Researchers find that a teacher workforce that reflects the diversity of the student population is going to require exceptionally ambitious efforts, taking far longer than previously acknowledged. Racial parity is not possible by relying solely on school districts to recruit more minority teachers. A study released last week by the Read more
Students at the Center’s Hub team developed the Reflection Tool For 21st Century Learning to support deeper learning and computational thinking for secondary students. The tool defines and scaffolds essential skills for both students and educators, in easy-to-understand language with opportunity for reflection and growth. This reflection tool is a Read more
Matthew Clifford and Eva Chiang in Real Clear Education write about the constant churn of principals in our nation’s schools, which they claim has reached epidemic proportions. To stop the churn, they recommend five things that districts can do this school year to hire, retain, and develop their principals: Hire Read more
In the American Youth Policy Forum, Jennifer Brown Lerner writes a thoughtful piece about the terminology that the education sector is using to refer to ESSA’s fifth indicator, the “non-academic” indicator. The language in the legislation names student engagement; educator engagement; access to and completion of advanced coursework; postsecondary readiness; Read more
The National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future (NCTAF), the author of the seminal “What Matters Most” report of 1996, is calling for a new compact with teachers in order to capitalize on this moment in time when policy and practice are shifting toward more engaging and relevant teaching and Read more
Interested in winning $500 for your classroom? The two competitions below offer opportunities to do so! SaveOnEnergy SaveOnEnergy.com® is looking for the best lesson plans for teaching students about energy or sustainability. SaveOnEnergy teaches consumers of all ages about the many aspects of energy in their Learning Center through blog Read more
At the end of every interview, there comes a time when the principal asks the prospective teacher, “Do you have any questions for me?” Cristie Watson advises in Education Week Teacher that the following five questions are appropriate to ask (and the answers provide important information for new teachers): What Read more
There is a new movement in education called the Agile Schools Movement. The approach models classroom instruction and school reform itself on the principles of Agile software development and related methods like Lean, Kanban, and Scrum. Agile in Education is not about the use of technology products and services. Instead, Read more
Brooke Stafford-Brizard, an adviser for Turnaround for Children, recently created a student-development framework for nonacademic skills. Building Blocks for Learning is grounded in the concept that, like academic skills, nonacademic skills are developmental and can be taught. This resource serves to guide practitioners at all levels, informing teacher-student relationships, classroom instruction, Read more
Recently, Natasha Singer and Mike Isaac reported for The New York Times on Facebook’s new personalized learning platform. An excerpt of the article appears below: Facebook is out to upend the traditional student-teacher relationship. Facebook and Summit Public Schools, a nonprofit charter school network with headquarters in Silicon Valley, announced Read more
Survey data can be an effective way to gather data that informs instruction or programmatic decisions. But some educators do not have the training or experience needed to design surveys or analyze the data that surveys can provide. Three research alliances in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands Read more
AFT’s Barnett Berry and Kim Farris-Berg have produced an article that details the history of teacher-powered schools, the research supporting these innovative models, and examples of successful implementations. An excerpt appears below: The Center for Teaching Quality and Education Evolving have created the Teacher-Powered Schools Initiative to raise awareness of Read more
The percentage of students completing high school and enrolling in college has increased over time for all racial and ethnic groups, according to a newly released report. However, despite these gains, the rate of progress has varied among groups, and gaps persist on key indicators of educational performance. The National Read more
Teacher compensation matters for attracting and retaining effective educators, however, the U.S. pays teachers less than most industrialized countries pay their teachers. The Education Commission of the States recently released an overview of the various approaches to teacher compensation being used by American states as well as a summary of Read more
According to Achieve, over the past few years, nearly all states have made significant changes to their mathematics standards in an effort to better align with college- and career-ready expectations. At the same time, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), seen as the “nation’s report card,” continues to play Read more
To understand how to turn around a failing school quickly, using as few resources as possible, Alex Hill, Liz Mellon, Jules Goddard and Ben Laker studied changes made by 160 UK academies after they were put into remedial measures by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills Read more