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

Illustration of a businessman standing on a very large hand and shining a flashlight down on a group of diverse professionals.
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Monique Cox picks up a DoorDash order from a restaurant after finishing her shift at the Epiphany School in Boston, Mass. on Oct. 7, 2025. Cox supplements her income by working as a personal trainer and DoorDashing food after her teaching shifts.
Early education teacher Monique Cox picks up a DoorDash order from a restaurant after finishing her shift at the Epiphany School in Boston on Oct. 7, 2025. Cox supplements her income by working as a personal trainer on weekends and breaks and delivering food after her teaching day ends.
Sophie Park for Education Week

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

Efficient Operations/Budget & Finance

business and investment planning. Magnifying glass with business report on financial advisor desk. Concept of data analysis, accounting, audit, business research.
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Businesspreson looks at stairs in the door of dollar sign.
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A student arrives at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School.
Mason Wargo, 17, a student at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School, stands in the hallway in the school in Morrisville, Pa., on Nov. 13, 2025. Wargo was concerned about how a legislative impasse that resulted in a much-delayed state budget would affect his ability to graduate this year.
Rachel Wisniewski for Education Week
Budget & Finance A School District Almost Had to Close Mid-Year. What Happened?
Mark Lieberman, November 21, 2025
14 min read

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

Parent & Community Engagement

African American father and his daughter walking to school.
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Vector illustration showing a businessman carried away in the sky by a group of speech bubble shaped ballons.
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Edenton, N.C. - September 5th, 2025: Sonya Rinehart, principal at John A. Holmes High School, stopped to briefly speak with former student (graduated) Jataziun Welch that is working with a local business downtown Edenton.
Sonya Rinehart, the principal of John A. Holmes High School in Edenton, N.C., stopped to briefly speak with former student Jataziun Welch, who is working with a local business in downtown Edenton on Sept. 5, 2025. School leaders have been viewed as community leaders, too. Here are five ways they can embrace the role.
Cornell Watson for Education Week

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

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

Prepare Students for Career & College in a Global Environment

Students present their AI powered-projects designed to help boost agricultural gains in Calla Bartschi’s Introduction to AI class at Riverside High School in Greer, S.C., on Nov. 11, 2025.
Students do presentations about their AI-powered projects that are designed to help boost agricultural production during Calla Bartschi’s Introduction to AI class at Riverside High School in Greer, S.C., on Nov. 11, 2025. South Carolina is emphasizing the development of AI skills that are relevant for the careers students want to pursue in the future.
Thomas Hammond for Education Week
PhD student and Physical Therapist Stephen Eaton, left, explains ultrasound imaging to RAMP students during a lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine on Oct. 16, 2025, in Baltimore, Md. RAMP, which stands for Research and Mentoring Program, is a training program that targets high school juniors and seniors from Baltimore City to prepare them for careers in biomedical research.
Doctoral student and physical therapist Stephen Eaton, left, explains ultrasound imaging to students in the Research and Mentoring program during a lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine on Oct. 16, 2025, in Baltimore. Men are heavily underrepresented in health fields, and more high schools are designing programs that, like RAMP, encourage boys to consider high-growth fields traditionally dominated by women.
KT Kanazawich for Education Week
Lazaro Lopez, associate superintendent for teaching and learning at High School District 214, visits the manufacturing lab at Wheeling High School, where he talks with students and their instructor, in Wheeling, Ill., on Dec. 3, 2024.
Lazaro Lopez, the associate superintendent for teaching and learning at High School District 214, visits the manufacturing lab at Wheeling High School, where he talks with students and their instructor, in Wheeling, Ill., on Dec. 3, 2024. More districts are examining ways to create similarly aligned pathways of study that lead to strong work opportunities.
Jamie Kelter Davis for Education Week

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

Diversity

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Minneapolis Public Schools for discrimination in its efforts to shield teachers of color from layoffs and reassignments.
The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Minneapolis Public Schools for discrimination in its efforts to shield teachers of color from layoffs and reassignments.
Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune via TNS
Equity & Diversity Trump Admin. Accuses Minneapolis Schools of Racism in Protecting Minority Teachers
Anthony Lonetree, Star Tribune, December 11, 2025
2 min read
SPED Base Aide Veronica Turbinton listens to a student carefully articulate an incident in her room at Benfer Elementary on Oct. 30, 2025, in Klein, TX.
Veronica Turbinton listens to a student in her room at Benfer Elementary in Klein, Texas, on Oct. 30, 2025. Turbinton is among hundreds of students pursuing a teaching degree who are losing federal support that's covered tuition and other expenses after the Trump administration discontinued teacher-training grants under the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence grant program.
Annie Mulligan for Education Week
Illustration of bar graph and a hand pushing last bar in a downward motion.
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You can also browse these topics pages: diversity and teacher diversity.

School Safety

Sign indicating school zone.
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School Climate & Safety Tracker School Shootings This Year: How Many and Where
January 1, 2026
3 min read
A mother holds her children at the memorial outside Annunciation Catholic Church after Wednesday's shooting, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Minneapolis.
A mother holds her children at a memorial outside Annunciation Catholic Church following the Aug. 27 shooting at the Minneapolis Catholic school. The shooting, in which two children died and 21 people were injured, was the largest school shooting of 2025, a year during which there were fewer school shootings than in any year since 2020.
Ellen Schmidt/AP
Photo of stone columns.
E+

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