Enrollment

Source: Brookings Institution

Date: 8/27/25

Declining Public School Enrollment

This report provides detailed estimates of recent shifts in public school enrollment. By linking the latest National Center for Education Statistics data with federal population estimates, the report shows how enrollment shifts differ across districts with distinct racial and economic profiles. In addition, it projects how continued enrollment declines could drive future school closures and alter the number of seats traditional districts will need through 2050.

Politics, Policy, and School Practices

Source: Center for American Progress

Date: 8/27/25

Public Education Under Threat: 4 Trump Administration Actions To Watch in the 2025-26 School Year

This paper estimates the effect of test-based grade retention on multilingual students classified as English Learners (ML-ELs). This policy could provide an opportunity for ML-ELs to develop English language proficiency and master academic content or put them at increased risk of worse academic and labor market outcomes. I use a regression discontinuity design leveraging Texas's test-based grade retention policy to estimate the effects of this policy on ML-ELs' short- and long-term outcomes. Under Texas policy, students scoring below the reading test cutoff are required to repeat third grade and receive additional reading support. I find that, for students close to the test score cutoff, grade retention and supplemental services have a positive effect on math and reading achievement, as well as increasing the probability of reclassification. These positive effects do not, however, translate into higher post-secondary enrollment or earnings. I find small and not statistically significant effects of grade retention on ML-ELs' probability of enrollment in a post-secondary institution. I also find that earnings for marginally retained students are statistically the same as those for promoted students in young adulthood. Finally, I find suggestive evidence that the effects of retention are larger in schools with higher expenditures on retained students or on bilingual education. This paper underscore the importance of analyzing how education policies designed with all students in mind affect ML-ELs in the short- and long-term.

Politics, Policy, and School Practices

Source: Heritage Foundation

Date: 8/29/25

A Legitimate Role for the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences

President Trump has instructed U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education." For decades, the Education Department and its research arm, the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), have strayed into responsibilities that properly belong to parents and state and local education officials-that overreach must end. Secretary McMahon has indicated that some department functions will be maintained, and the IES or remaining responsibilities outlined here should be moved to another agency well-suited to data collection and reporting, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics or the U.S. Census Bureau. Secretary McMahon and Members of Congress should continue to phase out the U.S. Department of Education and return authority to parents and local and state education policymakers.

School Finance and Funding / Student Achievement

Source: Manhattan Institute

Date: 8/28/25

Shortsighted Vision: How the NYS Regents' Equity Agenda Distorts Public Education

In November 2024, the New York State Board of Regents issued the "Vision to Transform New York State Graduation Requirements," a plan for high school education reform. To understand the context for this reform, it is first important to understand New York's levels of student performance and state education spending, as well as a brief history of the state's Regents exams.

School Reform and Restructuring

Source: PPI

Date: 8/27/25

20 Years of Reinvention: Education Reform in New Orleans

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, accelerating the collapse of an already disintegrating city public school system. Prior to the storm, almost two-thirds of New Orleans public school students attended failing schools, half dropped out, and fewer than one in five enrolled in college. The school system suffered severe financial mismanagement, corruption, and crumbling school infrastructures.

...

The reinvention of New Orleans' public schools represents both stunning success and critical lessons. If every major American public school system could achieve similar improvements, the effect on children across the nation would be profound.

Student Achievement / Climate Change

Source: Annenberg Institution

Date: 8/26/25

Education and Climate Change: Synthesizing the Evidence to Guide Future Research

The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly visible across all aspects of the U.S. PreK-12 education system. Schools are both vulnerable to climate change and uniquely positioned to be part of the solution. We synthesize interdisciplinary research and data to illustrate the bi-directional relationship between schools and our changing climate. Drawing on this evidence, we map out a research agenda around five interrelated dimensions to inform policy and practice: 1) reducing schools' environmental impacts, 2) making schools more resilient to environmental pressures, 3) supporting students and staff affected by climate change, 4) teaching about climate science, exposing students to the natural world, and providing training for jobs that advance sustainable practices, and 5) expanding the role of schools as community hubs that support broader awareness about climate change and care for the planet.

Review of Apples to Apples: The Definitive Look at School Test Scores in Milwaukee and Wisconsin for 2024

Source: Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty

Reviewed by: Benjamin Shear, University of Colorado Boulder

A recent report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) examines publicly available test score data from Spring 2024 in Wisconsin to investigate the relative effectiveness and cost of school choice programs.

The report claims to provide evidence that private schools participating in the state's voucher programs and charter schools yield better academic results as compared with traditional public schools, but Benjamin Shear of the University of Colorado Boulder identifies several critical limitations in the data and analyses behind those claims. NEPC today published Professor Shear's review of WILL's Apples to Apples: The Definitive Look at School Test Scores in Milwaukee and Wisconsin for 2024.

Utah's teacher workforce appears strong, but cracks widening inside classrooms

By: Jim Spiewak, KJZZ

"A 2023-2024 Educator Exit Survey, put out by the Utah State Board of Education, found that 6 out of 10 educators who left the profession last year had no plans to return. Burnout, stress and low pay were among the top reasons."

Health insurance will cost more for millions of Americans - especially rural residents

By: Shalina Chatlani,Nebraska Examiner

"A combination of Trump administration policies will make health care coverage more expensive for people who purchase plans from health insurance marketplaces - and rural residents will be hit the hardest, according to a new analysis."

AI-driven private schools are popping up around the U.S., from North Carolina to Florida

By: Alexandria Sands, Axois Charlotte

Information on Alpha Schools, "An AI-driven private school that teaches core subjects for just two hours a day is nearly doubling its U.S. footprint, adding eight new campuses from California to North Carolina to Puerto Rico."

The 57th Annual PDK Poll

By: John G. Hendron, PDK Poll

"Improving Teacher Pay and Teacher Shortages are Priorities for Americans; Elimination of U.S. Department of Education Not Strongly Supported"

How Adult Culture Wars Affect Student Learning

By: Vladimir Kogan, EducationNext

"...local conflicts focused on the most divisive cultural and political issues of the day really do come at the expense of student learning, a warning for adult activists who are often in the drivers' seat of these battles."

GreatLakesCenter.org