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Navient, one of the country’s largest student loan servicers, has reached a $120 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — resulting in the company being permanently banned from servicing federal student loans. Getty Images hide caption

Navient reaches $120 million settlement for misleading student loan borrowers

September 12, 2024 • According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, $100 million will be used to make payments to impacted borrowers in a settlement with the former servicer of student loans.

A young woman vapes an electronic cigarette. Some districts are installing high-tech vape detectors to alert school officials if students are using e-cigarettes. whitebalance.oatt/Getty Images hide caption

Schools are putting vape detectors in bathrooms -- paid for by Juul

September 12, 2024 • Some districts are using money from a $1.7 billion legal settlement against e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs to pay for the high-tech devices. But there are critics and also privacy concerns.

Indiana's cellphone ban means less school drama. But students miss their headphones

September 10, 2024 • Weeks into a new school year, students miss being able to listen to music, but teachers say the cellphone ban is making their jobs easier.

How Indiana's school cell phone ban is playing out

Starting Your Podcast: A Guide For Students

New to podcasting? Don't panic.

Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off in a debate on Tuesday. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

Here’s where Trump and Harris stand on 6 education issues

September 8, 2024 • From school choice to college affordability, Trump and Harris don't have a lot in common. Ahead of the candidates’ only scheduled debate, we’ve put together a handy primer of their education views.

How the candidates differ on their views and policies on education

Jennifer Carter, a teacher at Apalachee High School, said she "felt helpless" when she tried to protect her students during a shooting at the school this week. Barrow County School System hide caption

'I lied.' A teacher describes protecting her students during Apalachee HS shooting

September 7, 2024 • In a post shared widely on social media, Jennifer Carter gave her account about what it took to keep her students safe at the Georgia school where four people died this week.

Lilla Lanivich, 14, and her service dog, Lopez, outside their family’s home in Rochester Hills, Mich. This year’s middle school winner of the NPR Student Podcast Challenge tells how her golden retriever, Lopez, helped restore her independence. Emily Elconin for NPR hide caption

Student Podcast Challenge

Chronic illness shattered this teen's life. her service dog helped get it back.

September 6, 2024 • The middle school winner of NPR's Student Podcast Challenge tells how her golden retriever, Lopez, changed her life.

Carrillo/SPC MS Winner

A student waits to walk across the stage to receive her diploma during a graduation ceremony at Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School in Bradley, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

It's Been a Minute

Gen z asks: what is school for plus, rebranding gentrification.

September 6, 2024 • It's September, which means millions of young learners across the country are dusting off their backpacks and heading back to school. But a new study from Gallup and The Walton Family Foundation has shown that students are less engaged, and feel less challenged than last year, and about half of them have no plans to get a Bachelor's degree right after high school. Host Brittany Luse is joined by Karin Klein, education reporter and author of Rethinking College: A Guide to Thriving Without a Degree , and NPR Education Desk correspondent and Senior Editor Cory Turner to parse through what has next generation feeling despondent and if we need to rethink the purpose of high school.

Students and residents mourn those who lost their lives near the scene of the mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga. Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption

What research says about preventing school shootings

September 5, 2024 • Experts on school violence say a key to preventing such tragedies is identifying and supporting students in crisis before they hurt others.

Students kneel in front of a makeshift memorial in front of Apalachee High School on in Winder, Ga., on Thursday, one day after two students and two teachers were shot and killed at the school. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images hide caption

These are the 2 students and 2 teachers killed at Apalachee High School in Georgia

September 5, 2024 • Just one month into the school year, four people were ripped away from their loved ones, their lives ended by a mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga.

A representative for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an anti-sexual assault organization, recommends guarding your food and drink at a party and realizing how fast they can be tampered with. Peter Cade/Getty Images hide caption

Worried about your drink getting spiked? Here are some safety tips

September 5, 2024 • It's September, and many college students are arriving on campus for the first time. This exciting new chapter can have a darker side: College students are considered a high-risk group for drugging.

Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang, winners of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1957. Both were affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study at the time of the award. Alan Richards/Institute for Advanced Study hide caption

Perspective

T.d. lee changed science in china and my life. this is what i owe to him.

September 5, 2024 • Chinese particle physicist Yangyang Cheng reflects on the legacy of the late Nobel laureate T.D. Lee — how his ideas changed her life, and the limit to his engagement with Beijing.

