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Proven methods for teaching the readers who struggle most have been known for decades. Why do we often fail to use them? Many American schools don’t use scientifically supported instructional methods, though, and, partly because they don’t, dyslexia can be hard to distinguish from what one elementary-school principal described to me as “dystaughtia.” If reading were taught better, almost all students would benefit, and students with neurological differences would be easier to identify and treat before their difficulties with reading derailed their lives. “There’s a window of opportunity to intervene,” Mark Seidenberg, a cognitive neuroscientist, told me. “You don’t want to let that go.”

As a tech explorer and author of the Wonder Tools newsletter, I’ve tested more than 200 Ed Tech services this year in search of the 10 most useful teaching tools. The massive number of apps and sites clamoring for teachers’ collective attention can be exhausting. So this guide is intended to help you gauge what’s actually worth your time. 

Inclusive classrooms are no longer a niche within our schools; they are the expectation. As a result, for administrators and school leaders, the question is no longer whether special education teams should lead, but how to intentionally maximize their impact.

The dismantling of the Ed Dept., why kids aren’t reading, teacher pay. The 74 takes a look back at some of our biggest education stories of 2025.

Scientists are updating their view of how drugs like Adderall and Ritalin help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder stay on task.

The latest evidence is a study of thousands of brain scans of adolescents that confirms earlier hints that stimulant drugs have little direct impact on brain networks that control attention.

Instead, the drugs appear to activate networks involved in alertness and the anticipation of pleasure, scientists report in the journal Cell.

A group of Kansas City parents is calling on lawmakers to protect the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act amid changes to education at the federal level.

Special education has grappled with chronic staff shortages for decades. But efforts to support and retain new teachers can shortchange the specialized needs of educators serving students with disabilities, contributing to a constant revolving door of special educators moving to general education or leaving the classroom entirely.

That’s why Pennsylvania’s Attract-Prepare-Retain initiative—which personalizes mentoring and support for special education teachers, leaders, and aides who may be isolated in their own districts—could serve as a model for states looking to stabilize their special education workforce.

50 years ago, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ended the routine institutionalization of kids with disabilities. Advocates fear a return to that dark time.

In Texas’ Brownsville Independent school district, the vast majority of the 35,000 students are Hispanic, many are bilingual, and some are dyslexic.

The district wants to see all students learn to read and write, regardless of language.

Employees at the U.S. Education Department who were fired in March got an unexpected email on Friday – telling them to return to work.

These federal workers, including many attorneys, investigate family complaints of discrimination in the nation’s schools as part of the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). They were terminated by the Trump administration in a March reduction-in-force, but the courts intervened, temporarily blocking the department from completing their terminations.

Every student has unique learning needs, and meeting those needs is key to success. That’s especially true for students who receive special education services.

In the San Diego Unified School District, 1 in 5 students use those services — one of the highest rates in California.

This week, district leaders announced plans to address “systemic issues” in the district’s special education program. That includes advocating for more funding from the state and federal government.

We discuss the details with the superintendent of the district.

To keep up with a growing demand for special education evaluations, the Detroit school district will spend $9 million more than expected this school year to staff additional school psychologists and speech language pathologists.

The extra funds, which were approved by the school board Tuesday night, will be added to an existing $13.5 million contract approved in June and cover higher hourly rates offered at the start of the academic year to fill open positions.

A new documentary is shining fresh attention on a major special education ruling the U.S. Supreme Court decided last term, spotlighting the lawyer who not only won that case but has played a role in several landmark victories for students with disabilities in recent years.

“Supreme Advocacy,” a 40-minute film from Bloomberg Law, pulls back the curtain on how a single case moves through the Supreme Court—from the time it is taken up by the justices through legal briefs, oral arguments, and then a decision. (Released Dec. 2, it is available for free on YouTube.)

The digital revolution has become a vast, unplanned experiment – and children are its most exposed participants. As ADHD diagnoses rise around the world, a key question has emerged: could the growing use of digital devices be playing a role?

Teaching vacancies are most acute in special education due to attrition, burnout, and early retirements.

A woman who spent 25 years hiding the fact she could not read has said there should be more support for adults with undiagnosed dyslexia.

The British Dyslexia Association, based in Bracknell, is calling for a national strategy to stop people slipping through the net.

