FutureEd: Independent Analysis, Innovative Ideas

Welcome to FutureEd’s March newsletter, a summary of our recent work.

new Analysis

Education in Governors’ 2025 State of the State Addresses

FutureEd Senior Policy Analyst Bella DiMarco highlights the education priorities of the nation’s governors in an analysis of their 2025 state-of-the-state addresses, produced in collaboration with The 74. The state leaders addressed a range of issues, including school choice and classroom cell phone bans and social media restrictions to address youth mental health and improve student engagement. But few state leaders directly addressed what is now a more than decade long decline in student achievement in the nation’s schools.

Read the full analysis

Federal Policy

Explainers

The New Education Powerbrokers in Washington

With the Trump administration working with Republican congressional leaders to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and slash federal education spending, and purge diversity initiatives from the education sector, FutureEd has compiled a who’s who of the key congressional and education department players in the unfolding Washington drama.

New congressional leadership and members of the education authorizing committees and appropriations subcommittees
Key Trump administration appointments to the U.S. Department of Education

Commentary

Medicaid cuts and the Nation's Students

In a piece for The Hill, FutureEd Director Thomas Toch analyzed the impact of congressional Republicans’ proposed Medicaid cuts on the nation’s students.

Standards & Testing

Explainer

The New NAEP Scores Highlight a Standards Gap in Many States

Toch and DiMarco compared National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results with scores on each state’s own standardized tests. They found significant discrepancies. In many instances, proficiency rates were sharply higher on state tests than on NAEP—highlighting lower academic standards in many states.

Commentary

A New Blueprint for State Standardized Testing

With the Trump administration signaling that it may give states more latitude in executing the federal mandate for annual student testing, Toch and Senior Fellow Lynn Olson proposed a new model of state standardized testing in an essay for Education Next, one that preserves a central role for testing in education policymaking while responding to testing’s critics.

Chronic Absenteeism

Explainer

Chronic Student Absenteeism Varies Sharply by Grade Level

DiMarco took an in-depth look at absenteeism data from 22 states and the District of Columbia, finding that attendance challenges vary widely by grade level, differences with significant policy implications.

Commentary

The Link Between Attendance and Student Achievement

In The 74, we highlight how chronic absenteeism negatively affects student performance, drawing on data from NAEP and Rhode Island state assessments.

School Choice

Explainer

Legislative Tracker: 2025 State Private-School-Choice Bills

As part of our ongoing series of state legislative trackers, DiMarco is following private-school-choice legislation in state houses during the 2025 legislative season. To date, 98 bills in 29 states seek to expand, revise, or limit private school choice. Three bills have been enacted, establishing new universal choice programs in Idaho, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

Commentary

Questions to Ask as Private School Choice Surges

In an essay originally published in The Grade, we outline the most pressing questions policymakers should be asking about the growing number of private-school-choice programs—on issues ranging from family eligibility to private school quality, cost, homeschooling and the impact of the private-sector programs on public education.

By the Numbers

1.5 hours

Average time students ages 13-18 spend on their phones during school

25%

Teens who spend more than 2 hours on their phones during school

Source: Stony Brook University research

The Churn

The latest leadership changes in the education sector

Elena Silva, formerly at New America, will become the new president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute. Founder and former leader Linda Darling-Hammond will transition to chief knowledge officer.

Elson Nash, who previously served as director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Division of School Choice and Improvement Programs, has joined Education Commission of the States as strategic partnerships lead consultant.

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