EdSurge readers are well-rounded students of education news.
In 2025, the K-12 articles that proved most popular with our audience reflected the breadth of the big trends gaining momentum in school districts and classrooms.
Even though U.S. education is largely governed by state policy, last year a significant source of change came from the White House. Two of our top 10 stories explored the nuances of executive orders signed by President Trump.
Of course, news about artificial intelligence topped the list, too. About a third of the most-read stories took readers past the hype to explore how educators and students are actually using AI tools.
A full half of the top EdSurge stories from 2025 reflected the diversity of today’s educators and students. Two examined the youth culture and learning preferences of Gen Alpha and Gen Z. Three others highlighted religion, neurodivergence and multilingual learners, respectively.
Finally, four of the top pieces came straight from the perspectives of practicing classroom instructors, demonstrating the resonance and power of educator voices.
Thanks for reading EdSurge in 2025, and cheers to a new year of education news.
1. Religion Is a Taboo Topic. I Discuss It in My Classroom Anyway.
By Hind Haddad
A Voices of Change fellow initially avoided discussing faith in her classroom. But she realized that her students – who mostly come from immigrant families who practice Islam – could benefit by connecting their daily learning with their personal and cultural identities.
2. Trump’s Executive Order on School Discipline Clashes With What Research Says Works
By Nadia Tamez-Robledo
Previously, national education policy aimed to remediate the fact that children who are racial minorities endure disproportionately high rates of punishment in public schools. The Trump administration aims to reverse course, arguing that older policies made schools less safe by incentivizing them to sweep student misconduct under the rug.
3. I’ve Taught Gen Z for Almost a Decade. I’m Split on the So-Called Gen Z ‘Split’
By Jeff LeBlanc
Are today’s youth divided, with half demonstrating high levels of motivation and the other half shrinking from school and career ambition? In this essay, an educator draws on his personal experience in the classroom to dismantle the notion, noting that students today seem to have high levels of intellectual curiosity.
4. Can ‘Math Therapists’ Make a Dent In America’s Declining Math Performance?
By Daniel Mollenkamp
Anxiety about math can pass from teacher to student. Instructional coaches are trying to break that cycle by instilling teachers with more confidence in their computational skills.
5. Why ‘Brain Rot’ Can Hurt Learning — and How One District Is Kicking It Out of School
By Nadia Tamez-Robledo
Educators have talked for years about students’ shortening attention spans and how kids struggle to follow the most basic of instructions. Even children know that their energy for learning is being drained by too much time spent scrolling social media and watching AI videos. What can be done about it?
6. Trump Executive Order Calls for Artificial Intelligence to Be Taught in Schools
By Rebecca Koenig
From the White House came a directive to promote “appropriate integration of AI into education” to “ensure the United States remains a global leader in this technological revolution,” through teaching students and training teachers to use AI in order to improve education outcomes. Education leaders offered mixed first impressions about the order.
7. How I Navigate the Classroom as a Neurodivergent Teacher
By Fatema Elbakoury
How to offer students presence while struggling with anxiety and imposter syndrome? A Voices of Change fellow explains how extensive lesson preparation and organization help her succeed at the head of the classroom with her neurodivergence.
8. Art Saved My Life When I Was a Student. Now, It’s Helping My Multilingual Learners.
By Edgar Miguel Grajeda
The visual arts have the power to transcend language barriers and help all students, especially multilingual learners, thrive in school. A Voices of Change fellow explains how.
9. Teachers Believe That AI Is Here to Stay in Education. How It Should Be Taught Is Debatable.
By Nadia Tamez-Robledo
The life cycle of teachers’ feelings about AI started at confusion, then fear about it threatening their jobs, followed by worries about students cheating but also a desire to see how the technology can be useful with lesson planning and other administrative tasks.
10. An AI Wish List From Teachers: What They Actually Want It to Do
By Ellen Ullman
While edtech vendors race to integrate AI into every aspect of teaching and learning, educators are drawing clearer boundaries: AI should save them time, not replace their judgment. They want support for differentiation, not decision-making. Most of all, they want tools that align with the values and realities of teaching.