In a Q interview, the author explains why he feels a responsibility to help young, reluctant readers

“Masking” is part of life, especially for those with autism or A.D.H.D. But hiding your true self comes with a cost.

In Grade 2, Jasper Fleming acquired his “superpower.”

The Edmonton native had developed anxiety over the previous two school years, unable to read and write at the same level as his peers.

It wasn’t for a lack of intelligence — his parents, Lise and Aric, say he was extremely well-spoken — but that only exacerbated the nerves.

Toward the end of the school year, Fleming got his answer: he was diagnosed with severe dyslexia.

The diagnosis was a blessing for Fleming: “it was nice to put a name to [it],” he said. From there, he was able to attack life with all the proper information.

“Everything that I do in this world revolves around dyslexia, which is, I think, the biggest superpower I’ve ever had in my life.”

The effective planning and delivery of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in South Africa is severely constrained by the lack of reliable data.

The Hawaiʻi DOE offers at least $10,000 to special education teachers to fill open positions, but most schools have reported worsening shortages.

School districts are going to receive about $140 million less than they originally expected to provide special education services this year. 

The state will be reimbursing the services — which public schools are legally obligated to provide — at 35 percent, instead of the expected 42 percent. 

That’s because school districts spent more on special education than the Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated, according to DPI. 

Some Republican lawmakers also want to ensure the federal government meets its legal obligations to students with disabilities as President Donald Trump seeks to shutter the agency.

Fifty years ago, just after Thanksgiving of 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, the landmark law that created special education as it exists today, and guaranteed all children with disabilities the right to a “free appropriate public education.”

Yet, “rather than celebrating progress, we face a crisis,” warned a recent letter to Congress, signed by hundreds of disability, civil rights and education groups.

Many teachers initially certified in special education don’t stay there.

For the last 30 years, nearly every state has struggled to find and keep educators qualified to support students with disabilities. The intensity and variety of student needs makes special education a challenging role as well as a crucial one. But without proper support, districts may unintentionally create a revolving door of special educators.

Researchers find that state and local policies need to target not only attrition but also the reasons behind turnover.

The deal Congress reached to re-open the federal government requires the Trump administration to reinstate federal workers who were fired in October, including those charged with overseeing the nation’s special education laws. But it’s not clear how long they’ll be back.

“People who react negatively to ‘ADHD’ often don’t understand what it entails. And in a time when labels are discussed frequently on social media, some people who would be otherwise compassionate may be skeptical or dismissive of what you’re trying to say about your life with ADHD.”

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common disability diagnosis in children globally. It can make school difficult for children – affecting their behaviour in class, their attendance and their academic performance. But research my colleagues and I conducted has shown why physical activity may be one way of helping children with ADHD to thrive in school.

People with ADHD and autism have to mask their instincts if they want to be included. But the strain exacts a very high price.

For students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who are applying to college, planning ahead can ensure they receive the mental health care and academic support they need.

Undiagnosed dyslexia can manifest as behavior issues, which can disproportionately harm Black and brown kids in school and their mental health.

Rox found out she had ADHD when she was 36 has said it is “like there is life before and life after” diagnosis.

Rox and her partner Rich, from Basingstoke, run ADHD Love, an Instagram account where they share what it is like to navigate a relationship when one partner is neurodivergent and the other is neurotypical.

The term “neurodiversity” is still relatively new. Until recently, no one had asked neurodivergent people themselves what they thought about the language used to describe them. So, we decided to do just that. Our new research found a mixture of positive and negative views about words like “neurodiversity” and “neurodivergent”.

The Education Department wants to ease state data collection burdens. Critics say the change would limit transparency and harm equity efforts.

Though there’s still no official plan to transfer the duties out of the Education Department, advocates are voicing concerns against such a move.

A paperwork change proposed by the U.S. Department of Education would end an important accountability measure that helps ensure states adequately identify and address racial inequities in special education, disability rights advocates say.

Chronic special education teacher shortages leave many students with disabilities without access to the instruction and support they need to meet learning and lifetime goals. 

Nearly 60% of special education teachers reported using AI to develop an IEP or Section 504 plan during the 2024-25 school year, according to CDT.

