Instruction

Learn more about instructional practices and educational models
 In 2025, the Texas Legislature mandated professional development for classroom teachers, math coaches, interventionists, and building leaders working with students in grades K-3 in a bid to shore up math teaching in the state. The Texas State Capitol is shown on the first day of a special session on July 8, 2021, in Austin.
The Texas State Capitol on the first day of the 87th Legislature's special session on July 8, 2021 in Austin. In 2025, Texas lawmakers mandated professional development for classroom teachers, math coaches, interventionists, and building leaders working with students in grades K-3.
Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images via TNS
Mathematics More States Are Calling for Math Reform. Will It Improve Student Outcomes?
National math scores are sitting at historic lows. But experts disagree on how to raise achievement.
Sarah Schwartz, February 13, 2026
7 min read
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The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion Do Students Still Need to Learn Geography?
It’s tough to grasp what's going on about Venezuela or Greenland if you don’t know where they are.
Rick Hess, January 27, 2026
8 min read
Partnership, cooperation, teamwork concept. Diverse people hold in hands, put pieces of emotions puzzle together in front of a bookshelf of books. Diverse team is coworking, works and efforts together.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock
Reading & Literacy How English Class Improves Students' Social-Emotional Skills
When students dissect the motivations of a character in a book, they're learning key competencies.
Arianna Prothero, January 26, 2026
8 min read
Casey Dupuis points to class work for a one of her 5th graders during a math class at Lafargue Elementary School in Effie, Louisiana, on Friday, August 22. The state has implemented new professional development requirements for math teachers in grades 4-8 to help improve student achievement and address learning gaps.
A 5th grader works on a problem during a math class at an elementary school in Effie, La., on Aug. 22, 2025. A position paper on teaching math published by the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics recently kicked off another round of conversations about what practices work best in the classroom—and what the ultimate goals of the subject even are.
Kathleen Flynn for Education Week
Mathematics Debates Over Math Teaching Are Heating Up. They Could Affect Classrooms
A controversial new movement promoting the "science of math" has come into the math establishment's crosshairs.
Sarah Schwartz, January 22, 2026
9 min read
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Two girls using dice in math lesson.
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Early Childhood Play-Based Learning Yields More Joy, Higher Scores at This Elementary School
Teachers who have incorporated guided play into their lessons say they've seen students thrive.
Elizabeth Heubeck, December 29, 2025
7 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Reading & Literacy Letter to the Editor Small-Group Reading Instruction Can Be Effective
Don't get rid of small-group instruction just yet, urges this letter to the editor.
December 19, 2025
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Reading & Literacy Letter to the Editor Experts Diss Small-Group Instruction. Why?
Experts shouldn't label the practice as ineffective, argues this letter to the editor.
December 19, 2025
1 min read
Collage of different instruction types including, one-on-one, small group, and whole class instruction.
Getty Images + Education Week
Reading & Literacy Opinion Yes, Small-Group Reading Instruction Works. But Use It Wisely
When is the best time to use the approach over whole-class literacy instruction?
Nell K. Duke & Claude Goldenberg, December 17, 2025
4 min read
Loralyn LaBombard, a reading specialist, reads “Among the Hidden” by Margaret Peterson Haddix with a group of students in a 7th grading reading class at Bow Memorial School in Bow, N.H., on Oct. 29, 2025.
Loralyn LaBombard, a reading specialist, reads <i>Among the Hidden</i> by Margaret Peterson Haddix with a group of students in a 7th grade reading class at Bow Memorial School in Bow, N.H., on Oct. 29, 2025. Nationally, experts say there is a lack of resources available to help middle and high school students learn basic reading skills.
Sophie Park for Education Week
Reading & Literacy Many Teens Lack Basic Reading Skills. These Teachers Are Trying to Change That
Schools are building programs to provide sustained reading support to older students.
Sarah Schwartz, December 4, 2025
6 min read
High school teachers learn how to teach reading to struggling older readers during an AIM training at Marietta High School in Marietta, Ga., on Nov. 10, 2025.
High school teachers learn how to teach reading to struggling older readers during an AIM training at Marietta High School in Marietta, Ga., on Nov. 10, 2025.
Jason Drakeford for Education Week
Professional Development Video How One District Is Getting Secondary Teachers Up to Speed on Reading Support
A district invests in improving secondary teachers' knowledge to help students needing reading support.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, November 24, 2025
1 min read
A student shows their spelling of the word “knew” during an exercise in a fifth grade structured literacy class at Bow Memorial School in Bow, N.H. on Oct. 29, 2025. Bow Memorial School is a middle school that has developed a systematic approach to addressing foundational reading gaps in middle school students.
Bow Memorial School has developed a systematic approach to addressing foundational reading gaps among middle schoolers, integrating sound-letter skills with a rich diet of reading materials. A student shows their spelling during an exercise in a 5th grade class at the school in Bow, N.H. on Oct. 29, 2025.
Sophie Park for Education Week
Reading & Literacy When Older Students Can't Read: How This Middle School Is Tackling Literacy
Structured literacy classes at a New Hampshire middle school have helped some students crack the code.
Sarah Schwartz, November 24, 2025
14 min read