The cover of the Yup'ik alphabet coloring book. Courtesy of Nikki Corbett hide caption

These Alaska moms couldn’t find a Yup’ik children’s book. So they made one themselves

September 4, 2024 • Yup’ik is the most spoken Native language in Alaska, but finding Yup’ik books for young children can be almost impossible. These moms created their own – and now they’re fielding nearly 1,000 orders.

Yup'ik mom in Alaska creates her own books to teach her kids the Yup'ik language

Hear what the nation's top student podcasters have to say

September 2, 2024 • In its sixth year, our contest handed over the mic to fourth graders for the very first time. We received nearly 2,000 entries from all around the country — and we've narrowed it down to 10 middle school and 10 high school finalists.

Electrical circuit can be created with lemons to power a small light source. A chemical reaction between the copper and zinc plates and the citric acid produces a small current, thus powering a light bulb. Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images hide caption

Want to see a cool trick? Make a tiny battery with these 3 household items

September 2, 2024 • Just in time for the return of the school year, we're going "Back To School" by revisiting a classic at-home experiment that turns lemons into batteries — powerful enough to turn on a clock or a small lightbulb. But how does the science driving that process show up in household batteries we use daily? Host Emily Kwong and former host Maddie Sofia talk battery 101 with environmental engineer Jenelle Fortunato.

Hear here! Our list of the best podcasts by fourth graders

August 30, 2024 • For the first time ever, NPR presents the fourth grade winners of the Student Podcast Challenge.

A new survey finds middle- and high-schoolers feel much less engaged in school than they did just last year. Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images hide caption

Teens are losing interest in school, and say they hear about college 'a lot'

August 29, 2024 • A new poll finds Gen Z teens are optimistic about the future but feeling less engaged at school.

Survey results: Teens don't feel challenged in school and feel unprepared for future

The Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington, Nov. 6, 2020. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

Supreme Court rebuffs Biden administration plea to restore SAVE student debt plan

August 28, 2024 • The justices rejected an administration request to put most of the latest multibillion-dollar plan back into effect while lawsuits make their way through lower courts.

A child receives care against head lice. LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Were you sent home from school for head lice? Here’s why that’s no longer recommended

August 28, 2024 • Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says kids can stay in school. A pediatrician explains why that makes sense.

Heads Up: The CDC has changed its guidance on school kids and head lice

Students take part in pro-Palestinian protests in November. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

Campus protests over the Gaza war

'institutional neutrality': how one university walks a fine line on gaza protests.

August 28, 2024 • School is back in session, and the line between providing campus security and allowing for free speech is still extremely thin.

The head of Vanderbilt on the upcoming school year

Planet Money Summer School

Quiz: do you know your economic history.

August 27, 2024 • Time to show your economic history skills based on what we’ve covered in Planet Money Summer School 2024: An Incomplete Economic History of the World. Make it through the quiz, and receive a — and we cannot stress this enough — totally fake (yet well-earned) diploma.

Today’s teens struggle with big feelings — and their parents struggle to have hard conversations with them, according to a recent Gallup poll. Teen psychologist Lisa Damour explains how parents can better support their kids as a new school year begins. Annika McFarlane/Getty Images hide caption

Want to help support your Gen Z kids? Talking really helps

August 27, 2024 • A recent Gallup poll offers parents fresh insights into the emotional landscape of Gen Z youth, just in time for the new school year and all the changes it may bring.

How to help your Gen Z kid cope with their back-to-school emotions

Pro-Palestinian supporters on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

Consider This from NPR

The fine line between providing campus security and allowing for free speech.

August 23, 2024 • College students are trickling back onto campuses for the fall semester, just months after protests exploded across the U.S. over Israel's war in Gaza.

Most community college students plan to get 4-year degrees. Few actually do

August 22, 2024 • Community college is often touted as an affordable start for students who want to earn bachelor’s degrees. But according to federal data, only 13% of students actually reach that goal.

[WFYI] Community college transfer numbers 

Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the 46th International Convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on Aug. 13 in Los Angeles. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

Year of Global Elections

Tim walz made an impression in china, students and teachers say.

August 20, 2024 • Vice President Harris’ running mate has lived in China and traveled there many times. His relationship with the country has been under scrutiny, especially from Republicans.

