SERP News

When Natasha Balkcom's principal asked if she'd like to teach a reading intervention class at her New York City high school, the answer came easily. After several years teaching English to 9th and 10th graders at Metropolitan Soundview High School, Natasha knew the need was real and she was ready to meet it.

Public education is at an inflection point. Across the country, states and local systems are grappling with how to improve outcomes for learners while navigating complex challenges from equity and engagement to evidence and scale. At SERP, we believe one powerful lever for progress is education research and development (R&D) that is rooted in community needs and connected to real-world practice.

Condition of Education Report, Tracking Test Scores, What's Driving Districts' Success?

According to Tynesha Banks, a New York City teacher, many students enter her seventh grade class never having read an entire novel. When she guides them through reading a whole novel, she says, “they feel success in that, like I actually read this entire book, and I understood what was going on, and I was able to finish it from start to finish.”

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Catherine Snow, the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and SERP Executive Board Chair, to discuss what research tells us about adolescent literacy and why struggling readers in middle and high school need instruction that reflects the increasing complexity of reading demands.

Ed Department Data, Middle & High School Math, Canvas Cyberattack

When Owen-Withee High School (Owen, Wisconsin) decided to dedicate a block to school-wide reading intervention and enrichment this year, Reading Specialist Katie Hatlestad faced a daunting reality: every teacher, not just English and reading teachers, but all teachers would be leading literacy interventions.

Report: Why Schools Need Tech, Attention Spans, School Choice & Funding

For more than two decades, SERP has been well known for its work in adolescent literacy , partnering with educators to design and study instructional approaches that support students during the often neglected middle and high school years.

Promising Teacher PD, Eroding Education Access, Curriculum Year Zero

If you’ve used SERP resources, you’ve likely noticed the illustrations woven throughout our materials. While we’re able to rely on high-quality Adobe Stock images for many of our needs, they aren’t always a perfect fit—that’s where original illustrations come in.

We’ve updated SERP’s Download Center to improve how materials are organized, previewed, and accessed across our site.

What's in this issue: SXSW EDU Summer Live Virtual Professional Learning Connect with STARI What We've Been Reading

Social Media Companies Negligent, The AI Hivemind, Teacher Working Conditions

What we heard, what we’re thinking, and where we’re heading next...

At SXSW EDU this year, we asked a simple question:

Changing Civics Lessons, Social Media Trial, The 90/10 Gap

When Sarah Bleicher introduced STARI Series 4 to her high school reading intervention classes in Waunakee, Wisconsin, she wasn't sure how her students would respond. Would they engage with structured reading instruction? Would the books resonate with teenagers who've struggled with literacy for years?

Redesigning IES, STEM Workforce, Microschools

What Alejandra, Huey, and Elsa Taught Me

Rising Behavioral Problems, How Boys Pull Ahead in Math, DC’s Effort to Boost Math

What's In This Issue: Mid-Year Check-In: What STARI Spotlight Stories Teach Us About Growth Connect With STARI What We've Been Reading

Math Teaching, Older Readers Left Behind, The 5% Problem

Inside Queens Technical High School’s Literacy Turnaround: How STARI Is Helping NYC Teens Thrive

Funding Waivers, Using Math Vocabulary, School Finance Reform

From California to Wisconsin, these facilitators share how they lead STARI professional learning for their colleagues.

12 Charts that Defined Ed. in 2025, The Trump Effect on Education, Top 10 Education Studies of 2025

This past year has been an exciting one at the SERP Institute! Effective partnership work is years in the making, but in 2025, several of these years-long efforts came to fruition.

What's in this issue: