Education

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

Audrey Deitz, a school bus driver since 2003 and for Windham Northeast Supervisory Union since 2017, makes sure everything is operating properly in Westminster, Vt., on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, as she gets ready for the upcoming school year.
A school bus driver in Westminster, Vt., makes sure everything is operating properly on Aug. 22, 2025, as she gets ready for the upcoming school year. School districts across the country continue to struggle with bus driver shortages, and many educators say they have to take time away from their core duties to help out with transportation.
Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
School & District Management Schools Hope They Can Replenish Their Bus Driver Ranks This Summer
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, May 27, 2026
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5 min read
September Dawn Bottoms for Education Week
Students in a history class focus on group activities as their teacher facilitates on April 7, 2026, in Sapulpa, Okla. A new national group is working to understand how to bring more male teachers into the classroom.
September Dawn Bottoms for Education Week
Recruitment & Retention Q&A A New Group Looks for Ways to Draw Men Into Teaching
Sarah D. Sparks, May 11, 2026
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4 min read
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
Recruitment & Retention From Our Research Center Want to Recruit Teachers? Restrict Student Cellphone Use During School
Alyson Klein, April 29, 2026
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2 min read

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

Efficient Operations/Budget & Finance

Gas prices are displayed at a gas station in Wheeling, Ill., on May 14, 2026.
Prices on display at a gas station in Wheeling, Ill., on May 14, 2026. Most school districts in a new survey say they're over budget for fuel costs as prices, particularly for diesel needed to keep school buses running, remain high as the Iran war continues.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
School & District Management High Diesel Prices and Schools: How Districts Are Keeping Buses on the Road
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens & Maya Riser-Kositsky, May 20, 2026
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2 min read
A full lot of parked school buses
School buses are parked at the Dayton Public Transportation center on Thursday, August 21, 2025 in Dayton, Ohio. School districts are already feeling the strain on their budgets as they buy diesel at elevated prices for their school buses.
Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos/AP
School & District Management Schools Brace for Impact as Fuel Prices Climb
Mark Lieberman & Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, May 19, 2026
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6 min read
The Los Angeles Unified School District, LAUSD headquarters building is seen in Los Angeles, Sept. 9, 2021.
The Los Angeles Unified School District, LAUSD headquarters building is seen in Los Angeles, Sept. 9, 2021.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
School & District Management LAUSD Tries to Reclaim $22 Million After Alleged Money-Laundering Scheme
Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, May 12, 2026
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6 min read

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

Parent & Community Engagement

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department, FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), are seen monitoring a football game between Bell Multicultural and Archbishop Carroll on Sept. 12, 2025, at Cardozo High School in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department, FBI and Homeland Security Investigations monitor a high school football game Sept. 12, 2025, at Cardozo High School in Washington. Heightened immigration enforcement activity has raised concerns about its impact on students’ attendance and well-being.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Student Absenteeism Immigrant Students Fear Enforcement and Stay Out of School
Ileana Najarro, May 20, 2026
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4 min read
A kindergartner, 5, stands with her arms crossed as she waits for classmates to use the restroom before they can return to the classroom, on Aug. 14, 2014, at an elementary school in Beecher, Mich.
A kindergartner, 5, stands with her arms crossed as she waits for classmates to use the restroom before they can return to the classroom, on Aug. 14, 2014, at an elementary school in Beecher, Mich.
Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP
Early Childhood Who’s Responsible for Toilet Training? Schools or Families?
Elizabeth Heubeck, May 15, 2026
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4 min read
High school students wearing black graduation gaps and gowns line up on a football field as they prepare to receive their diplomas at an outdoor high school graduation ceremony.
La Porte High School graduates wait in line to receive their diplomas during commencement exercises on June 12, 2025 in La Porte, Ind. Now, a small but growing number of high schools have adopted AI platforms to pronounce students' names at graduation ceremonies.
Amanda Haverstick/La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP
Families & the Community A New Use for AI: Pronouncing Students' Names at Graduation
Evie Blad, May 15, 2026
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5 min read