Democratic VP nominee Walz gets flak from the right for his relationship with China

Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

Our Best Education Articles of 2021

Our most popular education articles of 2021 explore how to navigate some of this year’s challenges—including grief, boredom, and isolation—while uplifting our capacity for connection, belonging, and healing. Several articles also highlight how character, conscience, and kindness can guide us toward greater meaning in our lives.

If you are looking for specific activities to support your students’ and colleagues’ social and emotional well-being in 2022, visit our  Greater Good in Education website, featuring  free  research-based practices, lessons, and strategies for cultivating kinder, happier, and more equitable classrooms and schools. And for a deeper dive into the science behind social-emotional learning, mindfulness, and ethical development, consider our suite of self-paced online courses for educational professionals, including our capstone course, Teaching and Learning for the Greater Good .

Here are the 12 best education articles of 2021, based on a composite ranking of pageviews and editors’ picks.

How to Help Students Feel a Sense of Belonging During the Pandemic , by Mary C. Murphy, Kathryn Boucher, and Christine Logel: Belonging and connection in the classroom contribute to success and well-being, particularly for marginalized students.

Four Ways Teachers Can Help Students Develop a Conscience , by Vicki Zakrzewski: How do kids develop a sense of right and wrong—and what can educators do to help them act on their conscience?

How to Help Students of Color Find Their Power , by Brandy Arnold: Project Wayfinder is helping Black and Latino students explore their identities and goals.

What a Children’s Book Taught Me (and My Students) About Grief , by Lauren McGovern: Teaching sixth graders about grief helped teacher Lauren McGovern after the loss of her son.

36 Questions That Can Help Kids Make Friends , by Jill Suttie: A question-and-answer exercise may help middle schoolers build friendships, including with kids of different ethnicities.

How to Make This Hard Transition Back to School With Your Students , by Amy L. Eva: Here are three ways educators can support their students (and each other) this fall.

A Different Way to Respond When Kids Do Something Wrong , by Joanne Chen: Restorative practices—taking responsibility, making amends, and seeking forgiveness—are an alternative to strict punishments and blame.

What Do Kids Mean When They Say They’re Bored at School? , by Rebecca Branstetter: Boredom can be a temporary emotion or a sign of a deeper issue, says a school psychologist.

How to Help Students Be the Best Version of Themselves , by Karen E. Bohlin and Deborah Farmer Kris: When students are facing challenges, educators can help them reflect on—and act on—what matters to them.

Four Character Strengths That Can Help Kids Learn , by Carol Lloyd: Research suggests that fostering character strengths can help children be better students.

How Educators Can Help Make a Kinder World , by Vicki Zakrzewski: By integrating character education, SEL, and mindfulness, schools can cultivate the inherent goodness in students.

Three Strategies for Helping Students Discuss Controversial Issues , by Lauren Fullmer and Laura Bond: Here are research-based ways to facilitate civil discourse in the classroom.

Bonus: Science of Happiness Podcast Episodes

Episode 94: How to Craft Your Life : When the world around you changes, so can your goals. Our guest, Patty Brown, tries a practice to tap into a new sense of purpose.

Episode 96: Don’t Be Afraid of Your Anger : What happens when we suppress our anger? And what if we tried to work with it instead? Our guest, Soraya Chemaly, tries a practice to harness her inner fierceness to care for herself.

About the Author

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Our Best Education Articles of 2019

What Do Kids Mean When They Say They’re Bored at School?

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• Our Mission

The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2020

We reviewed hundreds of educational studies in 2020 and then highlighted 10 of the most significant—covering topics from virtual learning to the reading wars and the decline of standardized tests.

In the month of March of 2020, the year suddenly became a whirlwind. With a pandemic disrupting life across the entire globe, teachers scrambled to transform their physical classrooms into virtual—or even hybrid—ones, and researchers slowly began to collect insights into what works, and what doesn’t, in online learning environments around the world.

Meanwhile, neuroscientists made a convincing case for keeping handwriting in schools, and after the closure of several coal-fired power plants in Chicago, researchers reported a drop in pediatric emergency room visits and fewer absences in schools, reminding us that questions of educational equity do not begin and end at the schoolhouse door.

