Tina Hardy is the coordinator for the Center of Accessibility and Neurodiversity at Illinois Valley Community College.Basically, it’s her job to make college accessible for students who need extra accommodations. What does that look like? And how different are special education laws between high school and college?

Two high schools, 25 minutes apart. One wealthy and in the suburbs. One in the city, lower-income. NIU professor Cynthia Taines' project brought together students from both schools to see educational inequality for themselves and fight for change. She's the author of The Metropolitan Community: Partnering for Equality Across the Educational Divide.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, Waubonsee professor Dr. Nour Al-Nabir brings her real experience as an immigrant business owner into the classroom.Her students just won a national entrepreneurship completion. That and more on a brand-new episode!

In a civics teacher's “Taking Action” class, students fight for change, whether it’s fixing potholes or school lunches. What does it mean to actively DO social studies? I’s on a new Teachers' Lounge.

The co-founder of Rockford’s Womanspace on her half-century quest to create a comfortable and creative place for women..

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, we talk with a Morris teacher who’s not afraid to hold his students to a standard of excellence.“I tell the kids, if you come in and you work for me, I will jump over the moon for you.”What it means to go above and beyond for kids.

There have been so many massive education stories over the past year from the dismantling of the Department of Education to childcare funding freezes.On a new Teachers’ Lounge podcast, we try to help you make sense of it and give you a roadmap to following education in 2026.

Every semester, we feature a new group of "student correspondents." They're students in a club, sport, or activity. We interview them every month and bring you their journey. This fall, we highlighted the reporters and editors at Kaneland High School's student-run magazine "The Kaneland Krier" as they raced against their deadlines.

Before we get too far into 2026, let's take one more look back at some of our best education stories we reported in 2025.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, we're revisiting a few of our favorite education conversations of 2025 as we finish up the year.