Policy & Reform
The Teacher Shortage Nobody Wants to Solve
Districts keep raising signing bonuses. The people leaving the profession say that was never the problem.
The Full Archive
Every dispatch, rooted somewhere.
Filter by section to follow one thread, or read the field as it grows — updated every weekday morning.
Filter by Section
EdTech
Rethinking Homework in the Age of AI
Teachers are quietly redesigning what they assign at home, now that any of it might be generated in seconds.
Global Perspectives
Inside Finland's Play-Based Classrooms
Formal instruction doesn't start until age seven. The results keep surprising the countries that start at four.
Classroom Practice
The Case for Teaching Philosophy to Children
Eight-year-olds ask better questions about truth and fairness than most adults. A growing number of schools are finally listening.
Higher Education
Why College Admissions Are Changing Again
Test-optional was supposed to be temporary. Three years on, admissions offices are rewriting the rules a second time.
Global Perspectives
Inside Rwanda's Bet on Universal Secondary School
A generation ago, secondary education was rare. Now the country is racing to build classrooms and train teachers fast enough to keep a promise it already made.
Learning & Wellbeing
The Forgotten Art of Slow Reading
Attention spans didn't just shrink by accident. A quiet movement of teachers is trying to rebuild them, one chapter at a time.
Classroom Practice
The Quiet Return of Handwriting
After a decade of keyboards-first policy, cursive is back on the curriculum — and the research explains why.
loading="lazy">
Classroom Practice
Why Five-Paragraph Essays Are Disappearing from Classrooms
The format was built for a standardized test, not for thinking. A growing number of English departments have quietly stopped requiring it.
loading="lazy">
Policy & Reform
Inside the Fight Over School Cellphone Bans
Nearly half of states now restrict phones in classrooms. The data on whether it's working is more complicated than either side admits.
Learn HTML, CSS & JS free.
Edit code and see results instantly, right in the lesson.
Start Learning →
Policy & Reform
What Happens When a District Goes Four Days a Week
Hundreds of rural districts have shortened the school week to save money and recruit teachers. The tradeoffs land unevenly on families.
Higher Education
The Quiet Death of the Lecture Hall
Enrollment in large introductory lectures has dropped for a decade straight. What's replacing them costs more to run — and appears to work better.
Higher Education
Why Community Colleges Are Suddenly Competitive
Some two-year programs now reject more applicants than the state flagship. The reason has more to do with wages than with prestige.
loading="lazy">
EdTech
The Ed-Tech Companies Betting Against Screens
A wave of new classroom startups is selling less technology, not more. Investors are surprisingly receptive.
Learning & Wellbeing
The Case Against Praising Smart Kids
Telling a child they're brilliant feels supportive. Two decades of research suggest it can quietly make them more fragile.
Learning & Wellbeing
What Recess Actually Does to a Developing Brain
Unstructured outdoor play keeps losing ground to instructional minutes. The neuroscience of what's being traded away is more specific than 'kids need a break.'
loading="lazy">
Global Perspectives
How Singapore Built the World's Most Envied Math Curriculum
Delegations from dozens of countries visit every year to study it. The actual method is less exotic, and harder to copy, than most visitors expect.