1. To Teach Vocabulary, Let Kids Be Thespians

When students are learning a new language, ask them to act out vocabulary words. It’s fun to unleash a child’s inner thespian, of course, but a 2020 study concluded that it also nearly doubles their ability to remember the words months later.

Researchers asked 8-year-old students to listen to words in another language and then use their hands and bodies to mimic the words—spreading their arms and pretending to fly, for example, when learning the German word flugzeug , which means “airplane.” After two months, these young actors were a remarkable 73 percent more likely to remember the new words than students who had listened without accompanying gestures. Researchers discovered similar, if slightly less dramatic, results when students looked at pictures while listening to the corresponding vocabulary. 

It’s a simple reminder that if you want students to remember something, encourage them to learn it in a variety of ways—by drawing it , acting it out, or pairing it with relevant images , for example.

2. Neuroscientists Defend the Value of Teaching Handwriting—Again

For most kids, typing just doesn’t cut it. In 2012, brain scans of preliterate children revealed crucial reading circuitry flickering to life when kids hand-printed letters and then tried to read them. The effect largely disappeared when the letters were typed or traced.

More recently, in 2020, a team of researchers studied older children—seventh graders—while they handwrote, drew, and typed words, and concluded that handwriting and drawing produced telltale neural tracings indicative of deeper learning.

“Whenever self-generated movements are included as a learning strategy, more of the brain gets stimulated,” the researchers explain, before echoing the 2012 study: “It also appears that the movements related to keyboard typing do not activate these networks the same way that drawing and handwriting do.”

It would be a mistake to replace typing with handwriting, though. All kids need to develop digital skills, and there’s evidence that technology helps children with dyslexia to overcome obstacles like note taking or illegible handwriting, ultimately freeing them to “use their time for all the things in which they are gifted,” says the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.

3. The ACT Test Just Got a Negative Score (Face Palm)

A 2020 study found that ACT test scores, which are often a key factor in college admissions, showed a weak—or even negative —relationship when it came to predicting how successful students would be in college. “There is little evidence that students will have more college success if they work to improve their ACT score,” the researchers explain, and students with very high ACT scores—but indifferent high school grades—often flamed out in college, overmatched by the rigors of a university’s academic schedule.

Just last year, the SAT—cousin to the ACT—had a similarly dubious public showing. In a major 2019 study of nearly 50,000 students led by researcher Brian Galla, and including Angela Duckworth, researchers found that high school grades were stronger predictors of four-year-college graduation than SAT scores.

The reason? Four-year high school grades, the researchers asserted, are a better indicator of crucial skills like perseverance, time management, and the ability to avoid distractions. It’s most likely those skills, in the end, that keep kids in college.

4. A Rubric Reduces Racial Grading Bias

A simple step might help undercut the pernicious effect of grading bias, a new study found: Articulate your standards clearly before you begin grading, and refer to the standards regularly during the assessment process.

In 2020, more than 1,500 teachers were recruited and asked to grade a writing sample from a fictional second-grade student. All of the sample stories were identical—but in one set, the student mentions a family member named Dashawn, while the other set references a sibling named Connor.

Teachers were 13 percent more likely to give the Connor papers a passing grade, revealing the invisible advantages that many students unknowingly benefit from. When grading criteria are vague, implicit stereotypes can insidiously “fill in the blanks,” explains the study’s author. But when teachers have an explicit set of criteria to evaluate the writing—asking whether the student “provides a well-elaborated recount of an event,” for example—the difference in grades is nearly eliminated.

5. What Do Coal-Fired Power Plants Have to Do With Learning? Plenty

When three coal-fired plants closed in the Chicago area, student absences in nearby schools dropped by 7 percent, a change largely driven by fewer emergency room visits for asthma-related problems. The stunning finding, published in a 2020 study from Duke and Penn State, underscores the role that often-overlooked environmental factors—like air quality, neighborhood crime, and noise pollution—have in keeping our children healthy and ready to learn.

At scale, the opportunity cost is staggering: About 2.3 million children in the United States still attend a public elementary or middle school located within 10 kilometers of a coal-fired plant.

The study builds on a growing body of research that reminds us that questions of educational equity do not begin and end at the schoolhouse door. What we call an achievement gap is often an equity gap, one that “takes root in the earliest years of children’s lives,” according to a 2017 study . We won’t have equal opportunity in our schools, the researchers admonish, until we are diligent about confronting inequality in our cities, our neighborhoods—and ultimately our own backyards.

