EdWeek's Must Read Articles

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.

Daniel Perez, a recruiter with Teachers Accelerator Program, talks to a job seeker during a job fair on Oct. 1, 2025, in Miami. New data from the EdWeek Research Center suggests that more than 50% of districts use AI tools during the teacher-hiring process.

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.

A document included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, shown in a Feb. 10, 2026, photograph. A social media-fueled controversy drawing a shaky connection between the sex offender and a major school photo company used by 50,000 schools has led to calls for school districts to reexamine their use of the company.

Students pick up their Chromebooks during an English class at a high school in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Aug. 27, 2025. Pushback against the overuse of technology in schools is growing, fueled partly by the expanding use of AI.

Teacher’s aide Amelia Mester, wrapped in a Pride flag, urges Escondido Union High School District not to have employees notify parents if they believe a student may be transgender at a meeting in November 2025. Two parents and two teachers from the district sued in 2023, challenging California state guidance concerning student gender transitions and parental notification. The U.S. Supreme Court has now reinstated a lower-court decision overturning those state policies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Waymo self-driving taxis sit parked at a Waymo facility on Dec. 8, 2025, in San Francisco. Federal agencies are investigating after Austin, Texas, schools documented incidents in which the cars illegally passed stopped school buses. In a separate incident, a robotaxi struck a student at low speed as she ran across the street in front of her Santa Monica, Calif., elementary school.