The Ed5: The Stories, Stats, and Shifts Shaping Education Now
As 2025 draws to a close, we’re hearing a common theme from education leaders: change is accelerating and priorities are shifting. AI adoption, changing federal oversight, and ongoing staffing and safety challenges are all reshaping the landscape. Here are the top 5 stories and topics that caught our attention.
Federal Education Shake-Up – The U.S. Department of Ed announced a major restructuring, signing six inter-agency agreements that shift key K-12 and higher-ed programs to departments like Labor, HHS, Interior, and State. This redistribution of oversight marks one of the biggest governance changes in decades, reshaping how schools and colleges access federal funding and comply with regulations.
0to5 Insight: This restructuring will create uncertainty and uneven guidance across agencies. Education leaders will need clear and regular communications to reassure stakeholders and adapt to shifting federal expectations.
- Colleges Under Pressure: Prove ROI or Lose Students – Colleges are facing tightening budgets, declining enrollment, and rising federal scrutiny, prompting program cuts and financial restructuring. With students increasingly favoring career-aligned programs , institutions must balance mission with market demands for affordability, ROI, and employability.
0to5 Insight: Higher ed’s value conversation is accelerating. Institutions that clearly connect programs to outcomes, and communicate that connection well, will win trust from students, families, and policymakers.
- AI Becomes Mainstream in Schools – New research shows generative AI rapidly gaining traction across K–12 and higher ed. Students report strong enthusiasm, although have a growing concern about long-term impacts; while teachers say adoption is rising, but support and guidance lag behind. AI is being implemented rapidly in education, even as questions about equity, ethics, and learning outcomes accelerate.
0to5 Insight: Schools and colleges want to embrace AI, but they need help. Clear guidance, training, the appropriate tools, and transparent communication will be critical for earning trust and ensuring AI improves, not complicates, teaching and learning.
- Campus Safety & Communication Under Scrutiny – Campuses are facing heightened attention to how they manage safety, protests, and reporting obligations. Recent federal reviews – including a Clery Act investigation at UC Berkeley – highlight growing expectations for transparency and timely communication. Schools and districts are reassessing policies to ensure they meet reporting requirements while supporting safe, respectful campus environments.
0to5 Insight: Institutions must communicate clearly and proactively about safety, school policies, and reporting processes, while ensuring freedom of expression for all.
- Teacher Shortages and the Risk to Rural Schools – Rural and under-resourced school districts across the U.S. are facing deepening teacher shortages, and new federal immigration policies may make it worse. A November 2025 report from The Hechinger Report shows many rural schools rely heavily on international teachers hired through visa programs; but a newly imposed $100,000 fee on H-1B visas threatens to block that pipeline. Nationwide data underscores the crisis: in 2024–25, an estimated 45,582 public-school teaching positions went unfilled, driving the number of underqualified or uncertified teachers in classrooms to roughly 365,967.
0to5 Insight: For rural districts, teacher shortages are a long-term risk, not a short-term gap—making proactive communication with families and policymakers about impacts on student access and outcomes essential.
Research and Data
Across K-12 and higher ed, new research points to uneven access to advanced math, a weakening white-collar job market for recent college graduates, promising gains from CTE pathways, and fresh insights into how executive function skills support deeper math learning.
- NWEA analyzed data from 162,000 eighth-grade
students across 22 states, examining two questions that together determine who ultimately gains access to advanced high school math, STEM majors, and higher lifetime earnings: Do schools offer Algebra by 8th grade, and when it’s offered, who actually gets placed into it? The study found that only 3 in 5 schools offer Algebra by 8th grade, limiting opportunities from the outset. Even when Algebra is available, high-achieving Black students are systematically less likely to be placed compared to their peers.
- New workforce data shows a widening readiness gap. A national survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers finds that more than half of employers rate the job market for the Class of 2026 as “poor” or “fair,” the most pessimistic outlook since the pandemic. Meanwhile, a new report from YouScience drawing on insights from 400+ CTE leaders highlights both persistent barriers and emerging breakthroughs. The findings underscore how strong career and technical education, especially when paired with aptitude-based insights, is already helping bridge this gap by connecting students’ strengths to real-world opportunities.
The Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF)’s EF+Math program, in partnership with ETS, has released new research revealing how math teachers understand and support students in using their executive function (EF) skills in the classroom. These skills, including working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, and metacognition, are increasingly recognized as central to helping students tackle rigorous math concepts.
Voices Shaping Education: Insights and Predictions for 2026
For this issue, we turn the spotlight to our clients, who shared their top predictions on the trends and shifts that will shape education in 2026 – a strategy we often use to help leaders bring timely, future-focused insights into the education conversation.
Across K-12 and higher ed, our clients see a year ahead defined by big shifts: AI becoming a true partner in teaching and career planning, new debates over cell phone bans and student engagement, reshaping how families engage with schools to address absenteeism, and a stronger push for research and evidence to guide decision-making, among other key trends.
Explore the full predictions on the 0to5 blog →
#EdWatch: What Reporters Are Sharing
What’s driving the education conversation right now? In this edition of #EdWatch, we’re highlighting timely posts and story threads from reporters across the education beat.
Matt Barnum examines a surprising nostalgia in education circles—for the era of rising test scores and No Child Left Behind. Despite its controversy and unintended consequences, he explores whether NCLB-style accountability actually drove gains by digging into the research on high-stakes testing. Read more here.
Lauren Wagner highlights a new NCTQ report showing that 40% of teacher prep programs aren’t improving workforce diversity – and some are worsening it. The study underscores how teacher diversity boosts academic outcomes, attendance, discipline, and belonging for students of color, and offers recommendations for policymakers and educator prep programs. Read more here.
It hasn’t been easy to keep up with all the changes happening in education this year. Education research and data reporter Jill Barshay has done the hard work for you. In a 16-minute audio recording, she breaks down how education research and statistics used to track the learning of American children have changed over the last year. Read more here.
Spotlight: Coverage That Made an Impact
Here are a few top education placements secured by 0to5 this past quarter — plus a look behind the scenes at how the stories came together.
Education Week: 0to5 secured this Education Week story by offering journalists an early look at SchoolStatus’ new family-engagement and attendance findings and coordinating expert interviews ahead of the release. The report analyzed 3.3 million school-to-home text messages to identify the most effective ways to reach families.
The Roggin Report: Jerome Grant, CEO of Universal Technical Institute, Inc., joined The Roggin Report to discuss preparing students for today’s job market. 0to5 secured interest by responding to a relevant episode and pitching Jerome as a timely voice on current workforce trends.
TEACH Magazine: Through proactive thought leadership pitching, 0to5 secured this byline article authored by Niki Campbell, M.S., founder/CEO of The Flourish Group, outlining four simple ways schools can reduce teacher burnout: prioritizing balance, wellness, recognition, and community.
The Hill: 0to5 pitched new YouScience data based on insights from more than 400 CTE leaders. The findings aligned well with reporter Lexi Lonas Cochran’s story on community college enrollment, and she included an original quote from YouScience CEO Edson Barton in the piece.