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

State-of-the-Art Facilities/Maintenance

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
Education Funding A School Wants a Tornado Shelter. A Federal Grant Keeps Getting in the Way
Mark Lieberman, May 1, 2026
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9 min read
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
Families & the Community Their School Burned Down. Then They Picked Up Their Paintbrushes
Olina Banerji, April 20, 2026
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4 min read
Fifth-grader Willow Miller raises the U.S. and Nevada flags in a daily flag-raising ceremony to start the school day in Good Springs, Nev., on March 30, 2022. Teacher Abbey Crouse assists at right. The school, along with an elementary, middle and high school in neighboring Sandy Valley, are the only schools in the mostly urban Clark County School District to meet just four days a week.
A student raises the U.S. and Nevada flags to start the school day on March 30, 2022, in Goodsprings, Nev., where the elementary school meets four days week. A growing number of schools have turned to four-day weeks over the past two decades, sometimes for budget reasons, other times for teacher recruitment and retention. But the payoff isn't always clear-cut.
Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP
School & District Management Explainer The 4-Day School Week: What Research Shows About the Alternative Schedule
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, April 9, 2026
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7 min read

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

Prepare Students for Career & College in a Global Environment

$35.00Soon to be La Porte High School graduates listen to speeches from their classmates during commencement exercises Thursday, June 12, 2025, at Kiwanis Field in La Porte, Ind.
Newly minted high school graduates listen to speeches from their classmates during commencement exercises on June 12, 2025, at Kiwanis Field in La Porte, Ind. For the first time this year, high school graduates from low-income families can qualify for federal Pell Grants for short-term workforce training programs.
Amanda Haverstick/La Porte County Herald-Dispatch via AP
College & Workforce Readiness A New Option for High School Graduates? Federal Aid for Workforce Credentials
Mark Walsh, May 28, 2026
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6 min read
Ninth grader Chandler Wiley, 14, presents her AI powered project in Riverside High School's Introduction to AI class.
A 9th grader presents her AI-powered project during a high school's Introduction to AI class in Greer, S.C., on Nov. 11, 2025. K-12 and college officials both expect to introduce new technology-based, career-focused classes in the years ahead.
Thomas Hammond for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Interest in Career and Tech. Ed. Has Jumped. Which Fields Will See the Biggest Growth?
Mark Walsh, May 12, 2026
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4 min read
Close crop photo of a student's hands working with wires of a semiconductor.
High school student Caden Wang, 15, works on a wheatstone circuit bridge during a class about semiconductor manufacturing at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., on Nov. 5, 2025. The national advocacy group Advance CTE says it's trying to push past barriers and get more information from employers about the work-based skills students need.
Photo by Adriana Zehbrauskas for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Q&A The Struggle to Move From Data to Outcomes in Career and Technical Education
Lauraine Langreo, May 11, 2026
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4 min read

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

ZeroEyes analyst Mario Hernandez demonstrates the use of AI with surveillance cameras to identify visible guns at the company's operations center, Friday, May 10, 2024, in Conshohocken, Pa. With the increasing use of AI technology, security is changing. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
ZeroEyes analyst Mario Hernandez demonstrates the use of AI with surveillance cameras to identify visible guns at the company's operations center, on May 10, 2024, in Conshohocken, Pa. School district administrators are investing in acoustic monitoring and passive screening systems to try to make their buildings more secure.
Matt Slocum/AP
School Climate & Safety From Our Research Center See Which Safety Technologies Schools Are Betting On
Jennifer Vilcarino, May 23, 2026
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3 min read
Drones fly around a mannequin during a demonstration on how to neutralize a shooter in a school, at the headquarters of the startup "Campus Guardian Angel" on May 8, 2026, in Austin, Texas.
Drones fly around a mannequin during a demonstration on how to neutralize a shooter in a school, at the headquarters of Campus Guardian Angel, a school safety startup, on May 8, 2026, in Austin, Texas.
Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty
School Climate & Safety Drones to Stop School Shootings: Promising Tool or Unproven Strategy?
Evie Blad, May 21, 2026
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6 min read
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
School Climate & Safety Steps to Follow for a Smooth, Successful, and Safe Graduation Ceremony
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, April 23, 2026
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5 min read

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