How to Appeal a College Financial Aid Decision
A step-by-step guide to gathering documents, writing the letter, and asking a aid office to take a second look.
By Zara Nasser • September 17, 2026
Latest
Statewide Reading Curriculum Adoption or Local Choice: How States Should Decide
Mississippi's widely studied NAEP reading gains followed a statewide push toward evidence-aligned early-reading instruction. NCTQ's teacher-prep research offers a way to weigh that model against the case for leaving curriculum choice to districts.
By Samuel Achebe • September 4, 2026
Expert Voice
How Principals Should Weigh a Scripted Curriculum Mandate Against Teacher Autonomy
RAND's American Instructional Resources Survey has tracked a real tension in schools adopting highly scripted curricula: consistency gains that show up in the data, and morale costs that show up in exit interviews. A principal implementing a mandate from the district office has to manage both.
By Samuel Achebe • September 2, 2026
Education News
The FAFSA Overhaul Is Done. The Cleanup Is Not
The redesigned federal aid form survived its disastrous first cycle — but aid-award timing and small-college enrollment effects are still working through the system.
By Marta Kowalczyk • August 28, 2026
What District Leaders Should Require Before Buying Cyber-Incident Insurance
K12 Security Information Exchange has tracked a steady stream of ransomware and data-breach incidents against school systems. A cyber policy bought without verifying the district's own baseline controls often costs more and covers less than leaders expect.
By Samuel Achebe • August 24, 2026
Should a College Drop Standardized Testing for Good? How Enrollment Leaders Read the Evidence
NACAC's State of College Admission research has tracked years of test-optional policy since the pandemic pushed most institutions to adopt it. The evidence on what test-optional actually changes is more mixed than either side of the debate tends to admit.
By Zara Nasser • August 10, 2026
Build In-House or Outsource: How Districts Weigh Special Education Service Contracts
A persistent national shortage of speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, and related-service providers has pushed many districts toward contracted staffing. The Council for Exceptional Children's compliance guidance is a useful lens for weighing the tradeoffs.
By Samuel Achebe • July 20, 2026
Expert Voice
Stipend or Release Time: How Districts Should Pay Teacher Mentors
The New Teacher Center's induction research links strong mentoring to lower early-career attrition, but only when mentors get real time to do the job. A stipend that buys no time off a mentor's own teaching load often buys weaker mentoring.
By Zara Nasser • July 6, 2026
From the past month
Education News
How School Funding Actually Works: Title I and State Formulas
By Marta Kowalczyk • August 24, 2026
Guides
How to Earn a Teaching Credential While Working Full Time
Alternative certification routes exist in every state, run in a year to two, and — unlike the traditional path — are built around evening and online coursework.
By Samuel Achebe • August 26, 2026
Guides
How Alternative Teacher Certification Works for Career Changers
About 18% of U.S. public school teachers entered the classroom through an alternative route, per NCES — here is how the licensure pathway actually works, who uses it, and what it pays.
By Samuel Achebe • August 21, 2026
Education News
How State Cellphone Ban Laws Actually Work in K-12 Schools
More than half the states now require districts to restrict student phone use, but the rules on storage, discipline, and exemptions vary widely from state to state.
By Marta Kowalczyk • August 19, 2026
FCC's New E-Rate Bidding Portal Sparks Pushback From School Groups
A rule meant to curb fraud in the $5.2 billion school-internet program is drawing warnings that small and rural districts will carry the heaviest new paperwork load.
By Marta Kowalczyk • August 15, 2026
How Districts Should Evaluate AI Tutors Before Buying
A due-diligence guide: the questions about evidence, data, accuracy, and pedagogy districts should put to every AI tutoring vendor.
By Marta Kowalczyk • July 24, 2026
What Are Open Educational Resources and How Should Districts Evaluate Them
Free, openly licensed curricula can cut textbook costs — if districts apply the same quality bar they use for commercial materials.
By Zara Nasser • July 19, 2026
How Districts Prepare Teachers for a New EdTech Platform
Professional development, not the software itself, decides whether a new platform reaches classrooms — here is what working rollout training looks like.
By Zara Nasser • July 7, 2026
Substitute Teaching Pays a $37,380 Median as State Rules Diverge
Requirements to become a substitute teacher range from a bachelor's degree in California to no degree at all in New York, and several states have loosened the rules since 2022 amid staffing shortages.
By Victor Petrov • August 12, 2026
From Teacher to Nonprofit Program Officer: An Education Career Guide
Foundations and education nonprofits hire teachers to run grantmaking, manage programs, and evaluate impact. Here is the role map, the pay reality, and how to make the switch.
By Victor Petrov • July 30, 2026
Careers
How Teacher Pension Systems Work: A Guide for New Teachers
Vesting periods, service credit, portability limits, and the Social Security gap shape whether a teaching career pays off. Here is how to read your own pension paperwork.
By Zara Nasser • July 12, 2026
Careers
Becoming a School Psychologist: Demand, Requirements, and Pay
School psychology is one of the most shortage-marketed professions in American education, requiring a specialist-level degree. Here is the training pipeline, the credential, and the honest pay picture.
By Zara Nasser • June 14, 2026
Returning to College After 30: A Guide for Adult Learners
Millions of adults have some college and no degree. This guide covers re-enrollment, credit resurrection, financial aid past 30, and the logistics that decide whether returning sticks.
By Samuel Achebe • August 4, 2026
What MTSS and RTI Actually Mean for Struggling Students
Schools use tiered support systems to help falling students before special education referral. This guide explains the tiers, how progress monitoring works, and what parents should ask for.
By Samuel Achebe • July 18, 2026
Guides
Homeschooling Requirements by State: What the Law Actually Asks
Homeschooling is legal in all fifty states, but the paperwork ranges from a one-time notice to annual assessments and subject mandates. This guide maps the four regulatory tiers and the decisions families face.
By Samuel Achebe • June 20, 2026
Guides
How Teacher Evaluations Work: Rubrics, Observations and Student Growth
Most teachers are judged on a teaching rubric plus some measure of student growth. This guide explains how observation frameworks are scored, where value-added models fit, and what the results are used for.
By Zara Nasser • May 28, 2026
Alternative Certification Now Trains 18 Percent of US Teachers
By Marta Kowalczyk • August 17, 2026
NAEP Long-Term Trend 2026: Nine-Year-Olds Gain While Teen Scores Stall
Results released June 10, 2026 show nine-year-olds improving in math and reading, while thirteen-year-olds posted no significant change in either subject compared with 2023.
By Marta Kowalczyk • August 10, 2026
Education News
FCC Review Puts $3 Billion in School Internet Funding on the Table
By Marta Kowalczyk • August 10, 2026
Education News
Education Department Offers One Percent Rate Cut for Auto Pay Enrollment
Borrowers who enroll in automatic debit by September 30, 2026 receive a full percentage point off their student loan interest rate through June 2028, part of a push to rebuild repayment rates.
By Marta Kowalczyk • July 1, 2026