6. Students Who Generate Good Questions Are Better Learners

Some of the most popular study strategies—highlighting passages, rereading notes, and underlining key sentences—are also among the least effective. A 2020 study highlighted a powerful alternative: Get students to generate questions about their learning, and gradually press them to ask more probing questions.

In the study, students who studied a topic and then generated their own questions scored an average of 14 percentage points higher on a test than students who used passive strategies like studying their notes and rereading classroom material. Creating questions, the researchers found, not only encouraged students to think more deeply about the topic but also strengthened their ability to remember what they were studying.

There are many engaging ways to have students create highly productive questions : When creating a test, you can ask students to submit their own questions, or you can use the Jeopardy! game as a platform for student-created questions.

7. Did a 2020 Study Just End the ‘Reading Wars’?

One of the most widely used reading programs was dealt a severe blow when a panel of reading experts concluded that it “would be unlikely to lead to literacy success for all of America’s public schoolchildren.”

In the 2020 study , the experts found that the controversial program—called “Units of Study” and developed over the course of four decades by Lucy Calkins at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project—failed to explicitly and systematically teach young readers how to decode and encode written words, and was thus “in direct opposition to an enormous body of settled research.”

The study sounded the death knell for practices that de-emphasize phonics in favor of having children use multiple sources of information—like story events or illustrations—to predict the meaning of unfamiliar words, an approach often associated with “balanced literacy.” In an internal memo obtained by publisher APM, Calkins seemed to concede the point, writing that “aspects of balanced literacy need some ‘rebalancing.’”

8. A Secret to High-Performing Virtual Classrooms

In 2020, a team at Georgia State University compiled a report on virtual learning best practices. While evidence in the field is "sparse" and "inconsistent," the report noted that logistical issues like accessing materials—and not content-specific problems like failures of comprehension—were often among the most significant obstacles to online learning. It wasn’t that students didn’t understand photosynthesis in a virtual setting, in other words—it was that they didn’t find (or simply didn't access) the lesson on photosynthesis at all.

That basic insight echoed a 2019 study that highlighted the crucial need to organize virtual classrooms even more intentionally than physical ones. Remote teachers should use a single, dedicated hub for important documents like assignments; simplify communications and reminders by using one channel like email or text; and reduce visual clutter like hard-to-read fonts and unnecessary decorations throughout their virtual spaces.

Because the tools are new to everyone, regular feedback on topics like accessibility and ease of use is crucial. Teachers should post simple surveys asking questions like “Have you encountered any technical issues?” and “Can you easily locate your assignments?” to ensure that students experience a smooth-running virtual learning space.

9. Love to Learn Languages? Surprisingly, Coding May Be Right for You

Learning how to code more closely resembles learning a language such as Chinese or Spanish than learning math, a 2020 study found—upending the conventional wisdom about what makes a good programmer.

In the study, young adults with no programming experience were asked to learn Python, a popular programming language; they then took a series of tests assessing their problem-solving, math, and language skills. The researchers discovered that mathematical skill accounted for only 2 percent of a person’s ability to learn how to code, while language skills were almost nine times more predictive, accounting for 17 percent of learning ability.

That’s an important insight because all too often, programming classes require that students pass advanced math courses—a hurdle that needlessly excludes students with untapped promise, the researchers claim.

10. Researchers Cast Doubt on Reading Tasks Like ‘Finding the Main Idea’

“Content is comprehension,” declared a 2020 Fordham Institute study , sounding a note of defiance as it staked out a position in the ongoing debate over the teaching of intrinsic reading skills versus the teaching of content knowledge.

While elementary students spend an enormous amount of time working on skills like “finding the main idea” and “summarizing”—tasks born of the belief that reading is a discrete and trainable ability that transfers seamlessly across content areas—these young readers aren’t experiencing “the additional reading gains that well-intentioned educators hoped for,” the study concluded.

