Sarah Schwartz is a reporter for Education Week who covers curriculum and instruction. Before joining the staff, she was as an Education Week intern, covering education technology. She has also worked at a middle school in New York City.
First grader Aizlynn Castillo works on an assignment in Diana Oviedo-Holguin’s English-learner class at Heritage Elementary School in San Antonio on Sept. 3, 2025. The school district has embraced the "science of reading" and is applying it to instruction for English learners and in dual-language programs.
Timothy Rimke reads during Casey Cuny's English class at Valencia High School in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Aug. 27, 2025. Some observers of English/language arts curriculum fear that several growing in popularity subordinate the reading of novels and whole texts to shorter excerpts, but the evidence is still sketchy.
Students in Saxon Brown's 9th grade English class take turns reading as the different characters in <i>To Kill A Mockingbird</i> during class at Bel Air High School in Bel Air, Md., on Jan. 25, 2024. Teachers say several tips help them build the scaffolding and stamina kids need to tackle complex novels like Harper Lee's masterpiece.
Third-grader Fallon Rawlinson reads a book at Good Springs Elementary School in Good Springs, Nev., on March 30, 2022. Reading scores remain flat after the pandemic, even as scores grow in math—a subject in which performance was initially more affected.
Laura Patranella's 5th graders write verses in response to <i>Love That Dog</i>, by Sharon Creech. One of Patranella's English/language arts unit features that novel alongside the poems that inspired it.
Illustration by Vanessa Solis/Education Week. Student writing courtesy of Laura Patranella
Students at R. Brown McAllister Elementary School use telephones for a phonemic awareness lesson on March 19, 2025, in Concorn, N.C. Researchers are homing in on the qualities of high-quality intervention for students who continue to struggle after regular teaching.
Students at R. Brown McAllister Elementary School use different strategies in phonemic awareness during literacy instruction on March 19, 2025, in Concorn, N.C. Teaching spelling in foundational-skills lessons can improve students' reading, research shows.
A student works on a math problem during a 5th grade class at Lafargue Elementary School in Effie, Louisiana, on Friday, August 22. The state has implemented new professional development requirements for math teachers in grades 4-8 to help improve student achievement and address learning gaps. The Trump administration says it will prioritize grants that promote similar state-based math education efforts.
First grader Kamila Reyes works on an assignment in Diana Oviedo-Holguin’s dual-language class at Heritage Elementary School in San Antonio, on Sept. 3, 2025. The district is making cross-language connections a central part of its shift to the science of reading.
Tenth grader Landon Hackney makes an argument during civics class at Chatham Central High School in Bear Creek, N.C., on Nov. 5, 2019. The U.S. Department of Education will promote "patriotic education" in civics and history classrooms.
Eighth graders learn about the value and shape of matter while building containers to hold liquid during a science class at Boys’ Latin School of Maryland on Oct. 24, 2024, in Baltimore. Nationally, 8th graders lost ground in science, according to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Students listen to social studies teacher Ella Pillitteri during a 7th grade civics class at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Fla., on April 16, 2024. Civics teachers say they are struggling not to run into controversy when teaching core topics like the separation of powers as President Trump's administration continues to push constitutional boundaries.
Seniors at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School in San Francisco practice the use of a pipette as part of a STEM initiative on April 29, 2024. Science teachers say they often have to shore up students' math skills in their lessons.
Singer Taylor Swift, left, and Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce, front right, take in one of the games of the Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise, Fla., on June 12, 2025. Their engagement caused educators in some schools to make an announcement—and others to be grateful for cellphone restrictions.
A student in Lynne Martin's 5th grade class studies math using a Chromebook at Markham Elementary School in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. Some teachers, worried about an over-saturation of digital devices, are now ditching the popular tech tools.