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

Businesswoman and businessman HR manager interviewing woman. Candidate female sitting her back to camera, focus on her, close up rear view, interviewers on background. Human resources, hiring concept
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An illustration of a professional female holding the lines that divide the week days of a calendar and removing the first line so that it's knocking the letters MON off the grid.
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Omar Muñoz teaches high school student Caden Wang, 15, during a class on semiconductor manufacturing at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., on Nov. 5, 2025.
Omar Muñoz teaches high school student Caden Wang, 15, during a class on semiconductor manufacturing at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., on Nov. 5, 2025. Districts across the country are looking for people like Muñoz, who has three decades of industry experience, to teach their CTE courses.
Adriana Zehbrauskas for Education Week

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

Efficient Operations/Budget & Finance

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

Scenes from a visit to Morrisville Middle/Senior High School in Morrisville, Pa., on Nov. 13, 2025.
Backpacks at a middle/senior high school in Morrisville, Pa., on Nov. 13, 2025. A new analysis explores the progress of schools in fighting chronic absenteeism when they communicated early with families of students at risk of becoming chronically absent.
Rachel Wisniewski for Education Week
A sanitation worker picks up trash next to a mural of César Chavez in Bakersfield, Calif., Thursday, March 19, 2026.
A sanitation worker picks up trash next to a mural of César Chavez in Bakersfield, Calif., on March 19, 2026. Schools around the country are weighing how to respond to new allegations about the labor leader.
Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP
Bruce Perry, 17, demonstrates the possibilities of artificial intelligence by creating an AI companion on Character.AI,, July 15, 2025, in Russellville, Ark.
A 17-year-old in Russellville, Ark., creates an AI companion on Character.AI, on July 15, 2025. In a recent survey, parents said AI chatbots should be required to provide pop-up warnings before displaying sensitive topics related to violence, self-harm, or abuse.
Katie Adkins/AP

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

State-of-the-Art Facilities/Maintenance

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
20260122 AMX US NEWS CPS CANCELS CLASS FRIDAY DUE 1 TB
A crossing guard assists students as they arrive for classes at Chalmers STEAM Elementary school on Jan. 22, 2026, in Chicago. Extreme cold hitting much of the United States in the coming days could test schools' aging infrastructure and force school closures. Chicago Public Schools called off classes for Friday, Jan. 23.
Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune

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

Prepare Students for Career & College in a Global Environment

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
New military recruits take the Oath of Office during a swearing in ceremony at a Salute to Service event at an NFL football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Jacksonville.
New military recruits take the Oath of Office during a swearing-in ceremony on Nov. 10, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. States' education plans call for tracking students paths from the classroom to college, career, or the military, but they've struggled to access enlistment data from the U.S. Department of Defense. Through a new agreement, five states will pilot a data-sharing process with the Pentagon with hopes to expand to additional states.
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
Successful male and female in leadership achieve target. Embracing success confidence holding winner flag on top of mountain peak.
Education Week + iStock/Getty

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

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
A hallway at a school in Morrisville, Pa., on Nov. 13, 2025. Data from a recent survey shows the link between safety and relationships come as schools carve out portions of their increasingly limited budgets on school security measures, safety training, and mental health programs to keep students safe.
A recent survey shows the link between safety and relationships as schools struggle to carve out portions of their increasingly limited budgets for school security measures, safety training, and mental health programs. A hallway at a school in Morrisville, Pa., is shown on Nov. 13, 2025.
Rachel Wisniewski for Education Week
School Climate & Safety This Key Factor Helps Students Feel Safe at School
Evie Blad, March 2, 2026
3 min read

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