Major moves by the Trump administration have some debating, and others defending, the federal oversight system that supports students with disabilities.

Research suggests that mindful meditation for ADHD can train the brain to better concentrate and hold focus. Could this approach help you better control your ADD symptoms?

Are you up to date on ADHD research?

One in four pupils at the school—and one in five in England as a whole—has special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), based on assessments by their teachers. Nationwide, external assessment designate a quarter of those pupils as complex cases, requiring legally binding plans for support.

A new government programme, covering one in six primary schools, is training teachers in how such children understand the world. This initiative is borne out of desperation. Children who received a diagnosis in 2022-24 were waiting an average of two years for a first assessment through the National Health Service (NHS). In some areas the waiting time is now ten years. But when they finally reach the front of the queue, parents realise that a diagnosis does not resolve their child’s problems.

A group of parents say Manitoba’s plans to introduce universal reading assessments don’t go far enough.

The parents and their children gathered at the provincial legislature Friday in support of a private member’s bill that would establish mandatory screenings for learning disabilities.

A more effective system is needed to address learning challenges all students face, not just those receiving IDEA services, CRPE researchers say.

Analysis of Louisiana schools reveals that it’s very difficult to earn a high overall rating if low-income kids are not doing well. A handful of states, including Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi, each have accountability systems that give schools points based on the academic growth of their lowest-performing students. Given the national trends where performance has fallen further among these children, more states should consider such measures. While policymakers can take some heart in knowing that good schools tend to be consistently good across student groups, the flip side is also true: Bad schools tend to be bad for everyone, and state policymakers should focus more on district-level performance issues than within-school gaps.

Timothy Shanahan, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has spent his career evaluating education research and helping teachers figure out what works best in the classroom. In his new book, “Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives,” Shanahan takes aim at one of the most common teaching practices in American classrooms: matching students with “just-right” books. He argues that the approach — where students read different texts depending on their assessed reading level — is holding many children back. Teachers spend too much time testing students and assigning leveled books, he says, instead of helping all students learn how to understand challenging texts.

Beginning last year, transitional kindergartners were not assessed for English language proficiency, a decision many TK teachers celebrated. For now, California has no formal way of determining transitional kindergartners’ English proficiency, which means schools miss out on federal and state funding for English learners. Schools are not required by law to provide students with language services or report their academic or language progress on the California School Dashboard. But this summer, the state Legislature set aside $10 million in the budget to select a new screener for schools to use to identify TK students who need more help learning English. The state superintendent of public instruction has to select a list of screeners by March 31, which will then be tested in some districts in 2026-27 before requiring screening in 2027-28.

We’ll save you the trouble of wondering: Yes, people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have considered using a planner, setting an alarm clock, and creating reminders on their phone. No, those suggestions aren’t helpful.

In fact, these are among the worst things you can say to someone with ADHD.

While no official plan is in place yet, it’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s goal to shut down the department, said an agency spokesperson.

Amy Lieberman, the education editor at The Conversation U.S., spoke with Josh Cowen, a scholar of education policy, to understand how these cuts would hinder the educational opportunities for children with special needs.

Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities Executive Director Beth Swedeen considers impacts of U.S. Department of Education funding cuts and layoffs on special education in the state.

The shutdown means there is, essentially, no Education Department. The latest round of layoffs would leave few workers to enforce special education and civil rights laws.

Many news outlets have reported an increase – or surge – in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, diagnoses in both children and adults. At the same time, health care providers, teachers and school systems have reported an uptick in requests for ADHD assessments.

These reports have led some experts and parents to wonder whether ADHD is being overdiagnosed and overtreated.

Some of the most common supports for students with ADHD might not be effective.

A federal judge temporarily halted a U.S. Department of Education plan to gut its special education office(opens in a new window), but advocates say that the future of services for students with disabilities remains uncertain.

From mentorship to preparation and pay, new analysis highlights policy areas states should consider for addressing shortages of these teachers.

Sweeping layoffs announced Friday by the Trump administration landed another body blow to the U.S. Department of Education, this time gutting the office responsible for overseeing special education, according to multiple sources within the department.

Layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education will leave no more than a handful of staffers in the agency’s special education office, jeopardizing oversight of the nation’s programs for students with disabilities, advocates say.