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

Photo of superintendent meeting with staff.
E+ / Getty
States Superintendent Vacancies Are High. Is Loosening Requirements a Good Idea?
Evie Blad, April 22, 2024
3 min read
Female Asian teacher at her desk marking students' work
iStock/Getty
The advisers of Baldwin County High School’s chapter of Future Teachers of Alabama pose with the seniors who are committed to a career in education in April 2024. From left to right, they are: Chantelle McPherson, Diona Davis, Molly Caruthers, Jameia Brooks, Whitney Jernigan, Derriana Bishop, Vickie Locke, and Misty Byrd.
The advisers of Baldwin County High School’s chapter of Future Teachers of Alabama pose with seniors who are committed to a career in education in April 2024. From left to right: Chantelle McPherson, Diona Davis, Molly Caruthers, Jameia Brooks, Whitney Jernigan, Derriana Bishop, Vickie Locke, and Misty Byrd.
Courtesy of Baldwin County High School

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

Efficient Operations/Budget & Finance

Collage of a construction site and school grounds.
Collage via Canva
Photo illustration of school bus and people exchanging cash.
F. Sheehan for Education Week + Getty
Parents take photos of their children during a Black History Month program at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Parents take photos of their children during a Black History Month program at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Samuel Trotter for Education Week
Families & the Community How a School Made Parents Central to Its Turnaround
Libby Stanford, April 25, 2024
16 min read

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

Parent & Community Engagement

North Carolina Wesleyan University professor Patricia Brewer gives education major Makaela Stokes a hug after a tutoring session at the school in Rocky Mount, N.C., on March 18, 2024.
North Carolina Wesleyan University professor Patricia Brewer gives education major Makaela Stokes a hug after a tutoring session at the school in Rocky Mount, N.C., on March 18, 2024. For the past nine years, Brewer has hosted an after-school program for local families of students with disabilities where students receive tutoring from special education teacher candidates while Brewer teaches their parents to advocate for their kids.
Alex Boerner for Education Week
Genesis Olivio and her daughter Arlette, 2, read a book together in a room within the community hub at John H. Amesse Elementary School on March 13, 2024 in Denver. Denver Public Schools has six community hubs across the district that have serviced 3,000 new students since October 2023. Each community hub has different resources for families and students catering to what the community needs.
Genesis Olivio and her daughter Arlette, 2, read a book together on March 13, 2024, in a room that's part of the community hub at John H. Amesse Elementary School in Denver. The Denver district has six community hubs at schools across the city that offer different services and resources for parents.
Rebecca Slezak For Education Week
Parents log into Zoom to watch their students participate in a “Basic Facts Bee” on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, at Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich. Schools often use technology like Zoom to connect and build relationships with parents.
Parents log into Zoom to watch their students participate in a “Basic Facts Bee” on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, at Adlai E. Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich. A number of technology-based tools have emerged in recent years that make it easier for schools to communicate with parents.
Sam Trotter for Education Week

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

State-of-the-Art Facilities/Maintenance

Concept of counting down days. Hand is marking out dates on monthly calendar.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
School Renovation in Washington Heights, Chicago
E+ / Getty

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

Prepare Students for Career & College in a Global Environment

Collage of a woman in a wheelchair on a road leading to a large dollar sign. In the woman's hair is a ghosted photo of hands on a laptop.
Collage by Gina Tomko/Education Week + Getty
Student hanging on a tearing graduate cap tassel
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Bethel High School films a production of Fear the Fog at Fort Monroe on June 21, 2023.
Students from Bethel High School in Hampton, Va., film "Fear the Fog"<i> </i>at Virginia's Fort Monroe on June 21, 2023. Students wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the film through a partnership between their district, Hampton City Schools, and two television actors that's designed to give them applied, entertainment industry experience.
Courtesy of Hampton City Schools

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

Diversity

Meghan Kelly, a project manager with the Whirlpool Corp., works with students at Benton Harbor Charter School in Benton Harbor, Mich., on Dec. 3, 2019., to develop apps as part of the goIT computer science program.
Meghan Kelly, a project manager with the Whirlpool Corp., works with students at Benton Harbor Charter School in Benton Harbor, Mich., on Dec. 3, 2019., to develop apps as part of the goIT computer science program.
Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP
Rising seniors at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology gather on the campus in Alexandria, Va., Aug. 10, 2020. From left in front are, Dinan Elsyad, Sean Nguyen, and Tiffany Ji. From left at rear are Jordan Lee and Shibli Nomani. A federal appeals court’s ruling in May 2023 about the admissions policy at the elite public high school in Virginia may provide a vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to flesh out the intended scope of its ruling Thursday, June 29, 2023, banning affirmative action in college admissions.
A group of rising seniors at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology gather on the campus in Alexandria, Va., in August 2020. From left in front are, Dinan Elsyad, Sean Nguyen, and Tiffany Ji. From left at rear are Jordan Lee and Shibli Nomani. The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 declined to hear a challenge to an admissions plan for the selective high school that was facially race neutral but designed to boost the enrollment of Black and Hispanic students.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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

School Safety

People protest outside the House chamber after legislation passed that would allow some teachers to be armed in schools during a legislative session on April 23, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn.
People protest outside the House chamber after legislation passed that would allow some teachers to be armed in schools during a legislative session on April 23, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee could join more than 30 other states in allowing certain teachers to carry guns on campus. There's virtually no research on the strategy's effectiveness, and it remains uncommon despite the proliferation of state laws allowing it.
George Walker IV/AP
A group protesting school safety in Laurel County, K.Y., on Feb. 21, 2018. In the wake of a mass shooting at a Florida high school, parents and educators are mobilizing to demand more school safety measures, including armed officers, security cameras, door locks, etc.
A group calls for additional school safety measures in Laurel County, Ky., on Feb. 21, 2018, following a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which 14 students and three staff members died. Districts have invested billions in personnel and physical security measures in the 25 years since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
Claire Crouch/Lex18News via AP

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