Brown Center Chalkboard

The Brown Center Chalkboard is where Brookings scholars and guest authors bring evidence to bear on the pressing issues in U.S. education policy, politics, and practice.

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People walk on the UCLA campus on July 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

Higher Education A coordinated retreat from college access: What TRIO and GEAR UP cuts reveal

Katharine Meyer

February 17, 2026

A man leaves the federal courthouse where a group of Democratic state attorneys are asking a federal judge to block U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and halt it from laying off nearly half of its staff, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Amanda Sabga

Education Tracking lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s K-12 education agenda

Rachel M. Perera, Thalia González, Aidan Tomlinson

February 3, 2026

A student raises her hand during her first day of kindergarten on September 9, 2020, in Stamford, Connecticut.

Education Policy How boys pull ahead in math from kindergarten to fifth grade

Megan Kuhfeld

February 3, 2026

Students attend history class taught by Jacob Marsh at Mark Twain Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia, on March 6, 2025, without smartphones due to the ban. The phone ban at the School is among a wave of measures implemented around the U.S., and is part of a global movement replicated in Brazil, France, and beyond. Supporters believe restrictions will guard pupils from the apparent harms of smartphone use while at school, but opponents say the measures fail to prepare teenagers for the digital world they will inevitably enter.

Education Survey: Parents and teens support school cellphone bans, and most don’t perceive major downsides

Anna Saavedra, Amie Rapaport, Daniel Silver

January 26, 2026

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