It’s been a wild 12 months in schooling, with every little thing from the disruptions of AI to Trump’s disassembly of the Division of Schooling. Alongside the way in which, there’ve been horrific NAEP scores, a slew of cellphone bans, a brand new federal tuition tax-credit program, Supreme Court docket rulings with huge implications for Okay-12, and far else. Earlier than we ring within the new 12 months, it may be helpful to mirror on the 12 months that was. In that spirit, I wish to revisit the 12 months’s RHSU columns and floor a number of the high hits—as decided by readership, suggestions, and private choice.
There are at all times a number of items that don’t essentially make the minimize of “high 10” however nonetheless appear to deserve a point out. This 12 months, these embrace Educate For America’s Outgoing CEO Displays on Her Tenure (April 8), We’ve Had Too A lot Hole Rhetoric In regards to the Urgency of Faculty Reform (July 22), and What Ought to Civics Instruction Look Like? (Aug. 26).
Now, with out additional ado, listed below are our high 10 RHSU columns of 2025 based mostly on mixed metrics.
10. Can Faculty Reform Be Bipartisan Once more? (Nov. 11): In a world dominated by social media, is there room for a extra critical schooling debate?
9. How Schooling Analysis Turned a Partisan Challenge (July 15): Values form the analysis that’s carried out, printed, and considered as “acceptable.”
8. The Faculty Selection Panorama Is Shifting (June 10): What might two Supreme Court docket rulings—one latest and one impending—imply for educators and fogeys?
7. Boys Are Struggling in Faculty. What Can Be Executed? (Could 20): Women outpace boys at practically each degree of educational achievement. Creator Richard Reeves shares his ideas.
6. How a Center Faculty Instructor Turned a Viral Sensation (Oct. 21): A science educator explains how he balances being an influencer along with his classroom observe.
5. How a Podcast About Studying Promoted Sweeping Educational Modifications (Feb. 18): Emily Hanford catalyzed the “science of studying” push however has blended emotions about some reforms that adopted.
4. The Federal Shutdown Is a Rorschach Check for Schooling (Oct. 20): Polarization, confusion, and perverse incentives flip a critical dialogue right into a stylized debate.
3. The U.S. Dept. of Ed. Has Been Minimize in Half. We Have Ideas (April 1): Absent clear clarification and deft administration, the push to downsize the division invitations confusion and dangers political blowback.
2. Trump’s 100 Days: The Good, the Unhealthy, and the Confounding (April 29): Watching the Trump 2.0 method to schooling appears like being trapped in a Russian novel.
1. Why Charlie Kirk Was an Icon to So Many Boys (September 15): The 31-year-old firebrand supplied one thing completely different to many who really feel adrift.
OK. Time to begin recent and see what 2026 holds. Wishing all of you a cheerful and wholesome new 12 months.
