One founding premise of the charter school initiative was that these new schools would be laboratories of innovation. Cutting red tape would free educators to test new approaches that, if successful, could be incorporated into the regular school-district environment. In reality, however, what makes the highest-performing charters so effective is tireless staff and a relentless ...

In 15 states, teachers are not covered by Social Security. Why not? And how does this affect the ability of teachers to retire? The answers are in this explainer created by TeacherPensions.org just in time for National Retirement Security Week. Readers of the EdNext blog may have learned of this problem in a 2014 blog entry by Leslie Kan: “Why Aren’t All Teachers Co...

Governor Jeb Bush Governor Jeb Bush has been a leader on efforts to improve schooling for more than two decades. He has mentored a generation of governors, carried the banner for reforms including school choice and accountaility, and launched ExcelinEd, a hugely influential voice in the world of K-12 schooling. During his tenure in office and in the many years since, Gov. Bush ...

Last week, Bill Gates delivered a speech in which he described some new priorities for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In Education Week, Francisco Vara-Orta explained The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a new investment of $1.7 billion for K-12 education over the next five years, with the bulk of the funding aimed at existing traditional public schools th...

Newton North High School in Newton, Mass. It wasn’t long after Governor Charlie Baker ordered schools across Massachusetts to close because of coronavirus that David Goldstone recognized a tale of two cities playing out in his own home. The Newton father of three watched with growing frustration as his youngest daughter, a seventh-grader at a religious private school, quickly f...

Last week, Michigan’s legislature passed a bill requiring schools to hold back third-graders who fall a grade-level behind in reading. [i] If Governor Rick Snyder signs the bill, Michigan will become the 17th state to adopt such a policy. [ii] Mandatory grade retention is clearly popular, at least among many state legislators. This is understandable given the importance of ear...

We often talk about the “reading wars” as if there were a single battle. In reality, it’s a multi-front conflict with several interlocking skirmishes. There’s the long-running dispute over whether early instruction must include systematic phonics (it must). There’s the debate over how much reading comprehension depends on content knowledge versus skills...

Western Governors University has earned praise for its innovative model of competency-based learning. But the U.S. Department of Education’s Inspector General has called for the government to bar WGU students from federal student aid programs. In this episode, Michael Horn of the Christensen Institute joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss the WGU model and w...

Most Americans—including public school teachers—believe schools should teach that America is a fundamentally good country. This may surprise critics who claim schools are eroding faith in America and instilling civic cynicism. But at a time of growing disenchantment with American institutions and ideals, our nationally representative survey reveals that...

Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio, Texas, pictured in 2017, was named for the Confederate general. The name has since been changed to Legacy of Educational Excellence (L.E.E.) High School. As the world has paused to analyze the deficiencies of police departments, it is not enough. All aspects of America have to examine areas of systemic injustice. That includes schools, ...