Elementary School

Education news, analysis, and opinion about schools serving the lower grades, typically up to 5th, and their students
Students in Rita Leary’s science class listen to a Pilot Light food education lesson about bees at Ashburn Elementary School in Chicago on Sept. 17, 2026. There are far few curricula for elementary science, partly because that subject tends to get squeezed out due to schools' focus on math and reading.
Students in Rita Leary’s science class listen to a Pilot Light food education lesson about bees at Ashburn Elementary School on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026 .
Arthur Maiorella/Chicago Tribune viaTNS
Science Elementary Science Curricula Are in Short Supply. Will a Free Resource Help?
Elementary schools face a limited array of science materials, and many don't align with state standards.
Evie Blad, October 6, 2026
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5 min read
Students get waffle mix for a chicken and Waffles cooking day in the classroom of Gabrielle Carpenter at the Daniel Webster School in Indianapolis, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.
Students prepare waffle mix in Gabrielle Carpenter's special education classroom on Oct. 2, 2026, at Daniel Webster School 46 in Indianapolis. Carpenter uses the biweekly cooking lessons to teach the students independence, along with skills like counting and measuring.
AJ Mast for Education Week
Special Education Little Chefs, Big Gains: Students With Disabilities Cook Toward Independence
Cooking helps the elementary students learn counting, build fine motor skills, and practice emotional regulation.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, October 5, 2026
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3 min read
Laura Eady, a 3rd grade general education teacher (left), and Lisa Maddox, an English-learner teacher, prepare lessons together for students at Mt. View Elementary School in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 2, 2026.
Laura Eady, a 3rd grade general education teacher (left), and Lisa Maddox, an English-learner teacher, prepare lessons together for students at Mt. View Elementary School in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 2, 2026.
Kevin Wurm for Education Week
Teaching Video How Co-Teaching Helps English Learners Succeed
Increasingly in the Metro Nashville schools, general-education and English-learner teachers team up.
Ileana Najarro & Marvin Joseph, September 21, 2026
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1 min read
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the First day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the first day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Video ‘You’ll Make New Friends’: What Happens to Students When Their School Closes
How two middle schoolers managed uncertainty as their rural school closed its doors.
Elizabeth Rich & Marvin Joseph, September 8, 2026
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1 min read
Collage illustration of a young boy with classroom in background and the mood of excitement and accomplishment.
Liz Yap/Education Week and Canva
School & District Management Opinion Even 2nd Graders Are Leaders in My School. Here's What That Looks Like
A young kid showing off a lanyard reminded me what the best principals have in common.
Emery Brown, August 25, 2026
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4 min read
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Nintendo Switches, like the one the teenage boy is using above, are being used in the Denver Public Schools in an esports program designed to improve student engagement. Education Week recently talked to one of the educators involved in that program, who gave a presentation about it at the ISTELive 26 + ASCD Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., June 28 to July 1.
Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo
Classroom Technology Q&A How This District Is Using Esports to Increase Student Engagement
An education technology specialist discusses an esports development program she created.
Lauraine Langreo, July 9, 2026
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4 min read
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K-2 students at South Fayette Township Elementary School in Pennsylvania used data science to pick a name for a cow they adopted to follow at a local farm. A teacher from the school talked to other educators about how she used the cow to teach about data science, AI, and chemistry during the ISTELive 26 + ASCD Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., on July 1, 2026.
Marvin Joseph/Education Week
Science How a Cow 'Moooved' STEM and AI Learning Forward
The farm animal helped K-2 students explore artificial intelligence, data science, and chemistry.
Alyson Klein, July 9, 2026
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3 min read
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Hundreds attend the ISTELive 26 + ASCD annual conference at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. on June 29, 2026. Some educators at the conference discussed how they introduce AI to elementary students, breaking down specific lessons to illustrate the technology's potential and limitations, and boost students' AI literacy.
Marvin Joseph/Education Week
Artificial Intelligence Lessons on AI for Elementary Students: 'Teach Them Good Habits Now'
Teachers want to help their youngest students become familiar with AI's potential—and its limits.
Arianna Prothero, July 8, 2026
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7 min read
English learners and early elementary students developing foundational literacy skills. Strategies designed for multilingual learners have improved engagement, confidence, and academic language for all students. Different learners.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty
Teaching Opinion I Changed What Differentiation Means in My Classroom. Here’s How
The strategies that I first introduced for multilingual students ended up helping all my students succeed.
Jeremiah Asendido, June 12, 2026
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3 min read
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Students return from the Ephrata, Pa. district's "maker bus" to their classrooms at Fulton Elementary School as teacher Joel Bischoff leads them on April 29, 2026. The Ephrata district parks the mobile makerspace at each of its elementary schools a few weeks at a time to allow students to complete hands-on projects. The district has oriented its teaching around projects that allow students to demonstrate skills like empathy and creativity alongside content knowledge.
Scott Lewis for Education Week
Curriculum See the Retired School Bus That High Schoolers Turned Into a Mobile Makerspace
In a Pennsylvania district, students use a bus specially outfitted for them to work on creative projects.
Evie Blad, June 4, 2026
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1 min read
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A 4th grade student vies for the attention of a turtle during her class’s weekly visit to the Da Vinci Science Center on May 18, 2026, as part of the center’s partnership with the Allentown school district’s Central Elementary STREAM Academy.
Scott Lewis for Education Week
Science Can a Science Museum Reshape Learning? Inside One District's Experiment
A state-of-the-art science museum and a formerly under-resourced elementary school form a rare partnership.
Elizabeth Heubeck, May 27, 2026
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10 min read
Preschool students run on the new cushioned rubber surface while others use the double slide at Taft Early Learning Center in Uxbridge, Mass., on March 12, 2025.
Preschool students run on the new cushioned rubber surface while others use the double slide at Taft Early Learning Center in Uxbridge, Mass., on March 12, 2025. In Oklahoma, elementary schools will have to provide 40 minutes of recess daily starting this fall.
Brett Phelps for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement 40 Minutes of Recess Is Now the Law in This State
Elementary schools will have to provide 40 minutes of recess, after years of declining time nationwide.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, April 30, 2026
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3 min read
5th grade classroom in February. A morpheme word sort, sentence combining practice, and syntax surgery.
In a 5th grade classroom at Rock Rest Elementary, near Charlotte, N.C., students practice combining sentences and participate in "syntax surgery" to order the parts of complex sentence.<br/>
Madison Hart, Rock Rest Elementary
Reading & Literacy How a School's Language Lab Teaches Non-Phonics Reading Skills
In 'language lab,' teachers work on vocabulary and syntax to help students understand complex text.
Sarah Schwartz, April 15, 2026
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5 min read
Students eat breakfast and color in Topaz Stotts' second-grade classroom before school starts at Klatt Elementary School in Anchorage, Aug. 17, 2021. Debate over school funding is dominating the Alaska Legislature as districts face teacher shortages and in some cases multimillion-dollar deficits. Schools have cut programs, increased class sizes or had teachers and administrators take on extra roles. (Emily Mesner/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)
Students eat breakfast and color before the start of the school day in a second grade classroom at Klatt Elementary School in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 17, 2021. Some districts around the country are turning to behavior tutors and similar staff roles to help address student behavior challenges and support teachers.
Emily Mesner/Anchorage Daily News via AP
Student Well-Being & Movement The School Role Helping Prevent Misbehavior Before It Starts
Experienced teachers can spot signs of trouble in students early in the school day.
Olina Banerji, March 13, 2026
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7 min read