Culture
Where four-day school weeks are spreading, and why
More than 2,100 public schools now run on a four-day schedule, almost all in rural districts, and the reason is less ideology than hiring.
By Kara Williams • March 4, 2026
Subject file
Culture: Arts, Media and Society
Culture reports the human climate of schools: behavior patterns, staff morale, phone policies, parental expectations, and the routines and rituals keeping a building functioning. Reporting draws on teachers and students describing their own weeks. For anyone wanting education described as lived rather than as legislated.
Culture
Teacher morale surveys: what they actually measure
Every year brings a new round of grim teacher-morale numbers, but the surveys behind the headlines measure different things and rarely measure morale at all.
By Marta Kowalczyk • February 9, 2026
Culture
Phone bans in schools: what the first-year data shows
After two school years of statewide bell-to-bell phone bans, the early evidence points to calmer hallways, contested enforcement and no academic miracle.
By Marta Kowalczyk • January 17, 2026