Displaying 1261-1290 of 1743 results
Commentary
5.13.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

A conservative agenda for school board members

Michael J. Petrilli, Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Those best positioned to push back against much of the nonsense that courses through our schools are school board members. And those interested in effecting positive change should adopt a three-part agenda: let our schools refocus on preparing children for informed citizenship; restore character, virtue, and morality to the head of the education table; and build an education system that confers dignity, respect, and opportunity upon every youngster.

Commentary
5.13.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Geography: The unloved stepchild of American education

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

Many urgent challenges await the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and its governing board (NAGB) in the coming months, including whether the scheduled biennial testing of reading and math in grades four and eight is feasible during the 2020–21 school year.

Commentary
5.13.2020
Teachers & School Leaders

It took a teacher to make a decent movie about a teacher

Robert Pondiscio

Few vocations have suffered more in the hands of Hollywood mythmakers than teaching. This is curious. Schools offer a familiar and fertile setting, and teaching is inspiring, aspirational work. There is rich potential for drama in student backstories or in a good teacher’s ability to change a child’s life trajectory.

Commentary
5.12.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Forge emotional connections with students before pursuing lessons online

Elizabeth Mee

Editor’s note: This essay was first published by Ed Source. As Californians adjust to a restricted and socially distant life amid the coronavirus pandemic, each of us is forced to refocus on what is most important in our lives.

Commentary
5.11.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

A self-reflection tool for distance learners

Beth Blaufuss

Editor’s note: This blog post was first published by Partnership Schools.

Commentary
5.11.2020
Accountability & Testing

Denver’s ambitious reimagination of accountability

Derek Gottlieb

Denver Public Schools (DPS) has long prided itself on being ahead of the curve when it comes to education reform. It was one of the first major urban districts in the country to negotiate a pay-for-performance system for its teachers in 2005.

Commentary
5.8.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Providing teachers with quality materials that they're trained to use is critical as schools prepare for the fall

Amy Cox

The last time I saw my third grade reading students was more than 40 days ago. Like most schools across the country, ours closed its doors as a safety measure to help slow the spread of COVID-19. And like most schools and districts, we faced the challenge of how to ensure our students continued to learn when they could no longer be inside a classroom.

Commentary
5.6.2020
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

When it comes to catching kids up, let’s stop with the generalities

Michael J. Petrilli

The complicated matter of how to help students make up ground when they return to school has two main camps. One wants every student to master key skills before moving on, and the flexibility for teachers to go back and spend time filling in the gaps. The other camp wants teachers to spend most of their time remaining on pace with grade-level material. There’s a way to help catch kids up that takes both into consideration.

Commentary
5.6.2020
Accountability & Testing

Shooting the test-messenger to end accountability

Chester E. Finn, Jr.

This year’s holiday from federally-mandated end-of-year assessments in math and English language arts will undoubtedly embolden test haters to declare once again—and louder than ever—that we never needed those damned exams in the first place and that our schools and students are far better off without them.

Commentary
5.6.2020
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Elementary school teachers should stay with their students this fall

Dale Chu

As thoughts start turning to reopening schools, there’s been no shortage of advice on what educators need to do to prepare and how they should go about doing it. One emerging piece of consensus is that schools may need to start the school year remotely as part of rolling closures triggered by new outbreaks.

Commentary
5.5.2020
Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

An orderly return to school in the fall is unlikely

Derrell Bradford

The education policy discussion during the COVID-19 crisis is as raucous as ever. Equity. Learning loss. Online education. These are all familiar fights, and the pandemic has not arrested them.

Commentary
5.4.2020
Accountability & Testing

COVID-19 cancelled state assessments for the spring. Should we push for permanent reductions in testing going forward?

Cory Koedel, Eric Parsons

With schools shuttered nationwide by the COVID-19 pandemic, states had no choice but to cancel standardized testing for the 2019–20 school year. Although certainly less pressing than many other COVID-related issues, the test stoppage is a long-run concern for states and school districts that monitor student performance using annual tests.

Commentary
4.29.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

On IDEA, Betsy DeVos did the right thing. Some school districts missed an opportunity.

Nathan Levenson

Secretary DeVos has declined to press Congress to waive major provisions of IDEA, the primary federal law governing the education of students with disabilities. This was the right call, and leaves school districts who have been slow to act facing greater challenges and expenses when in-person schooling resumes.

Commentary
4.28.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

3 keys to the reading “road game”

Will Beller

Editor’s note: This blog post was first published by Partnership Schools.

Commentary
4.27.2020
Teachers & School Leaders

More than ever, meeting students’ primary needs starts with meeting our own

Matthew Taylor

Over the last several weeks, educators accomplished the mammoth task of setting up remote learning for the remainder of the COVID-19 pandemic. As time passes, school on Zoom will become the new normal. It is important in this in-between moment to bring our attention to something we probably have not thought enough about lately.

Commentary
4.24.2020
Teachers & School Leaders

I see education and humanity in “full bloom” in my COVID-19 classroom

Daniel Parsons

I used to leave my phone at the front of the classroom in case of emergencies at home. Of course, I didn’t advertise its place there, but also of course, the students found it and would snag it during community time. They couldn’t access the contents—a teacher knows to keep everything locked down—but they could access the camera, and they would snap whole reels of pictures.

Commentary
4.23.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Charting a course together in K–2 literacy and math

Rachel Etienne, Tori Filler

The world has changed. Our understanding of what matters most is evolving to meet new realities. This is as true in education as anywhere. Since “school as usual” isn’t an option, how can we chart a course forward, particularly for our youngest learners in kindergarten and first and second grades? How can we continue to cultivate the critical foundation for a lifetime of learning?

Commentary
4.22.2020
Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

“Doing math” at a distance

Maggie Johnson

Editor’s note: This blog post was first published by Partnership Schools. We recently shared this captivating clip of Our Lady Queen of Angels’s Kindergartener Iliana C. teaching her mom number bonds and sentences.

Commentary
4.22.2020
School Finance

Schools brace for belt-tightening in the wake of coronavirus

Dale Chu

The financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic is part of a triple threat facing schools this fall: (1) students who are far off track academically and socially; (2) a decline in state revenue that will result in severe budget cuts; and (3) rising costs in response to the pandemic. The silver lining is that the financial pressure could provide cover to enterprising leaders interested in tackling thorny issues like pension obligations that might otherwise have gone unaddressed.

Commentary
4.17.2020
Governance

Giving all students an “A” is a terrible idea

Erika Sanzi

Just when it seems we’ve reached the limit of asinine pandemic proposals in K–12 education, we are quickly reminded that there is no limit. The San Francisco board of education has come up with a real doozy that flies directly in the face of “do no harm” despite what its most ardent supporters may claim.