner student working at his desk. His photo is inside a circle and on a blue background. The blue background is split if 4 quadrants with a subtle brick wall texture. Inside the 4 quadrants are silhouettes of a woman writing on a clipboard, a parent holding the hand of a young girl, a police officer, and two speech bubbles.
Gina Tomko/Education Week + Canva
A class portrait session at a New York City middle school.
A New York City middle school holds a class portrait session on May 5, 2021. The school photo giant Lifetouch this past winter found itself swept up in viral social media rumors about an alleged connection to the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Loccisano/Getty

You can also browse these topics pages: families & the community and parent engagement.

State-of-the-Art Facilities/Maintenance

Cassatt mural on February 2026.
The reimagined “Modern Woman” mural, inspired by artist Mary Cassatt, is seen in February 2026 at Aveson’s temporary campus in Pasadena, Calif. Created by students displaced by the Eaton fire, the mural incorporates imagery from their former Altadena campus and serves as a symbol of healing, memory, and community after the wildfire.
Studio Tutto
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, center, arrives for a tree planting ceremony at the Department of Education to announce plans to create the Green Ribbon Schools competition which will "raise environmental literacy," inside and outside the classroom and reduce a school's environmental footprint, on April 26, 2011. A Texas oak tree was planted at the ceremony.
Then-Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, center, arrives for a tree-planting ceremony on April 26, 2011, at the U.S. Department of Education to announce plans to create the Green Ribbon Schools competition. The Trump administration ended the recognition—which honored schools for reducing their environmental impact and offering hands-on environmental education—last year.
Tom Williams/Roll Call via Getty Images

You can also browse this topics page: school facilities & design.

Prepare Students for Career & College in a Global Environment

An 8-year-old girl in a purple t-shirt leans over a butcher block counter inside a retrofitted school bus to glue together a map. Behind her, two classmates glue their projects.
Aiden Montanez Castro, 8, Zayne Mendez, 8, and Violet Ward, 8, work on a lesson in making a topographical map of their hometown at Fulton Elementary School in Ephrata, Pa. The Ephrata district refashioned a school bus into a Maker Bus, which parks at each of the district’s elementary schools for hands-on projects. The district has oriented its teaching around projects that allow students to demonstrate skills like empathy and creativity alongside content knowledge.
Scott Lewis for Education Week
La Porte High School Class of 2025 graduates toss mortar boards into the air at the conclusion of commencement exercises Thursday, June 12, 2025, at Kiwanis Field in La Porte, Ind.
A new analysis shows that many high school graduates fell below their state's definition of math proficiency. Class of 2025 graduates toss mortar boards into the air at the conclusion of commencement exercises on June 12, 2025, at Kiwanis Field in La Porte, Ind.
Amanda Haverstick/La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP<br/>
Mathematics Are High School Graduates Ready for College Math?
Sarah Schwartz, April 17, 2026
4 min read
Scranton High School student Elizabeth Kramer participates in the Program 3-D Prototyping during Luzerne County Community College's STEM Technology Day on Monday, February 17, 2020, in Nanticoke Pa. More than 100 students from four school districts will attend. The students were part of "Talent Search," an Educational Opportunity Center program. The Talent Search program identifies and assists individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds who have the potential to succeed in higher education.
Scranton High School student Elizabeth Kramer participates in a 3-D prototyping program at Luzerne County Community College's STEM Technology Day on Feb. 17, 2020, in Nanticoke, Pa. The students were supported by Talent Search, funded by a federal program that identifies and helps economically disadvantaged students who have the potential to succeed in higher education. The Trump administration seeks to broaden the program to include more workforce-based training.
Mark Moran/The Citizens' Voice via AP

You can also browse these topics pages: college readiness, college access, career readiness, and graduation requirements.

You can also browse these topics pages: diversity and teacher diversity.

School Safety

There was minimal police presence as the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department kept an eye on the Maywood Academy High School graduation ceremony at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, CA on Thursday, June 12, 2025.
Law enforcement kept an eye on proceedings at the Maywood Academy High School graduation ceremony at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, Calif., on June 12, 2025. Graduation ceremonies pose a unique logistical challenge for school districts, with many considerations to take into account.
Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty
A display indicating a detected weapon is pictured on an Evolv weapons detection system in New York City.
A display indicating a detected weapon is pictured on an Evolv AI weapons detection system in New York City, on March 28, 2024. Lawmakers in Georgia are weighing a bill that would require all public schools to have weapons-detection systems or metal detectors at building entrances. While supporters say the systems make schools safer, critics say the technology has limitations.
Barry Williams/New York Daily News via TNS
School Climate & Safety States Push AI Weapons Detection as Part of School Safety
Evie Blad, March 26, 2026
5 min read
A person types on a laptop, in Miami. Reuters reports that the hacker, using the name Internet Yiff Machine, said in a statement that they hacked and shared the data to expose that the confidential tips people submit through Navigate360’s P3 Global Intel platform are neither secure nor anonymous. The breach may have exposed the personal information of students attending more than 30,000 schools in the United States.
Cybersecurity experts recommend that schools should take steps now to protect student data as they wait for confirmation of a potential hack of Navigate360’s P3 Global Intel platform, which features a safety tip line.
Wilfredo Lee/AP

You can also browse these topics pages: school safety and school shootings.