Education Technology
What K-12 Education System Tries to Do And Where It Misses
American schools struggle to balance expanding social missions with declining literacy proficiency among core student populations
Key takeaways
Only 30% of U.S. eighth graders tested proficient in reading in 2024, reflecting a fundamental misalignment between school practices and current learning science.
Public schools are expected to fulfill nine distinct societal roles—from academic instruction to social services—often without adequate training or resources.
Character and values education has become a political flashpoint, with many schools defaulting to avoidance rather than community-driven norms.
As America reevaluates what its public schools are truly for, new questions emerge about the purpose, performance, and priorities of K-12 education system. A system once centered around teaching the "three Rs" now juggles responsibilities as diverse as social services, values instruction, and community governance. Yet, despite these ambitions, a growing chorus of education experts warns the system may be misaligned with both modern science and society's evolving needs. According to national data, just 30% of eighth graders were found to be proficient in reading in 2024, a foundational skill K-12 education strives to prioritize.
Just 30% of eighth graders were found to be proficient in reading in 2024, a foundational skill K-12 education strives to prioritize.
So, in 2025, as students face new societal challenges and schools shoulder more roles than ever before, we ask: What is the K-12 education system really trying to do, and where is it falling short?
In this episode of The Future of Education, co-hosts Michael Horn and Diane Tavenner are joined by Stacey Childress, Senior Education Advisor at McKinsey & Company. Together, they examine nine major roles K-12 public schools are expected to play today, from core academic instruction to community caretaking, and uncover where the system is overburdened, under-resourced, or simply misaligned with student needs.
The main topics of conversation…
- Learning Misalignment: Schools remain out of step with current learning science, especially in how reading and foundational skills are taught and assessed.
- Values Without Vision: The system is caught in political crossfire around character education—often defaulting to avoidance instead of establishing intentional, community-driven norms.
- Systemic Overload: From serving meals to writing policy, schools are tasked with functions far beyond education, yet rarely supported with the training or structure to fulfill them effectively.
Stacey Childress is a senior advisor at McKinsey & Company, where she supports global investors, philanthropies, and education-focused organizations. She previously served as CEO of NewSchools Venture Fund and the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund, and led transformative initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, deploying over $300 million to drive innovation in K–12 education. With prior experience as a Harvard Business School professor and board member at Kahoot!, she brings deep expertise in education entrepreneurship, investment strategy, and system-level change.
About the author
Michael Horn speaks and writes about the future of education and works with a portfolio of education organizations to improve the life of each and every student. He is the co-founder of and a distinguished fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, and host of the Future of Education podcast on MarketScale.
