What鈥檚 on the minds of K-12 leaders and educators? Here are 5 topics capturing their attention, accompanied by examples of campaigns that successfully harness this interest. Align your marketing content with these topics to generate highly qualified leads and elevate your brand鈥檚 visibility.
1. Artificial Intelligence
Almost 2 years after the launch of ChatGPT, K-12 leaders and educators are hungry for guidance on issues such as plagiarism, data privacy, and ethical use of AI by students and educators as well as ways to leverage AI in their classrooms. In fact, more than 7 in 10 teachers said they haven鈥檛 received any professional development on using AI in the classroom, according to a recent survey by the EdWeek Research Center. Not surprisingly, AI was the top search term on edweek.org from January-April and Schools Are Taking Too Long to Craft AI Policy. Why That鈥檚 a Problem was the 5th most-read article by school district leaders.
What鈥檚 Working:
Spotlights are a gated collection of EdWeek articles surrounded by the sponsor鈥檚 content that delivers high-quality leads each time it鈥檚 downloaded. ASUS鈥檚 Spotlight on AI, which offers insights on steps educators can take to be prepared for teaching in an AI-powered world, has produced over 1,750 high-quality leads since January. Age of Learning took a different approach that featured their content and thought leadership. Their webinar on Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools brought in over 1,700 registrants. When you sponsor a webinar, the registration list is yours; the same goes for Spotlights and our other lead gen products.
2. Reading & Literacy
The science of reading is constantly evolving, and K-12 leaders and educators regularly turn to EdWeek for the latest research and best practices. If you search on edweek.org, you鈥檒l find the science of reading is mentioned over 12,000 times! Reading Comprehension Hinges on Building Knowledge. New Curricula Aim to Help, an article from our January special report on Reading to Understand: Unlocking the Elements of Comprehension, has been one of the most-read articles by district leaders, principals, and teachers in 2024.
What鈥檚 Working:
To showcase their thought leadership and capture highly qualified leads, OverDrive sponsored EdWeek鈥檚 February K-12 Essentials Forum, a virtual mini conference on Unlocking Reading Comprehension, which included a 10-minute session on kick-starting literacy with eBooks & audiobooks. The virtual forum attracted 1,360 registrants - over one third were district and school leaders.
3. Absenteeism
Chronic absenteeism skyrocketed during the pandemic and continues to cause academic and financial strain. That鈥檚 because students who are chronically absent are likely to struggle academically, which means schools need more resources to serve them. During the first 4 months of 2024, the most-read article for both district leaders and principals was Absenteeism Was a Big Problem in This District. A New Strategy Is Getting Results.
What鈥檚 Working:
Allovue partnered with EdWeek on a robust custom research project centered on educators鈥� knowledge gaps and views related to education finance. The resulting whitepaper on Teacher & Administrator Perceptions About K-12 Education Finance has been downloaded nearly 700 times. Curious how custom research projects work? Watch our webinar on Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy.
4. Mathematics
Math can be complicated for both students and educators! Articles like Schools Prioritize Reading Intervention. But What About Math? saw strong readership, as well as stories on strategies to improve academic outcomes and student ambivalence around math. And math is routinely a top-5 search term on edweek.org.
What鈥檚 Working:
EdWeek quizzes are another product offering consistently high audience engagement that provides our audience with the opportunity to test their knowledge on hot topics in education. A quiz sponsored by MIND Education on Productive Struggle saw over 1,650 leads in February. TouchMath harnessed EdWeek readers鈥� interest in math by hosting an advertorial webinar on The Bridgeable Math Gap: Lessons Learned from Dyslexia that drew over 2,700 registrants.
5. Professional Development
Educators have strong feelings about PD. A fall 2023 EdWeek Research Center survey found that nearly 50% of teachers think the PD they are required to take is irrelevant. Where do K-12 leaders go for PD on how to improve PD and other critical issues? EdWeek! Most EdWeek webinars provide CEU certificates, making them a go-to option for quick, topic-specific PD and 鈥渨ebinar鈥� is consistently a top-10 search term on edweek.org.
What鈥檚 Working:
A Spotlight on The Importance of PD and Growth Opportunities For Teachers sponsored by FlexPoint Education Cloud struck a chord with EdWeek鈥檚 readers, who downloaded it over 960 times. It continues to serve as a great resource for EdWeek鈥檚 audience!
Curious about the other issues keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Our full Guide to Trending Topics has the most-watched webinars, the most-downloaded whitepapers, the most engaging social media posts, and more. Connect with a Marketing Solutions regional manager to get the guide and explore how EdWeek鈥檚 deep insights into school and district-level buyers can transform your marketing.