The Top 20 Education Next Articles of 2015

UPDATE: Check out our top 20 articles of 2016.


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Every December we release a list of the most popular articles Education Next has published over the course of the year.

Which topics were most popular with Education Next readers in 2015?

Poverty and inequality have been major themes in the U.S. in 2015 and Ed Next readers were particularly interested in articles looking at the intersection of these topics with K-12 education policy.

Five of the articles in the top 20 are from a special issue Ed Next released last spring on the 50th Anniversary of the Moynihan Report which examined the rise in the number of children growing up in single-parent families. Several of the articles in that issue take a close look at the impact of changes in family structure on educational attainment in the U.S. and in other countries.

The top Ed Next article of 2015 is one that investigates whether the poverty rate in the U.S. explains the lackluster performance of America’s schools, and concludes that it does not. That article, “America’s Mediocre Test Scores,” by Michael Petrilli and Brandon Wright, launched a debate over the best way to compare poverty rates across countries.

Without further ado, here are the top 20 articles:


1. America’s Mediocre Test Scores
Education crisis or poverty crisis?
By Michael J. Petrilli and Brandon L. Wright
2. What Explains Success at Success Academy?
Charter network focuses on what is being taught, and how
By Charles Sahm
3. States Raise Proficiency Standards in Math and Reading
Commitments to Common Core may be driving the proficiency bar upward
By Paul E. Peterson and Matthew Ackerman
4. One-Parent Students Leave School Earlier
Education attainment gap widens
By Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, Greg J. Duncan and Ariel Kalil
5. Was Moynihan Right?
What happens to children of unmarried mothers
By Sara McLanahan and Christopher Jencks
6. The Rise of AltSchool and Other Micro-schools
Combinations of private, blended, and at-home schooling meet needs of individual students
By Michael B. Horn
7. The 2015 EdNext Poll on School Reform
Public thinking on testing, opt out, common core, unions, and more
By Michael B. Henderson, Paul E. Peterson and Martin R. West
8. Good News for New Orleans
Early evidence shows reforms lifting student achievement
By Douglas N. Harris
9. An International Look at the Single-Parent Family
Family structure matters more for U.S. students
By Ludger Woessmann
10. Learning English
Accountability, Common Core, and the college-for-all movement are transforming instruction
By Joanne Jacobs
11. Fixing Detroit’s Broken School System
Improve accountability and oversight for district and charter schools
By Robin J. Lake, Ashley Jochim and Michael DeArmond
12. The Ideal Blended-Learning Combination
Is one-third computer time about right?
By Paul E. Peterson and Michael B. Horn
13. Should Personalization Be the Future of Learning?
Benjamin Riley and Alex Hernandez square off
By Benjamin Riley and Alex Hernandez
14. Family Breakdown and Poverty
To flourish, our nation must face some hard truths
By Robert P. George and Yuval Levin
15. More Middle-Class Families Choose Charters
A political game changer for public school choice?
By Richard Whitmire
16. Boosting Educational Attainment and Adult Earnings
Does school spending matter after all?
By C. Kirabo Jackson, Rucker C. Johnson and Claudia Persico
17. Black Men and the Struggle for Work
Social and economic barriers persist
By James M. Quane, William Julius Wilson and Jackelyn Hwang
18. Teachers Unions and the War Within
Making sense of the conflict
By Mike Antonucci
19. New Hampshire’s Journey Toward Competency-Based Education
State lifts barriers to innovation, allowing districts and charters to personalize learning
By Julia Freeland
20. In Defense of Snow Days
Students who stay home when school is in session are a much larger problem
By Joshua Goodman

Congratulations to all of our authors!

—Education Next

P.S. You can find the Top 20 Education Next articles of 2014 here and 2013 here.

P.P.S. Check out our Top 10 blog entries of 2015 here.

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