Many believe the time has come to consider systemic changes to the way we structure schools and staffing, support students academically and emotionally, and prepare them for success in postsecondary education or a career.
Four years after the pandemic, research suggests that students have not recovered from lost opportunities to learn and socialize, and they could be even worse off than before. Student academic performance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, too many are not attending school and most report feeling anxious, overwhelmed—some even suicidal.
With all of this in mind, legislators will no doubt discuss changes in the way states approach learning during their upcoming legislative sessions.
Here’s a look at what might be in store for 2025.
NCSL Forecast ’25
This special report from State Legislatures News covers the topics NCSL’s policy experts anticipate will occupy state lawmakers’ time in 2025 legislative sessions. Read the full report here.
Hot Topic: Students Are Missing From School
The most important step students can take to improve their learning is to attend school. Daily attendance is both critical to regaining lost academic and social learning and a predictor of high school graduation and eventual success in college and career. Since the pandemic, though, nearly twice as many students are chronically absent, meaning they’ve missed at least 10% of the days in the school year. While at times this was the case with older students, the youngest are now missing from school, too. During the 2025 legislative sessions, legislators will likely continue to discuss the data and work with their education and community partners to identify root causes—lack of transportation or housing, disengaged students and families—and consider remedies.
Trending: Increased Supports for Students
Research continues to reveal that students are struggling academically and emotionally. The most recent data from the National Assessment Governing Board, annual statewide assessments and interim assessments indicate that students are struggling to reach grade level in nearly every subject tested. Even the SAT and ACT scores, both of which are predictors of student success after high school, fell this year for the first time in decades. This is coupled with research indicating that more students report feeling unsafe at school and many feel persistently sad or hopeless and experience poor mental health.
Legislators continue to be concerned about the state of our students and are working to find solutions. As they did last year, lawmakers are sure to consider policies in 2025 to better support student academic and emotional well-being. They likely will consider increasing the number of mental health professionals and improving services for students, investing in training for teachers, providing effective tutoring, ensuring students have access to high-quality before- and after-school programs and summer learning, and implementing a community-schools approach that brings community partners and services to students and families. We also predict that they will continue to consider revamping their education funding formulas to ensure that resources are going to the students who need them the most.
Hot Topic: Creating Personalized and Relevant Education Opportunities
Many state legislators see the disruption of the pandemic as the perfect time to rethink the nation’s approach to education. The U.S. model has not changed for 100 years and does not resemble what can be found in other high-performing education systems. Some legislators are convinced that the system no longer meets the needs of today’s students, families or labor market. They are eager to learn more about and perhaps implement personalized models, where students can move within the system at their own pace regardless of age, and schools are staffed with teams of teachers who specialize in meeting unique student needs. They also continue to pursue strategies to increase the relevance of high school and connect it to community colleges and industry, incorporating skills- and place-based learning to give students exposure to the workforce and allow them to hone their skills and build contacts. Many legislators also are pushing for more state-supported education options—within districts, across districts, public charter schools and even private schools.
ACTION: Legislatures in Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, Nevada and Pennsylvania currently are working toward significant systemic changes in education, and we anticipate their work will inspire others to do the same in 2025.
Hot Topic: Higher Education Affordability and Outcomes
Students and families continue to be skeptical about the value of postsecondary education, and many struggle to afford and complete their degrees. All the while, the cost of higher education, both for the state and students, continues to rise and student debt continues to mount. As a result, NCSL convened the Task Force on Higher Education Affordability and Outcomes, a 32-member bipartisan group of legislators and staff, to examine the value of higher education and the state-federal partnership in postsecondary policymaking, and to inform the next reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act.
After two years of study and conversation with the higher education community and state and federal higher education officials, the task force released a report in October 2024, “A State-Led Strategy to Enhance the Value of Degrees,” which details a comprehensive, bipartisan vision for how higher education, state policymakers and federal partners can work together to ensure more students receive degrees of value. The report also outlines the task force’s assessment of the state and federal roles in higher education.
While the task force will continue in 2025 to discern state policy strategies, the guidance and recommendations in the 2024 report are sure to spark conversations in the 31 states represented in the group and in legislatures across the country. Legislators are eager to better serve students and families as they embark on their postsecondary educational opportunities, and the report can serve as a guide for this discussion.