So what works? The researchers looked at data from more than 18,000 K–5 students, focusing on the time spent in subject areas like math, social studies, and ELA, and found that “social studies is the only subject with a clear, positive, and statistically significant effect on reading improvement.” In effect, exposing kids to rich content in civics, history, and law appeared to teach reading more effectively than our current methods of teaching reading. Perhaps defiance is no longer needed: Fordham’s conclusions are rapidly becoming conventional wisdom—and they extend beyond the limited claim of reading social studies texts. According to Natalie Wexler, the author of the well-received 2019 book  The Knowledge Gap , content knowledge and reading are intertwined. “Students with more [background] knowledge have a better chance of understanding whatever text they encounter. They’re able to retrieve more information about the topic from long-term memory, leaving more space in working memory for comprehension,” she recently told Edutopia .

Four of the biggest problems facing education—and four trends that could make a difference

Eduardo velez bustillo, harry a. patrinos.

In 2022, we published, Lessons for the education sector from the COVID-19 pandemic , which was a follow up to,  Four Education Trends that Countries Everywhere Should Know About , which summarized views of education experts around the world on how to handle the most pressing issues facing the education sector then. We focused on neuroscience, the role of the private sector, education technology, inequality, and pedagogy.

Unfortunately, we think the four biggest problems facing education today in developing countries are the same ones we have identified in the last decades .

1. The learning crisis was made worse by COVID-19 school closures

Low quality instruction is a major constraint and prior to COVID-19, the learning poverty rate in low- and middle-income countries was 57% (6 out of 10 children could not read and understand basic texts by age 10). More dramatic is the case of Sub-Saharan Africa with a rate even higher at 86%. Several analyses show that the impact of the pandemic on student learning was significant, leaving students in low- and middle-income countries way behind in mathematics, reading and other subjects.  Some argue that learning poverty may be close to 70% after the pandemic , with a substantial long-term negative effect in future earnings. This generation could lose around $21 trillion in future salaries, with the vulnerable students affected the most.

2. Countries are not paying enough attention to early childhood care and education (ECCE)

At the pre-school level about two-thirds of countries do not have a proper legal framework to provide free and compulsory pre-primary education. According to UNESCO, only a minority of countries, mostly high-income, were making timely progress towards SDG4 benchmarks on early childhood indicators prior to the onset of COVID-19. And remember that ECCE is not only preparation for primary school. It can be the foundation for emotional wellbeing and learning throughout life; one of the best investments a country can make.

3. There is an inadequate supply of high-quality teachers

Low quality teaching is a huge problem and getting worse in many low- and middle-income countries.  In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the percentage of trained teachers fell from 84% in 2000 to 69% in 2019 . In addition, in many countries teachers are formally trained and as such qualified, but do not have the minimum pedagogical training. Globally, teachers for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects are the biggest shortfalls.

4. Decision-makers are not implementing evidence-based or pro-equity policies that guarantee solid foundations

It is difficult to understand the continued focus on non-evidence-based policies when there is so much that we know now about what works. Two factors contribute to this problem. One is the short tenure that top officials have when leading education systems. Examples of countries where ministers last less than one year on average are plentiful. The second and more worrisome deals with the fact that there is little attention given to empirical evidence when designing education policies.

To help improve on these four fronts, we see four supporting trends:

1. Neuroscience should be integrated into education policies

Policies considering neuroscience can help ensure that students get proper attention early to support brain development in the first 2-3 years of life. It can also help ensure that children learn to read at the proper age so that they will be able to acquire foundational skills to learn during the primary education cycle and from there on. Inputs like micronutrients, early child stimulation for gross and fine motor skills, speech and language and playing with other children before the age of three are cost-effective ways to get proper development. Early grade reading, using the pedagogical suggestion by the Early Grade Reading Assessment model, has improved learning outcomes in many low- and middle-income countries. We now have the tools to incorporate these advances into the teaching and learning system with AI , ChatGPT , MOOCs and online tutoring.

2. Reversing learning losses at home and at school

There is a real need to address the remaining and lingering losses due to school closures because of COVID-19.  Most students living in households with incomes under the poverty line in the developing world, roughly the bottom 80% in low-income countries and the bottom 50% in middle-income countries, do not have the minimum conditions to learn at home . These students do not have access to the internet, and, often, their parents or guardians do not have the necessary schooling level or the time to help them in their learning process. Connectivity for poor households is a priority. But learning continuity also requires the presence of an adult as a facilitator—a parent, guardian, instructor, or community worker assisting the student during the learning process while schools are closed or e-learning is used.

