Chalkbeat Ideas
What are the big ideas and debates shaping American schools? Chalkbeat Ideas Editor Matt Barnum explains in his reported columns. Sign up for the newsletter in the box below.
The school was cast in a negative light in a recent New York Times essay. I went to see what parents think of it now.
The school was cast in a negative light in a recent New York Times essay. I went to see what parents think of it now.
Parents and policymakers want to know how much a school helps children learn. For elementary schools, even sophisticated statistics may not provide an answer.
A long-running integration program produced modest test-score gains — and remarkably large increases in college graduation.
Sticker prices at elite schools keep making headlines, but after grants and discounts, students are paying less in tuition than they did a decade ago.
AI may be starting to chip away at the college wage premium. A closer look at Nikole Hannah-Jones’ daughter’s elementary school. A small but important update to Sal Khan’s origin story.
De-emphasizing admissions tests seems to bring in more students from low-income families — but not many.
School funding has risen substantially, but teacher salaries have not. One reason: Districts have instead used more resources to hire additional staff.
The pandemic-era strategy had unusually broad support, and schools had unprecedented federal aid available. But staffing problems, missed sessions, and diluted programs limited its effect.
Studies suggest CTE can help students stay engaged, graduate, and land better-paying jobs. But its strongest results may be difficult for more schools to reproduce.
Families are increasingly choosing online public schools, even as research has raised concerns about their academic results.
Researchers found that simply giving students access to a capable AI tutor did little to ensure they used it for learning. More structured use of the technology showed greater promise.
A new paper traces how family income, test scores, and educational spending rise together — leaving the least advantaged students in the least-resourced colleges.
Low- and high-poverty districts tend to spend more than those in the middle. This Chalkbeat Ideas roundup also examines where COVID relief went, why testing moved online, and whether “college for all” was ever really the message.
Technology was often sold as a shortcut to better learning, but now amid a backlash, schools risk abandoning useful tools along with the bad ones, says ISTE leader Richard Culatta
Studies tracking nearly identical students on opposite sides of admissions cutoffs find sizable economic gains, even among those without top grades or test scores.
Teacher attrition peaked in many places around 2022 and has since declined. But years of churn have reshaped faculties, strained school leaders, and may have slowed academic recovery.
About 1 in 10 Indiana educators had significant apprehension teaching math. Their students made less progress, and struggling students faced the greatest risks.
The Brown’s Promise founder says segregated schools remain unequal — and that voluntary, cross-district programs can help change that.