Publishing

Designing for Belonging: How Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Creates Equitable Access in Higher Education by Olivia Johnson Fall 2025 Intern What is UDL Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that was developed from cognitive neuroscience research, which supports a diverse range of students’ learning needs. Instead of using a “one size fits all” model, UDL encourages teachers to anticipate learner variability [...]

Is Fanfiction the New Charles Dickens? By Emma Zande Fall 2025 Intern Charles Dickens, one of the greatest English novelists, never intended for his work to be read as full-length novels. His stories first appeared in serial form, as weekly or monthly installments that kept readers on edge, waiting for the next twist in his characters’ lives. Sound familiar? Today’s young readers do [...]

Understanding the Rise of Homeschooling:  Data, Drivers, and Implications By Emma Zande Fall 2025 Intern Six years ago, most parents never imagined becoming their children’s teacher. North American homeschooling has been a highly contentious practice since the establishment of mandatory schooling, marked by legal battles, shifting ideologies, and tensions between parental rights and state control. In many European countries, homeschooling is outlawed or [...]

Habit Forming in K-12 Education By Emma Zande Fall 2025 Intern Test scores among K–12 students have been on the decline since 2013, an issue which has been exacerbated since the pandemic. Research has pointed to a combination of the pandemic-induced learning gap, decreasing attention spans, and increased social media usage as contributing forces to this drop in learning. Some research also indicates [...]

The Hidden Cost of Overcommitment By Emma Zande Fall 2025 Intern College applications have always loomed like a guillotine blade—but social media has sharpened the edge. Now, every scroll reminds students of what everyone else is doing: the internships, the clubs, the research projects. The result? Crushing pressure and an endless race to do it all, often at the expense of real passion.  [...]

What Bluey Gets Right About Child Development By Emma Zande Fall 2025 Intern Pop quiz: What was the most-streamed show of 2024 and the first half of 2025? You may have said Bridgerton, The Bear, or literally anything with a high production budget, but if you’ve met anyone under eight in the past couple of years, you’re already in on the secret: Bluey [...]

What Really Happens When We Outsource Critical Thinking? By Emma Zande Fall 2025 Intern Artificial Intelligence (AI) is officially in the classroom, whether we’re ready or not. Students are using it to crank out study guides and outlines. Educators are using it to give quicker feedback and spark new lesson ideas. And everyone’s hoping it will finally cut through the busywork that’s been [...]

Photo free to use under the Unsplash License. The Case for the Four-Day School Week:  Weighing the Pros, Cons, and Unintended Consequences by Olivia Johnson Fall 2025 Intern   Since the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people are reevaluating the systems that we live our lives in and around. One such system—the typical five-day work week with a two-day weekend—has recently faced scrutiny [...]

In early December, the Oxford English Dictionary announces its yearly Word of the Year, a reflection of the year’s cultural shifts and everyday language usage. In 2024, this word was “brainrot,” and although voting for the Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year will not begin until mid-November, Dictionary.com has already announced its word of the year to be “6 7.”  Brainrot, as [...]