To recover from the negative impact of the pandemic, the school system will need to develop at the student level: (i) active and reflective learning; (ii) analytical and applied skills; (iii) strong self-esteem; (iv) attitudes supportive of cooperation and solidarity; and (v) a good knowledge of the curriculum areas. At the teacher (instructor, facilitator, parent) level, the system should aim to develop a new disposition toward the role of teacher as a guide and facilitator. And finally, the system also needs to increase parental involvement in the education of their children and be active part in the solution of the children’s problems. The Escuela Nueva Learning Circles or the Pratham Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) are models that can be used.

3. Use of evidence to improve teaching and learning

We now know more about what works at scale to address the learning crisis. To help countries improve teaching and learning and make teaching an attractive profession, based on available empirical world-wide evidence , we need to improve its status, compensation policies and career progression structures; ensure pre-service education includes a strong practicum component so teachers are well equipped to transition and perform effectively in the classroom; and provide high-quality in-service professional development to ensure they keep teaching in an effective way. We also have the tools to address learning issues cost-effectively. The returns to schooling are high and increasing post-pandemic. But we also have the cost-benefit tools to make good decisions, and these suggest that structured pedagogy, teaching according to learning levels (with and without technology use) are proven effective and cost-effective .

4. The role of the private sector

When properly regulated the private sector can be an effective education provider, and it can help address the specific needs of countries. Most of the pedagogical models that have received international recognition come from the private sector. For example, the recipients of the Yidan Prize on education development are from the non-state sector experiences (Escuela Nueva, BRAC, edX, Pratham, CAMFED and New Education Initiative). In the context of the Artificial Intelligence movement, most of the tools that will revolutionize teaching and learning come from the private sector (i.e., big data, machine learning, electronic pedagogies like OER-Open Educational Resources, MOOCs, etc.). Around the world education technology start-ups are developing AI tools that may have a good potential to help improve quality of education .

After decades asking the same questions on how to improve the education systems of countries, we, finally, are finding answers that are very promising.  Governments need to be aware of this fact.

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Consultant, Education Sector, World Bank

Senior Adviser, Education

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911 calls overwhelmed operators after shooting at Georgia’s Apalachee High School

Report says former University of Florida president Ben Sasse spent $1.3 million on social events

Georgia’s governor says a program to ease college admission is boosting enrollment

A tech company hired a top NYC official’s brother. A private meeting and $1.4M in contracts followed

Universities of Wisconsin adopt viewpoint-neutral policy for college leaders

The pandemic’s missing students.

These kids never returned to school after the pandemic – because of paperwork and a broken phone

More education news, an 8-year-old boy who ran away from school is found dead in a neighborhood pond.

Longtime AD and 2-time national champion baseball coach Tanner to switch roles at South Carolina

Measure to repeal Nebraska’s private school funding law should appear on the ballot, court rules

How this one climate fix means a school nurse sees fewer students sick from the heat

Florida school district must restore books with LGBTQ+ content under settlement

Schools reopen with bolstered security in Kentucky county near the site of weekend I-75 shooting

US consumer watchdog moves to permanently ban Navient from federal student loan servicing

Principal indicted, accused of not reporting alleged child abuse by Atlantic City mayor

University of mississippi official and her husband are indicted on animal cruelty charges.

Charges filed months after a pro-Palestinian camp was cleared at University of Michigan

The Amazon’s Ashaninka tribe restored their territory. Now they aim to change the region

Early childhood development nonprofit Brilliant Detroit set to expand nationally

Georgia Republican leader seeks policy changes after school shooting but Democrats want more

North Carolina lawmakers approve more voucher funds and order sheriffs to aid immigration agents

Omaha school shooting began with a fight between 2 boys, court documents say

North Carolina’s public universities cut 59 positions as part of a massive DEI overhaul this summer

Court won’t allow public money to be spent on private schools in South Carolina

Harvard reports slight decline in Black students in wake of affirmative action ruling

US consumer watchdog finds that school lunch fees are taking a toll on parents

Nebraska’s top election official might try to remove a ballot measure to repeal school funding law

A suspect is in custody after a teen is critically hurt in a shooting at a Nebraska high school

Head of state children’s cabinet named new mexico’s new public education secretary, texas school districts say upgrades to the state’s student data reporting system could hurt funding.

