K-12 Education / Student Achievement

Source: CEPR-Harvard

Date: 5/21/26

From Learning Recession to Learning Recovery: Understanding the Sources of U.S. K-12 Improvement

In May, the fourth iteration of the Education Scorecard - a collaboration between CEPR, the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University, and faculty at Dartmouth College - was released.

 

This year marks a transition. Now that the federal pandemic relief dollars have been spent, we have removed "Recovery" from our name to become the Education Scorecard. This year's analysis shifts from pandemic recovery to a more forward-looking approach focused on identifying "districts on the rise" and studying what key factors may be affecting achievement, from cell phones and social media use to absenteeism.'

 

The new Education Scorecard report provides a mixed picture of American education: a post-pandemic math rebound and early signals that comprehensive literacy reforms are beginning to pay off, but signs that middle-income districts are lagging behind.

School Choice

Source: EdChoice

Date: 5/19/26

The Accountability Myth: Second Edition

Five years ago, EdChoice released The Accountability Myth, a report challenging one of the most common arguments in debates over school choice: that public schools are accountable, while private schools are not. Today, that argument is as relevant as ever, so EdChoice has released a second edition of this critical report.

Review of The Economic Impact from Colorado's Choice to Participate in the "Education Freedom Tax Credit" Provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Source: Common Sense Institute

Reviewed by: Joydeep Roy, Teachers College, Columbia University

The Common Sense Institute recently published a report declaring large potential benefits of the federal education tax-credit voucher program created through President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill. However, the report's claims about the improvements the program would create for Colorado are unlikely to materialize.

Joydeep Roy of Teachers College, Columbia University explains why in his review of The Economic Impact from Colorado's Choice to Participate in the "Education Freedom Tax Credit" Provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

New student loan limits challenged by Democratic attorneys general, governors in lawsuit

By: Shauneen MIranda, Nebraska Examiner

"The lawsuit - filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland - challenges a portion of the incoming federal student loan system overhaul that sets stricter loan caps for students partaking in postbaccalaureate degree programs that do not fall under the department's "professional" classification, such as nursing, teaching and social work."

The Founding Fathers Would've Gotten Rid of Trump Long Ago

By: Jonah Goldberg, AEI

It's worth sharing when the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank runs an article arguing why our forefathers wouldn't have abided President Trump arguing in part "Contrary to thousands of hours of impeachment legal punditry going back to the Nixon administration, a president doesn't have to commit a crime to be impeached. As Hamilton writes in Federalist 65, impeachment involves "the misconduct of public men" and "the abuse or violation of some public trust.""

Early Adopter Districts and AI: Strategic Pathways, System Strain, and the Conditions for Amplifying Transformation

By: Michael Berardino, Swati Guin, Bree Dusseault, CRPE

"Drawing on surveys and interviews with leaders from 45 Early Adopter districts across 20 states, this brief examines how districts are strategically aligning AI to their instructional goals, what implementation challenges are emerging, and what external conditions enable or constrain deeper transformation."

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