Explainers
Go deeper on the latest education issues with these explainers from Education Week
Education Issues, Explained
Browse research-based background explainers on the most important education issues.
Mathematics
Explainer
How Addition Fluency Develops: A Visual Explainer
From basic counting to automatic recall, see how students learn to grasp their addition facts.
Classroom Technology
Explainer
AI Literacy, Explained
Now that AI is expected to influence fields from medicine to policing, what do students need to understand about the technology?
Mathematics
Explainer
What Is Math 'Fact Fluency,' and How Does It Develop?
Here's why math fact fluency matters, and what we know from research about teaching strategies and timed exercises.
Special Education
Explainer
How Special Education Funding Actually Works
Special education is among the most complicated and misunderstood facets of America’s sprawling K-12 school landscape.
Equity & Diversity
Explainer
Equity Audits in School Districts: An Explainer
Equity audits are systemic examinations of data to understand where gaps to access and challenges to educational equity exist.
School Choice & Charters
Explainer
Education Savings Accounts, Explained
Four states this year have passed laws allowing any parent to spend public dollars on private school tuition or other education expenses.
Curriculum
Explainer
How School Libraries Buy Books, Struggle for Funds, and Confront Book Bans: An Explainer
Schools are under fire from some parent groups over books they deem explicit. This is how those books end up in their library collections.
Classroom Technology
Explainer
Is the Gas App Safe? Here's What You Need to Know
Gas is billed as a positive, safer alternative to other popular social media apps. But experts see problems.
Reading & Literacy
Explainer
'Encoding' Explained: What It Is and Why It's Essential to Literacy
From children's earliest strokes on a page to letter formation and spelling, writing helps students connect speech to print.
Classroom Technology
Explainer
What Is ChatGPT and How Is It Used in Education?
Some educators think the popular AI bot could revolutionize teaching. Others worry it will have the opposite effect.
Equity & Diversity
Explainer
School Dress Code Debates, Explained
What are they, who do they serve, and do they need to be changed?
School & District Management
Explainer
What to Know About PCBs in Schools: A Visual Primer
Key facts about a toxic chemical that continues to contaminate older schools.
Student Well-Being
Explainer
Why Districts Are Stocking Naloxone in Response to the Opioid Crisis
Districts are equipping schools with an overdose-reversal drug due to emergencies caused by fentanyl and other opioids.
Student Well-Being
Explainer
The School Year Is Getting Hotter. How Does Heat Affect Student Learning and Well-Being?
Climate change will lead to more hot school days, and experts say schools are not prepared.