Thomas Toch is FutureEd’s director. He is a former senior partner at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and director of the foundation’s Washington office. Toch is a founder and former co-director of the think tank Education Sector, a former guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, and he has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Toch helped launch Education Week, as a writer and co-managing editor. He served for a decade as an education correspondent and editor at U.S. News and World Report and has contributed to The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Post MagazineThe New Republic, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, The Wilson Quarterly, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Monthly. He is the author of two books on American education, In the Name of Excellence and High Schools on a Human Scale.

Work by Thomas Toch

A Cautionary Tale About School Closings

As commentators have warned, a perfect storm of financial trouble — declining enrollment, outdated buildings and the end of federal pandemic-relief funds — is…

Could Tutoring Be the Next Big Bipartisan School Reform?

This piece originally appeared in Washington Monthly. For most people, the lesson of pandemic schooling was that remote learning was an unmitigated disaster for…

None of the Above: A New Vision for State Standardized Testing

A blueprint proposing a new role for state standardized tests that aims to promote high standards, enhance transparency for policymakers and parents, and strongly emphasize teaching and learning.

Testimony: How to Retain Teacher Talent in the District of Columbia

FutureEd Director Thomas Toch presented written testimony to the Council of the District of Columbia on December 8, 2023, addressing principal and teacher…

Q&A: Meckler on the Long Arc of Voluntary School Desegregation in Shaker Heights

In a new book titled Dream Town: Shaker Heights and the Quest for Racial Equity, Washington Post education correspondent and Shaker Heights native Laura Meckler chronicles the evolution of the city’s pathbreaking crusade to integrate its neighborhoods and its schools as it continues to evolve in dramatic new directions today.

Tackling Teacher Shortages With Targeted Strategies

Smart responses to teacher shortages

Leaning In: The New Power of Parents in Public Education

A profile of the changing parent landscape in public education

An Analysis of Local School Districts’ Ambitious Post-Covid Tutoring Plans

How school districts and charter organizations plan to spend federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money on tutoring and academic coaching