Elementary School

Education news, analysis, and opinion about schools serving the lower grades, typically up to 5th, and their students
Flexible Seating BS
Sam Mallon/Education Week
Teaching Video Flexible Seating Without the Chaos. This Teacher Has Figured It Out
This 4th grade class utilizes 11 different types of flexible seating to keep them moving throughout the day.
Jaclyn Borowski, March 6, 2025
1:36
Teachers utilize a team-teaching model developed by the Next Education Workforce Model, at Stevenson Elementary School in Mesa, Ariz., on Jan 30, 2025.
Teachers use a team-teaching model at Stevenson Elementary School in Mesa, Ariz., on Jan 30, 2025. In the model, more than one teacher at a time assumes responsibility for a group of students at each grade level, and typically class sizes are larger.
Adriana Zehbrauskas for Education Week
Teaching Profession Team-Teaching Builds Supports in a 'Very Lonely Profession'
Collaborative teaching gains traction amid staff shortages and rising student need.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 4, 2025
15 min read
021525 SOT SEL BS
Sam Mallon/Education Week
Teaching Profession Video ‘It’s Not All Rainbows and Butterflies’: SEL in the Early Grades
A veteran teacher reflects on how the classroom (and the kids) have changed, and on what's needed to fix education.
Jaclyn Borowski & Sam Mallon, March 4, 2025
1 min read
A duotone photograph of a group of elementary students sitting together and looking at their cellphones
Canva
Classroom Technology Here's How Many Elementary Students Have Their Own Cellphones and Tablets
The use of cellphones and tablets by young children in school raises concerns about too much screen time.
Arianna Prothero, February 26, 2025
5 min read
A group of children walk across a book under protective hands.
Islenia Mil for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion What We Can All Learn From Black Women in Education
These eight extraordinary women in history have a lot to teach us today.
Dawnavyn M. James, January 30, 2025
5 min read
Assistant Principal Beth Bearor and kindergartener Rhys Gallup practice letters and letter sounds while walking through a rope ladder during P.E. teacher Robyn Newton’s action-based learning class at Vergennes Union Elementary School in Vergennes, Vt., on Nov. 18, 2024.
Assistant Principal Beth Bearor and kindergartener Rhys Gallup practice letters and letter sounds while walking through a rope ladder during P.E. teacher Robyn Newton’s action-based learning class at Vergennes Union Elementary School in Vergennes, Vt., on Nov. 18, 2024.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Student Well-Being Video This School Keeps Kids Moving All Day. See How It Works
Inside a school where movement is woven into academics throughout the day.
Jaclyn Borowski, January 28, 2025
4:11
Photograph of diverse kindergarten children with a young white teacher sitting on the floor for a lesson in their classroom.
iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession Public Trust in Elementary School Teachers Declines—But Still Tops Most Other Professions
Elementary school teachers second only to nurses in a poll of most-trusted professions.
Evie Blad, January 17, 2025
3 min read
A stack of stones balanced in a chaotic environment. Mindfulness.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty Images
Student Well-Being Download How Schools Can Teach Students to Manage Their Behavior and Emotions (DOWNLOADABLE)
Experts share practical tips on how to teach students to manage their emotions and behaviors.
Lauraine Langreo & Vanessa Solis, January 13, 2025
1 min read
Hands adjusting student's emotional gauges.
Anna Godeassi for Education Week
Student Well-Being Elementary Students Can’t Manage Their Emotions. What Schools Can Do to Help
Many teachers say kids' coping skills are not as good as they used to be.
Lauraine Langreo, January 13, 2025
6 min read
Students participate in reflections after a day of learning in Julia Kromenacker’s 3rd grade classroom at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky. on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
Students participate in reflections after a day of learning in Julia Kromenacker’s 3rd grade classroom at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky., on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. The Bullitt County district that includes Old Mill Elementary has incorporated a focus on building more general life skills, like collaboration, problem-solving, and communication, that community members and employers consistently say they want from students coming out of high school.
Sam Mallon/Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Even in Academic Classes, Schools Focus on Building Students' Workforce Skills
Schools work on meeting academic standards. What happens when they focus on different sets of skills?
Matthew Stone, October 22, 2024
11 min read
Jenna Bray, a 1st grade teacher at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky., helps her student Lucas Joiner on an online learning assignment on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
Jenna Bray, a 1st grade teacher at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky., helps student Lucas Joiner on an online learning assignment on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. The Bullitt County district, which includes Old Mill Elementary, has incorporated a focus on equipping students with more general life skills—like communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving—that employers and community members consistently say they want from students coming out of high school.
Sam Mallon/Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Preparing for the Workforce Can Start as Early as 1st Grade. What It Looks Like
Preparing students for college and career success starts well before high school—and it doesn’t only involve occupation-specific training.
Matthew Stone, October 22, 2024
5 min read
Reading & Literacy Video Implementing New Reading Materials Is Hard. How This Principal Got Buy-In
A NYC principal explains how she implemented the Wit and Wisdom reading curriculum in her school. The first step was teacher buy-in.
Kaylee Domzalski, September 30, 2024
4:38
School & District Management Video Tour a School Built to Stay Open in Extreme Weather
River Grove Elementary is built to stay open, with the lights on, as extreme weather strikes.
Caitlynn Peetz & Kaylee Domzalski, September 20, 2024
2 min read
Blurred photograph of smiling students running out of a school building.
Comstock/Getty
School & District Management An Unconventional Way One District Is Adding Teacher Planning Time
District leaders had to respond to increased training demands and the reality that elementary teachers generally have little planning time.
Caitlynn Peetz, August 28, 2024
5 min read