Valerie Strauss

Washington, D.C.

Reporter covering education, foreign affairs

Education: Bachelor's degree: University of Miami. Master's degree: Northwestern University

Valerie Strauss covers education and runs The Washington Post's long-running Answer Sheet blog. She sees the education beat broadly and writes about the practice, politics, sociology and psychology and it. She writes her own pieces and publishes on her blog the work of students, teachers, parents, researchers and others to offer readers views other than hers. She has over the years covered and investigated education issues on the local, state and federal levels, as well as preK-12 and higher education and public and private schools. She has attempted to hold policymakers accountable during bot
Latest from Valerie Strauss

What it really takes to help students succeed

Four key lessons taken from exemplary public schools.

June 8, 2023

New breed of charter school pushes limits on separation of church, state

A report from an advocacy group provides details.

June 8, 2023

AI and news literacy: 3 key takeaways

News literacy lessons from the nonprofit and nonpartisan News Literacy Project.

May 23, 2023

On the latest obsession with phonics

Three reading experts challenge the current education orthodoxy about phonics instruction.

May 23, 2023

What new civics test scores show us, besides the obvious

Following the release of NAEP standardized test scores showing a drop in students’ knowledge, civics education experts offer a prescription for how to do better.

May 11, 2023

Florida rejects social studies topics about communism, social justice

It blocked 35 percent of the materials publishers submitted, including a reference to “taking a knee.”

May 10, 2023

New look at benefits of quality preschool education

Scientific evidence shows that quality preschool education for 3- and 4-year-olds can improve health and longevity, and reduce persistent educational gaps.

May 8, 2023

Gaslighting Americans about public schools: The truth about ‘A Nation at Risk’

A former staffer of the commission that produced the famous 1983 report explains how it came to be, and its disastrous effects.

May 5, 2023

The impact of Alabama governor’s ouster of early childhood education chief

The move was over a widely and long-used teachers’ resource book.

April 29, 2023