Dana Goldstein

@danagoldstein.bsky.social

New York Times reporter. I write mostly about education, writ broadly: how it impacts politics, culture, and family life. Enthusiastic fiction reader, home cook, mom.

The decline in English-class book reading is very real. We did a deep dive, and found many teens are assigned just 1 or 2 books per year. Instead, kids are reading excerpts on a screen, like this one, 859 words of "Beloved."

Bild

Essential reading for anyone who cares about education, for parents, and all citizens. I began using deep research AI over the past several months. It is challenging and reshaping my vision of what literacy and literate culture will be in our lifetimes. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?

Maybe not as we’ve known them. But, in the ruins of the old curriculum, something vital is stirring.

newyorker.com

Once a movement held at bay, the push to give taxpayer-funded vouchers to virtually any parent with a school-age child has secured wins in every major red state, Texas the latest and biggest. Now activists have their eyes on blue states, and Congress hopes to oblige. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/u...

School Vouchers Won in Texas. Next Up, the Nation.

Choice laws have now passed in every major Republican state. Congress and President Trump are now aiming at blue states that have resisted vouchers for decades.

nytimes.com

President Trump just signed an order attempting to dismantle the Department of Education. Can he do that? What is likely to happen next -- and what does the agency actually do day-to-day? My explainer: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...

Can Trump End the Department of Education?

President Trump signed an order calling for the agency to close, and has already gutted its staff and programs. Still, students may not see much change, at least at first.

nytimes.com

Latest on the case of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, the kidney transplant specialist and Brown U professor detained and deported in potential defiance of a court order. Foreign doctors are crucial in her field, as there is a shortage of Americans: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/u...

Brown University Professor and Doctor Is Deported to Lebanon Despite a Judge’s Order

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist and Brown University professor who had a valid visa, was expelled in apparent defiance of a court order.

nytimes.com

NEW: 5 years later, what did we learn about school closures for the next pandemic? We interviewed over a dozen education, health and political leaders about where they now stand, any regrets, and what should happen next time www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...

Would Schools Close in a Future Pandemic?

Five years after the global Covid pandemic was declared, there is widespread agreement that closing classrooms was devastating for children. Here is what leaders say they may do next time.

nytimes.com