Most students in a Georgia district return to class nearly a week after a school shooting

Trump said fixing child care would not be very expensive. Here are price tags for other proposals

The teen accused in Georgia’s high school shooting enrolled 2 weeks late and was often absent

North Carolina House Rep. Jeffrey Elmore resigning before term ends

Extra private school voucher funding gets initial OK from North Carolina Senate

A former NYC school food chief is sentenced to 2 years in a tainted chicken bribery case

Pitt fires athletic director Heather Lyke months before her contract was set to expire

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English Education is the journal of English Language Arts Teacher Educators (ELATE), formerly the Conference on English Education (CEE), a constituent organization of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The journal serves teachers who are engaged in the preparation, support, and continuing education of teachers of English language arts/literacy at all levels of instruction. (Published October, January, April, and July.)

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Resources for teaching english language learners using new york times content.

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Four Ways to Engage Multilingual Learners With The Times

A teacher of both English as a New Language and World Languages suggests ideas for bringing a global perspective to the news.

By Sarah E. Elia

Teenagers on What Their Families’ Native Languages Mean to Them

“I’m not that embarrassed,” one student said of his accent, “because it’s a flex to know multiple languages.”

By The Learning Network

How to Create a One-Pager: A Guide for Our End-of-Semester Challenge

Tips, links and encouragement for expressing yourself creatively on the Times topic of your choice.

By Katherine Schulten

Respond to a Story in The Times via Our One-Pager Challenge

Show us your thinking about a recent Times article, video, graph, photo essay or podcast. Open from Dec. 14, 2022 to Jan. 18, 2023.

A Year of Language Play: Our Vocabulary Challenges and How You Can Use Them

We invited students to invent new words and investigate old ones, tell stories, make videos, draw pictures and take quizzes.

By Callie Holtermann and Katherine Schulten

Visualizing Vocabulary: 7 Word Field Notes Created by Students

The winners of our April Vocabulary Challenge created one-pagers to discover more about our Words of the Day.

Weekly Accessible Learning Activities: Sharks, Tattoos, Faces

Each week we spotlight five student activities created for a broad range of learners based on reporting in The New York Times.

Weekly Accessible Learning Activities: Dog Walker, Inner Critic, Immigration History

Weekly Accessible Learning Activities: Ballet, Parks, Mental Health Crisis

Weekly Accessible Learning Activities: Pigeons, Community Diversity, Film Club

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Articles about teaching, five ways a celta qualification will further your career.

Choosing the right English language teaching course for you can be a challenge. Here are five reasons why we recommend taking an official Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) qualification from Cambridge.

Mediation skills in the English language classroom

Taking information, summarising it, and passing it on is an example of what linguists call mediation, and it is a key skill for language learners at all levels. It’s the subject of the latest Cambridge Paper in ELT which looks at some of the best strategies teachers can use to teach and assess mediation skills.

How can I start preparing learners for a Cambridge English Qualification?

Explore our article to find out how you can start preparing your learners to take a Cambridge English Qualification.

We will show you how to assess your students’ level, provide some tips for teaching mixed ability classes, and share some extra resources to help you get started with exam preparation.

Graduate employability in a changing world

As Covid-19 restrictions ease in many parts of the world, we are seeing clear evidence that students are picking up their plans for international travel and Higher Education. Prospective students need to know that their education will give them the skills they need for success.

What's the best way to learn receptive skills?

Explore our blog to discover how you can develop your learners' listening skills as they prepare for their exams, using a set of teacher guides that we have created.

What makes a good reader?

In this blog discover how our qualifications have been designed to help learners develop different reading skills; from reading short simple texts to understanding complex texts and abstract ideas.

Developing employability skills in Higher Education and at work

Employability, the qualities and skills that make us suitable for paid work, often brings to mind a specific body of knowledge, technical skills or qualifications that are appropriate for a particular position. However, there is an increasing demand from global businesses for their employees to demonstrate effective core skills .

Four ways a CELTA qualification will further your career

Choosing the right English language teaching course for you can be a challenge. Here are four reasons why we recommend taking an official Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) qualification from Cambridge.

Is English language teaching for you? A guide to a new career

In this blog post, we’ll outline why teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) is such an exciting job and offer advice on how you can get started. 

Help your students prepare for their exam

In this blog we share four questions from learners that are often asked about their exam, with some helpful teaching ideas on how to answer them.