Huston Middle School in Pennsylvania has implemented personalized learning classes for students in seventh and eighth grades, shifting away from traditional electives to offer more student choice and engagement. Teachers now serve as guides and facilitators, helping students explore interests and develop real-world skills as part of the initiative , which aims for equitable, individualized learning experiences that better prepare students for future academic and career success.

Teachers can foster metacognition by weaving reflective practices into daily routines rather than treating them as isolated lessons. Strategies include prompting students to articulate their thought processes, encouraging peer explanations and using checklists or summary tables to monitor progress.

Hutto ISD has introduced a Student Influencer Program aimed at involving middle- and high-school students in creating content that highlights school life for the district's social media. The initiative seeks to select 12 to 15 students, with at least two from each campus, to share their unique perspectives and encourage peer engagement.

Fourth-grade students at Park Elementary in Kearney, Neb., are learning math, geography and social-emotional skills through a program called "NFeLementary" that uses football as a teaching method. Students select an NFL team at the start of the school year, track their team's progress and participate in activities that connect academics with real-world sports. The curriculum encourages cheering for all teams and incorporates lessons in sportsmanship, making learning engaging and relevant, says teacher Amanda Reinert.

The Trump administration's funding cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities impact educational programs such as National History Day, which engages 500,000 students a year in historical research and provides resources and training to teachers, writes high-school student Marium Zahra. The cuts have forced the organization to reduce its budget by $825,000, potentially leading to the cancellation of state-level competitions and scaling back the national event, which would mean a loss of opportunities for student-led inquiry and have broader implications for history education, Zahra writes.

Humility and incremental experimentation are important factors when adopting generative artificial intelligence in schools, says Justin Reich, an associate professor at MIT. In this Q&A, Reich notes that teachers need clear policies and professional development to navigate AI's rapid integration, and he advises school leaders to create policies through short design trials and community collaboration, noting that the main concerns among school leaders are academic integrity and preparing students for a changing labor market.

Superintendent turnover among the 500 largest US school districts has increased to 23%, up from 20% the previous year and 15% before the pandemic, according to the ILO Group. A notable trend is a rise in female superintendents, who now make up a third of district leaders, although at the current rate, it will take 30 years for gender parity, experts note.