Education Reform

Learn more about efforts to improve schools, especially through policy changes
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School & District Management Opinion When It Comes to Schooling, Everyone Thinks They Have the Answer
If you realize they think you're wrong, you've got a shot at understanding and persuading them.
Rick Hess, December 11, 2023
3 min read
Venn diagram over a macro shot of A- on white results sheet. Extremely shallow focus. Letter grades are highlighted.
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Assessment Opinion The 4 Common Myths About Grading Reform, Debunked
Grading reformers and their critics all have the same goal: grades that truly reflect student learning. Here’s how we move forward.
Sarah Ruth Morris & Matt Townsley, November 20, 2023
5 min read
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Policy & Politics Opinion I Spoke to Arne Duncan About School Reform. Here Are 5 Takeaways
The future of school reform may look quite different from the past of school reform.
Rick Hess, October 11, 2023
6 min read
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Teaching Profession Opinion Teacher Power Can Be the Force for Education. What Would That Look Like?
Teachers working in new and different ways with each other and their students could be the solution to learning that has evaded us.
Michael Fullan & Joanna Rizzotto, September 22, 2023
7 min read
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States The Steps Some States Are Taking to Redefine Student Success
"We can’t go back to the way it’s always been done," says the head of the group that represents state education chiefs.
Libby Stanford, August 3, 2023
7 min read
Photo of students taking test.
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Standards Explainer What’s the Purpose of Standards in Education? An Explainer
What are standards? Why are they important? What's the Common Core? Do standards improve student achievement? Our explainer has the answers.
Sarah Schwartz, July 31, 2023
11 min read
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Policy & Politics Opinion The Education Community's Views on School Improvement Have Fundamentally Changed
Since the publication of a seminal report on education, reform measures are more controversial and disruptive.
Rick Hess, July 17, 2023
2 min read
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School & District Management Opinion 5 Habits of a School 'Rethinker'
As education leaders make post-pandemic reforms, they would do well to pause and reflect before enacting haphazard changes.
Rick Hess, July 10, 2023
3 min read
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School & District Management Opinion Why Do Schools Cling to 'Stupid' Ideas?
Educators and policymakers often go along with ineffectual policies, not knowing what else to do.
Rick Hess, July 5, 2023
3 min read
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson delivers his inaugural address after taking the oath of office as Chicago's 57th mayor on May 15, 2023, in Chicago.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson delivers his inaugural address after taking the oath of office on May 15, 2023. Johnson will have to oversee the city school district's transition from mayoral control to a fully elected school board.
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
School & District Management A Fading School Reform? Mayoral Control Is Ending in Another City
Chicago will phase out mayoral control of its schools by 2027, becoming the latest city to drop the model.
Libby Stanford, June 27, 2023
7 min read
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International Opinion School Reform Is Tough All Over, Not Just in the U.S.
Even though some reforms produce evidence of student success, that often isn't enough to overcome political hurdles.
Rick Hess, June 23, 2023
6 min read
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School & District Management Opinion 'Innovation' Is a Four-Letter Word
Many in education thrill to the promise of ‘innovation,’ but rightly understood, it is a means, not an end.
Rick Hess, June 19, 2023
3 min read
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School & District Management Opinion Schools Are Trying to Do Too Much
The practice of "unbundling" offers education leaders a way to rethink what they do and how they do it.
Rick Hess, June 12, 2023
3 min read
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School & District Management Opinion Education Reform Hasn’t Failed ... Yet. 3 Overlooked Instructional Strategies
Three proven components of effective teaching could make all the difference between poor to middling and high-student achievement.
Mike Schmoker, June 8, 2023
4 min read