2026

Southern states have historically underperformed in educational achievement. But a recent rise in test scores in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee has led some experts and journalists to describe the “Southern surge” as one of the few bright...

The National Assessment of Educational Progress is known as the nation’s report card. But as more students leave public schools, the test risks becoming less representative of the nation’s students. Unlike public schools, private schools aren’t required...

Nearly six years on from the start of the COVID pandemic, many of the academic recovery plans districts put in place haven’t shown big returns and student achievement remains stubbornly low. Several studies of large-scale tutoring programs, for instance...

Dear friends, Welcome to the inaugural edition of the States Leading States (SLS) newsletter! It’s been a whirlwind since I joined CEPR almost a year ago—from building our small but mighty team, to finding fantastic state partners, to identifying...

The Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR)’s Strategic Data Project has released a new toolkit to help bring effective high-dosage tutoring to students around the country. “Measure, Monitor, Improve: Data Tools for Understanding High-Dosage Tutoring...

A ray of hope is emerging in American education. Not among Democrats or Republicans, each diverted by culture wars. Not in the education reform movement, largely abandoned by the philanthropists who once propelled it. Not in most schools across the...

University of Texas associate professor Jeffrey T. Denning argued that grade inflation in K-12 schools and colleges may boost short-term outcomes but undermine students’ long-term academic and career success at a Tuesday event at the Harvard Graduate...

Students, parents and school principals all instinctively know that some teachers are better than others. Education researchers have spent decades trying — with mixed success — to calculate exactly how much better. What remains far more elusive is why. A...