Displaying 541-570 of 1440 results
Commentary
8.19.2021
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

A thoughtful but dated criticism of “no excuses” charter schools

Robert Pondiscio

In the early days of KIPP, or the Knowledge Is Power Program, and other networks of urban charter schools that drafted in its considerable wake, the highly prescriptive form of classroom management and teaching these schools pioneered was a subject of intense fascination and considerable optimism.

Commentary
8.12.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

The vast majority of parents want schools to teach children social and emotional skills

Amber M. Northern, Ph.D., Michael J. Petrilli

The biggest takeaway of our new report, "How to Sell SEL," is that most moms and dads want their children to acquire social and emotional skills and think that schools have a role in making that happen, even as they recognize the key role that they and other family members play. Read more.

Report
8.11.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

How to Sell SEL: Parents and the Politics of Social-Emotional Learning

Adam Tyner, Ph.D.

This report examines parents’ opinions on SEL and pitfalls in communicating about it. It finds overwhelming support for the essence of SEL and its place in schools, but differences by political party and challenges in getting the terminology right.

Commentary
8.5.2021
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Private School Choice, Teachers & School Leaders

“Public education sucks” is a weak argument for school choice

Robert Pondiscio

I’ve long believed the best argument for school choice is to turn up the lights on what is possible when there’s room for a wide variety of schools, curricula, and cultures. Call it the When Harry Met Sally model.

Commentary
8.5.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Groundhog Day for school discipline

David Griffith

On June 4, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights asked for information that would help it “support schools in addressing disparities and eliminating discrimination in school discipline and fostering positive and inclusive school climates,” suggesting that something resembling the Obama-era discipline guidance may be reinstated in the near future.

Commentary
8.5.2021
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Busting the belief gap via regular student assessment

Jeff Murray

At its simplest, the belief gap is the gulf between what students can accomplish and what others—particularly teachers—believe they can achieve. It is especially pernicious when beliefs around academic competency are fueled by extraneous information such as socioeconomic status, race, or gender.

Commentary
8.3.2021
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Remote instruction is to blame for plummeting test scores

Nat Malkus

Texas recently became the first state to release state test score data since the pandemic hit.

Commentary
7.29.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

How do suspensions affect classroom learning?

Jeremy Smith

A recent study in the journal Education Finance and Policy uses quarterly achievement and discipline data on nearly 16,000 seventh through eleventh grade students in an inner-ring suburban California school district to estimate the effect of suspensions on the English language arts and math achievement of non-suspended classmates.

Commentary
7.22.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Thinking requires knowledge

Daniel Buck

Editor’s note: This was first published by National Review.

Commentary
7.22.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Give a universal curriculum a chance: The NYC initiative holds promise

Robert Pondiscio

When Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter recently announced the city would spend more than $200 million dollars to develop a citywide reading and math curriculum, the smart and obvious take was

Commentary
7.22.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

Factors that help teaching candidates find and keep jobs

William Rost

A recent CALDER working paper examined links between teacher preparation programs and the chance that their candidates will enter or remain in the public school system for their first two years post-graduation. Its findings can help school systems improve teacher retention—a problem that many districts face, especially those that mostly educate disadvantaged students.

Commentary
7.15.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Advanced Education, Teachers & School Leaders

Preparing students of all races to achieve greatness

Ian Rowe

When looking for models of ambitious inspiration, Americans often hearken back to President John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” address at Rice University on September 12, 1962:

Commentary
7.9.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Standards, Teachers & School Leaders

Strong standards are vital for making history and civics central in K–12 education

Peter Gibbon

Gone are the days when we could all agree with Ben Franklin’s sunny admonition: “Indeed the general tendency of reading good history must be, to fix in the minds of youth deep impressions of the beauty and usefulness of virtue of all kinds.” Instead, we must cope with political polarization, schools preoccupied with the achievement gap, students who learn from social media, and adults who are t

Commentary
7.8.2021
Charter Schools, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

No, school choice is not the answer to critical race theory

Robert Pondiscio

Why fight over critical race theory when we can choose? You teach oppression studies; I’ll teach American exceptionalism. It’s a simple and obvious solution. But it’s also a naïve and unsatisfying one. School choice may “solve” the CRT problem for an individual family, but it can’t address the clear interest that every American holds in the education of the next generation.

Commentary
7.8.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Texting parents helps improve student literacy. But how much is too much?

Jeremy Smith

Text-message nudges have been a viable tool in early-childhood literacy in recent years, with parents or guardians receiving occasional missives to encourage specific literacy activities with their children.

Commentary
7.8.2021
Accountability & Testing, Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Are Virginia’s elementary schools worsening achievement gaps?

William Rost

A new working paper from researchers out of the University of Virginia uses data from the state’s kindergarten literacy assessment, the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS), to examine how the subsequent achievement trajectories of kindergarteners who enter school with similar literacy levels differ by race and/or SES. The findings are worrying.

Commentary
7.6.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Teachers & School Leaders

What parents and teachers think about critical race theory

Angela Sailor , Adam Kissel

A new Heritage Foundation survey of more than 2,000 parents and teachers shows significant divides about teaching critical race theory. But there largely is consensus that civics content should focus on the duties of citizenship, not CRT.

Commentary
7.2.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Standards, Teachers & School Leaders

5 things I’ve learned from teaching U.S. history to high schoolers

José A. Gregory

I’ve taught U.S. history to high schoolers for almost twenty years, during which time I’ve worked in multiple states with students of varying personal and cultural backgrounds. Below are the five things that I think I’ve learned. 1) Our students need more exposure to U.S. history.

Commentary
7.1.2021
Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Standards, Teachers & School Leaders

We need better civics education, but it won’t happen anytime soon

Dale Chu

Fordham’s new report found that twenty states have “inadequate” civics and U.S. history standards that need a complete overhaul. An additional fifteen states were deemed to have “mediocre” standards that require substantial revisions. This fits the lackluster showing of U.S. students on the NAEP exams in these subjects, and suggests that some schools barely teach this content at all. Unfortunately, the obstacles in the way of improving this sad state run up and down the line.

Commentary
7.1.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Governance, Standards, Teachers & School Leaders

How to strengthen U.S. history and civics standards

Louise Dubé

For our constitutional democracy to survive, much rests on our ability to resolve “…differences even as we respect them,” which is The State of State Standards for Civics and History in 2021 report’s definition of the social purpose of civic education.

Commentary
7.1.2021
Evidence-Based Learning, Curriculum & Instruction, Teachers & School Leaders

Dan Willingham’s "Why Don’t Students Like School" stands the test of time. That was the point.

Robert Pondiscio

My 2009 copy of Why Don’t Students Like School by Dan Willingham is among the most dog-eared and annotated books I own. Along with E.D. Hirsch’s The Knowledge Deficit (2006) and Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion (2010), I’m hard-pressed to think of another book in the last twenty years that had a greater impact on my teaching, thinking, or writing about education.