Sold a Story

10/17/2025

Teachers, parents and community members: We've added new discussion guides to help you talk about the podcast: soldastory.org/discuss

08/29/2025

The Trump administration tried to kill the largest reading experiment ever funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm — just months before the yearslong study was complete. The administration agreed to finish the research only after it was sued.

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The Trump administration tried to kill the largest reading experiment ever funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm — just months before the yearslong study was complete. The administration agreed to finish the research only after it was sued.

08/27/2025

NAEP is one of the few education initiatives the Trump administration has vowed to preserve. But the administration has slashed the staff responsible for keeping tests up to date. And the board overseeing the assessment has eliminated more than a dozen tests, citing “cost efficiencies.”

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The National Assessment of Educational Progress is one of the few federal education initiatives that the Trump Administration has vowed to preserve. But the administration has slashed the staff responsible for keeping the series of tests up to date. And the board overseeing the assessment has elimin...

08/26/2025

The Trump administration is talking about reading. But what they don’t mention is that a lot of science was funded by the federal government.

The Institute of Education Sciences was established by Congress more than 20 years ago. It funds research about what works in education and collects data on how students are doing. It was hit hard by the Trump cuts. It used to have 200 employees. Now it has about 20. And almost all the research contracts were canceled.

Reporters rely on this essential data to measure student progress, but the experts who collect it have been fired.

For more, listen to Episode 14 of the podcast at soldastory.org.

08/22/2025

For decades, the federal government has surveyed high school students — and repeatedly followed up with them as adults. The goal was to gather data on their educational choices and careers so researchers could draw connections between them. Trump put an end to that effort as part of his quest to dissolve the Department of Education.

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For decades, the federal government has surveyed high school students — and repeatedly followed up with them as adults. The goal was to gather data on their educational choices and careers so researchers could draw connections between them. Trump put an end to that effort as part of his quest to d...

08/21/2025

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 14: The Cuts

Education research is at a turning point in the United States. The Trump administration is slashing government funding for science and dismantling the Department of Education. We look at what the cuts mean for the science of reading — and the effort to get that science into schools.

Listen now: https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2025/08/21/sold-a-story-e14-the-cuts

07/24/2025

The school reform program Success for All, first developed in the 1980s, has been declining in popularity for the past two decades — even though a mountain of research shows it gets great results, especially when it comes to elementary reading skills. Schools that have dropped the program cite logistical challenges, cost, administrative turnover and a perceived lack of flexibility.

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The school reform program, first developed in the 1980s, has been declining in popularity for the past two decades — even though a mountain of research shows it gets great results, especially when it comes to elementary reading skills. Schools that have dropped the program cite logistical challeng...

05/23/2025

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the lawsuit against educational publisher Heinemann and three of its top authors was invalidated by a legal doctrine that bars claims of “educational malpractice.”

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U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled that the lawsuit against educational publisher Heinemann and three of its top authors was invalidated by a legal doctrine that bars claims of “educational malpractice.”

04/30/2025

Elementary schools are racing to replace their reading curricula as part of a national movement to implement teaching methods based in cognitive science. But figuring out which materials measure up is complicated and time-consuming. So, state education departments have been turning to EdReports, a nonprofit organization that calls itself a Consumer Reports for education.

EdReports says that it has “always” checked for the science of reading in its reviews of instructional materials. But its track record in that area is uneven. In the decade since it launched, EdReports has given high marks to several programs that use discredited techniques to teach reading.

More: https://www.apmreports.org/story/2025/03/06/edreports-reading-curriculum-reviews-science-of-reading

03/24/2025

How does reading make you feel?

More: soldastory.org

03/07/2025

Even though EdReports is only a decade old, it has quickly become a powerful force in the educational publishing industry. Many schools rely on its reviews when they decide which reading programs to buy. But the nonprofit organization has given high marks to programs that use strategies debunked by cognitive science. And it hasn't endorsed other programs despite studies showing they work.

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Even though EdReports is only a decade old, it has quickly become a powerful force in the educational publishing industry. Many schools rely on its reviews when they decide which reading programs to buy. But the nonprofit organization has given high marks to programs that use strategies debunked by....

03/06/2025

EPISODE 13: The List

Steubenville became a model of reading success. Then a new law in Ohio put it all at risk. In this episode, we look at the "science of reading" lists some states are making, why the program Steubenville has been using for 25 years isn't getting on many of these lists, and the surprising power of one curriculum review group.

More: soldastory.org