There is no escaping the persistent problem of a meaningless high school diploma - for students, for employers, for all of us. We fail to address it at our own peril.

“In reading, 9-year-old boys have reached parity with their female peers for the first time on record, largely because girls’ scores have declined.” It’s almost as if the data tells us that the status quo doesn’t really work for anyone…

Spoiler alert: The study shows that the typical school board decision is to close the school but not lay off staff. If you close a school and lay off a school's worth of staff, the district will save money.

“The problem is that, for seemingly well-meaning but misguided reasons, Lewis George is planning to dismantle successful education reforms that have helped the District achieve more than a decade of progress on math and reading.” capitalcommonsense.substack.…

Great piece by @ua_edreform alum @annaegalite on stealthy 4-day school weeks: "A calendar that repeatedly shuts out students from school on ordinary weekdays is not just an administrative decision. It is education policy, family policy, and labor-market policy, and it hasn’t been given the opportunity for public input that it merits." educationnext.org/the-quiet-…

Back to IMPACT, lots of Obama-era performance pay systems didn't really work. But DC's program has been very successful and has driven good results for kids. slowboring.com/p/we-should-p…

You think politics is bad now, just wait until the median voter has never read a book

Big shoes to fill. Dan is top notch.

“The students who cannot read a 20-page article today are the voters who will not be able to read a bill, or the jurors who cannot follow a closing argument, tomorrow.”

Great piece by @matt_barnum about an important experimental study by @cqcampos: To affect school choices, school performance "information needs to be widely shared across a broad network of connected families, not just a handful of individuals." chalkbeat.org/2026/05/19/los…

Still using what they were trained in. This is an ed prep and PD problem.

Let me translate the abstract: we should be more serious about teacher evaluation. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs…

Trust the science.

Yes, paying teachers more at the start of their careers can support retention and student achievement. Districts also need to look at how they spend their resources across the full salary schedule. Many districts still pay a lot for master’s degree premiums that don’t improve teacher effectiveness or student outcomes. A better approach would be to shift those dollars toward early-career pay as well as other targeted, evidence-based strategies, like incentives for shortage areas, high-need schools, strong performance, or teacher leadership roles. nctq.org/research-insights/t…

It’s like having a Waymo trail just behind you on a long run and constantly asking if you want a lift

Finally an angle on the college ROI issue that isn't simply turning away from giving all students a chance to get to and through college. This is refreshing and inspiring.

This is not kind to students. If you want to be kind, care enough to tell them the truth and help them reach a true bar of achievement.