Research

Education news, analysis, and opinion about research about education

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September 17, 2026
Lansingburgh High School math teacher Regina Felio, right, helps a student prepare for their upcoming Algebra 1 Regents exam on May 15, 2026, in Troy, N.Y. New research suggests students who are ready to be successful in the course in middle school do better if they take it then, rather than waiting until high school.
Lansingburgh High School math teacher Regina Felio, right, helps a student prepare for their upcoming Algebra 1 Regents exam on May 15, 2026, in Troy, N.Y. New research suggests students who are ready to be successful in the course in middle school do better if they take it then, rather than waiting until high school.
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
Mathematics When Should Students Take Algebra? New Research Offers Clues
Delays aren't enough to help students who aren't ready to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade, a new analysis suggests.
Evie Blad, September 10, 2026
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4 min read
Teacher Adam Gravenor hands out lesson sheets he created with the help of AI technology to accompany the class textbook at Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Nov. 17, 2025.
Teacher Adam Gravenor hands out lesson sheets he created with the help of AI technology to accompany the class textbook at Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Nov. 17, 2025. More teachers are using AI to generate decodable texts and other tailored reading, and not much research points to best practices.
RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Artificial Intelligence Using AI-Generated Text in Reading Class? Watch for These Pitfalls
Not all AI tools are equally skilled at crafting texts for teaching, studies have shown.
Sarah Schwartz, September 9, 2026
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4 min read
Dr. Jennifer Watters, center, elementary teacher with 18 years of experience, speak to other teachers during an exercise at the first training session of the National Academy for AI Instruction on March 18, 2026, at UFT headquarters in New York City, NY. The partnership between the American Federation of Teachers and major AI developers aims to train 400,000 teachers to use artificial intelligence in the classroom.
Jennifer Watters, center, an elementary school teacher, speaks to other teachers during an exercise at the first training session of the National Academy for AI Instruction on March 18, 2026, at UFT headquarters in New York City. A new survey shows how teachers and parents feel about AI education.
Salwan Georges for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence Educators Feel Confident They Can Teach About AI. What Do Parents Think?
A new study shows the resources educators are using to learn how to teach about AI.
Jennifer Vilcarino, September 9, 2026
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3 min read
raised hands, student engagement
DigitalVision Vectors
School Climate & Safety Many Students Are Disengaged From Learning. What Can Schools Do?
A new poll examines Gen Z students' levels of school engagement and feelings of belonging.
Lauraine Langreo, September 8, 2026
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6 min read
Undated file photo of students during a class. Teenagers in the UK are still lagging behind their peers from high-performing countries in maths, reading and science, but some progress has been made in the international rankings. The UK remains outside the top 10 in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which is based on tests taken by 15-year-olds from around the world, behind countries like Singapore, Japan and Estonia. Issue date: Tuesday December 5, 2023.
U.K. students participate in a class on Dec. 5, 2023. Most industrialized countries' 15-year-old students, including those in the United States, performed worse in reading in 2025 than three years previously on an international exam. One bright spot: Students in the United Kingdom performed as well in reading as they did before.
Press Association via AP
Student Achievement Reading Ability Craters on PISA International Exam, Both in the United States and Abroad
The U.S. outperformed most countries in reading and science, but the results show a global phenomenon of poorer readers.
Stephen Sawchuk, September 8, 2026
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7 min read
092026 BIG IDEAS Building bridges
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
School & District Management From Our Research Center Misinformation Drives Communities Apart. Here’s How School Boards Are Responding
Both national and local issues can force leaders to confront challenges within their districts.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens & Vanessa Solis, September 8, 2026
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4 min read
BigIdeas0926 Bushweller
Illustration by Emily Wright for Education Week + Getty
School & District Management Reported Essay It's Not About Being Nice. Fearless Leadership Requires Curiosity and Candor
Just ask the leader mediating an ugly school mascot fight or restructuring a once-segregated school.
Kevin Bushweller, September 8, 2026
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14 min read
Image of one teacher at a desk working, and the silhouette of another heading toward an exit door.
Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week + Getty
Recruitment & Retention What the Research Says Where Do Teachers Who Leave Their Job Go? See the Charts
District administrators may have more ability to guide teacher turnover than they think, new data suggest.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 3, 2026
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4 min read
Pre-K students line up outside a classroom at the South Education Center, on April 2, 2014, in San Antonio.
Pre-K students line up outside a classroom at the South Education Center in San Antonio on April 2, 2014. Some experts have raised concerns about whether it's developmentally appropriate for preschoolers to stand and walk in lines.
Eric Gay/AP
Early Childhood Get in Line! Pre-K Expansion May Force 4-Year-Olds to Act Like Older Students
Experts explain why lines for little kids don't make sense, and offer alternatives.
Elizabeth Heubeck, September 3, 2026
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3 min read
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Budget & Finance Whitepaper The State of K-12 Finance: Results from PowerSchool’s 2026 Survey
This whitepaper provides insights into educators’ top budget challenges and strategies they are using to address them.
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WASHINGTON,DC - JUNE 10: Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent, Loudoun County Public Schools and Dr. Macquline King, Superintendent and CEO of Chicago Public Schools speak during a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing titled “Breaking Trust: Attacks On Parental Rights, Inappropriate Content, And Legal Abuses In America’s Schools” on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Dr. Macquline King, Superintendent and CEO of Chicago Public Schools, speak during a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June 10, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Superintendents believe pre-K is a priority for their districts, but it doesn't often translate to actively supporting early grades.
Jabin Botsford For Education Week
Early Childhood Q&A If District Leaders Support Pre-K, Then Why Is It Not a Top Priority?
Superintendents can empower other leaders to nurture and grow their district's pre-K program.
Olina Banerji, September 2, 2026
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6 min read
Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) testifies on the OMB budget during a House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 4, 2025.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, testifies during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 4, 2025. OMB has been slow to release congressionally appropriated funding to the Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education's research arm. IES now has just weeks to spend $180 million before it expires.
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
Education Funding Ed. Dept. Risks Letting $180 Million for Research Expire as Deadline Looms
Spending by the agency's research arm has lagged most significantly compared with previous years.
Mark Lieberman, September 2, 2026
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6 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Mathematics Opinion The Five Questions You Should Ask Before Believing the ‘Science of Math’
Here’s why we should be wary of people claiming to have found the next "science of reading."
Larry Ferlazzo, September 1, 2026
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5 min read