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December 16, 2025
5 min (est.)
ASCD Blog

The Top EL Articles of 2025

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The EL magazine articles that spoke to educators' most pressing concerns this year.
Professional Development & Well-Being
A blue graphic filled with education-themed icons—books, pencils, gears, a brain, and a lightbulb—arranged around the large numbers “2025.”
Credit: Andrew Krasovitckii / Shutterstock
This year's EL issues offered a window into the issues shaping today's classrooms: using AI to spark student inquiry, strengthening professional learning, confronting bias, nurturing students' sense of belonging, and more. Across 2025, our authors drew on research, experience, and classroom practice to unpack education's biggest challenges, illuminate what's working (and what's not), and explore where the field is headed next. Here are some articles that resonated most with educators:
February 2025—AI in Schools 
Deeper Learning, Not Passive Compliance” 
Tony Frontier 
Given the right framing, AI tools can empower student agency and curiosity. 

AI in Schools

The February 2025 issue showcases examples of how schools and educators are using AI to enhance instruction and transform the nature of their work—and student learning—for the better.

AI in Schools
March 2025—Strengthening Instructional Cultures 
Jim Knight 
Reflecting on common misconceptions about educator development can help leaders create meaningful change. 

Strengthening Instructional Cultures

The March 2025 issue highlights steps education leaders can take to create instructional cultures that are more dynamic, coherent, and teacher- and student-centered.

Strengthening Instructional Cultures
April 2025—What’s Going Right in Education 
Bryan Goodwin 
Science has told us how we can optimize our brains for great learning—now it’s time for educators to capitalize on it. 

What's Going Right in Education

The April 2025 issue of Educational Leadership highlights schools making significant progress through proven best practices, including instructional and leadership strategies, programmatic and systemic changes, research developments, and student work.

What's Going Right in Education
May 2025—Navigating Bias in Teaching and Learning 
Michelle Chanda Singh 
When we unmask our own biases and shift our thinking, we create learning spaces where every student can thrive. 

Navigating Bias in Teaching and Learning

The May 2025 issue takes a nuanced look at how entrenched biases can affect learning systems and how educators can identify and address them.

Navigating Bias in Teaching and Learning
Summer 2025—Bringing Transformational Learning to Life 
Kathleen M. Budge and Grant Chandler 
These four moves can help cultivate classrooms where each student feels valued and empowered to learn. 

Bringing Transformational Learning to Life

The Summer 2025 special digital issue of Educational Leadership explores how educators and leaders can bring the eight research-backed principles to life in schools and classrooms.

Bringing Transformational Learning to Life
September 2025—Teaching for Belonging 
Andrew Housiaux 
Thoughtful teacher feedback can create trust and deepen student learning. 

Teaching for Belonging

The September 2025 issue of Educational Leadership explores how educators can foster belonging in learning through culturally responsive teaching, asset-based practices, and durable-skills development that deepens learning.

Teaching for Belonging
October 2025—What Makes Educators Stay? 
Jim Knight 
Teacher-to-teacher coaching can transform schools and classrooms—when implemented with care. 

What Makes Educators Stay

The October 2025 issue highlights high-impact practices and strategies—from career pathways and collaborative decision making to changes in instructional support—that schools and districts use to retain top talent.

What Makes Educators Stay
November 2025—A New Era for Assessment 
Narmeen Makhani
The most transformative uses of AI won’t simply automate old systems—they’ll reimagine assessment to be continuous, multimodal, and deeply human. 

A New Era for Assessment

The November 2025 issue explores how educators and leaders can leverage advancements in technology and new thinking on measurement and feedback to create assessments that are more authentic, growth-oriented, and relevant to teaching and learning.

A New Era for Assessment
December 2025/January 2026—The Power of Less in Schools 
Justin Reich and Tara Laskowski
In this interview with MIT’s Justin Reich, he discusses how to resist “Christmas tree” thinking, set boundaries for AI use, and embrace humility in the face of unproven edtech. 

The Power of Less in Schools

The December 2025/January 2026 issue explores how leaders can thoughtfully pare down priorities and processes to create more coherent, innovative, and sustainable teaching and learning environments.

The Power of Less in Schools

EL’s experienced team of writers and editors produces Educational Leadership magazine, an award-winning publication that reaches hundreds of thousands of K-12 educators and leaders each year. Our work directly supports the vision of ISTE+ASCD: That all students engage in transformative learning experiences that spark their imagination and prepare them to thrive in learning and life.

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1 day ago

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8 years ago

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