In the quarter century since Education Next’s launch as a quarterly print journal, American educators have of necessity adapted to a series of new digital technologies that present both opportunities and threats for student learning. Smartphones and tablets offered immediate access to a wealth of rich multimedia educational content—and an endless array of distractions. Zoom school made it possible to deliver live instruction at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but online coursework was rarely as effective as learning in person. And while Generative AI may soon make it feasible to offer each child something akin to a personalized tutor, students are already using it to offload the cognitive effort that leads to enduring learning (or simply to cheat).
Each of these innovations has proved a mixed blessing. None have been harnessed to improve student learning at scale. Yet ignoring them was, in most cases, not possible. Few educators have the option to keep on doing the same thing in their classrooms as the information environment outside of schools is transformed.
The same is true of publications that seek to shape policy and practice in American schools, which is why the Summer 2025 issue you are now reading will be the final print edition of Education Next. Following its publication, we will be ending our print operations and focusing our energies entirely on the journal’s website.
We have deliberated over this possibility for several years, and it is not without regret that we now make the decision. We are proud that the print edition of Education Next has been among the reading materials on hand for visitors to the Office of the U.S. Secretary on the seventh floor of the U.S. Department of Education across each presidential administration since George W. Bush—not to mention in dozens of legislative offices in Washington, D.C., and state capitols. The editors of Education Next are also authors, and we know the thrill of seeing one’s words laid out on a printed page. And we are grateful to the thousands of subscribers who, along with generous donors, have sustained our operations over the past 25 years.
Yet we are confident that now is the right time for this shift in our publication strategy. Thanks to steady growth in our online audience, print subscribers to Education Next now represent a small fraction of our overall readership. Becoming an online-only publication therefore presents the opportunity to align our editorial processes and rhythms to the format in which the vast majority of readers consume our content. The time and resources demanded to produce a high-quality print publication are immense, and it makes sense to redeploy them toward developing additional content and enhancing readers’ experience on our website.
