Does the Common Core overcomplicate text selection?
Kathleen Porter-MageeThe guidance that’s starting to emerge about how teachers can best select “grade-appropriate” texts may actually end up undermining the Common Core’s emphasis on improving the quality and rigor of the texts students are reading.
How top-down policies undermine instruction and feed the testing and accountability backlash
Kathleen Porter-MageeThe autonomy agenda matters
Three persistent myths about science education
Paul GrossGuest blogger Paul Gross addresses the enduring (and false) belief that scientific reasoning is separable from the content of science.
"Just right" books revisited: 3 ways we undermine student learning
Kathleen Porter-MageeIn the end, the “just right” theory of reading instruction is focused on the right goal—having students read independently and with deep understanding. But the way it tries to get there may be exactly what is holding our students back from achieving at the levels they need.
Skill. Concentration. Stamina.
Aaron ChurchillPhilosophical gravitas from an unexpected source.
Nobody loves standards (and that's O.K.)
Robert PondiscioThe Common Core is common sense
The fiction fallacy
Kathleen Porter-MageeThe Common Core ELA standards are right to takes on one of the most prominent and often fiercely defended fallacies in American education: that fiction is the only—or perhaps even the best—way to develop students’ love of reading, learning, and critical comprehension skills.
Content matters: The real lessons we need to draw from elite schools
Kathleen Porter-MageeYes, let’s find ways to drive better discussions in the classroom. But let’s also recognize that what makes those discussions work in America’s elite private schools is that they are built atop of solid foundation of rigorous content and hours and hours of practice.
Accountability and perspective needed for drop-out recovery charters
Aaron ChurchillDrop-out recovery charter schools annually serve about 20 percent of Ohio’s charter students but have never been held accountable for the performance of their students.
"Devil's in the details"
Aaron ChurchillOhio educators talk about the promise and challenges of implementing the Common Core.
Future Shock: Early Common Core implementation lessons from Ohio
With the 2014-15 Common-Core transition looming, we wondered: How are Ohio’s educators preparing themselves for this big change? Who is doing this work and what can other schools and districts learn from the early adopters? What are lessons, hopes, and fears facing those on the frontlines who have to lead Ohio’s embrace of significantly more rigorous academic standards?
Challenging the science status quo
Tyson EberhardtHere’s hoping “next generation” also means “better”
Early reports from the heartland show support for the Common Core
Terry RyanThe report, Future Shock: Early Common Core Lessons from Ohio Implementers, will be released next week, but some of Belcher’s findings are worth reporting early because this is such a burning issue for schools and educators across the state.
Set high goals for all of our students
Kathleen Porter-MageeThere is a saying among high performing schools that there is no 100 percent solution to helping students learn. Instead, there are a hundred 1 percent solutions that add up to big results. The same is true in the world of education policy.
Taking care of Florida’s high flyers
Adam EmersonFast-tracking the future in the Sunshine State
The State of Preschool 2011
John HortonThe what and who, but not the how (much)
Off the Clock: Moving Education from Time to Competency
Layla BonnotAnytime, anyplace, anyhow, any pace
Off The Clock: What More Time Can (And Can’t) Do For School Turnarounds
Hanif AbdurraqibBillions of dollars are being spent to increase learning time in struggling schools through Extended Learning Time (ELT). “ELT,” which the U.S. Department of Education defines as the use of a longer school day, week, or year, is a key component of the School Improvement Grant program aimed at turning around failing public schools.
Arts Education In Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 1999-2000 and 2009-10
Adrienne KingThe National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released Arts Education In Public Elementary and Secondary Schools1999-2000 and 2009-10, a report detailing the status of arts education in K-12 schools, the third study of its kind.
Choosing Blindly: Instructional Materials, Teacher Effectiveness, and the Common Core
Daniela FairchildE.D. Hirsch gets a new ally
Are "just right" books right for the Common Core?
Kathleen Porter-MageeIn the 1990s, much of the fireworks in the education policy debate centered around a “reading war” where supporters of whole language squared off against the forces of phonics. Now, in the Common Core era, I predict a similar firestorm is on the horizon.
You heard that right
Arthur McKee, Kate WalshNCTQ's Kate Walsh and Arthur McKee explain the significance of the Brookings Institution's recent report, "Choosing Blindly: Instructional Materials, Teacher Effectiveness, and the Common Core."
Getting good ideas to the finish line: choice, political will, and a coxswain
Peter MeyerDavid Brooks, E.D. Hirsch, and why the status quo persists
Learning a lesson from America's rural schools
Chris TessoneWith the spotlight on urban schools, recognizing the value of our country's rural schools is often forgotten.
They'll Swallow More Learning if You Sugar-coat It
Jester SlimMary Poppins was onto something
Courage, instruction, and being open to the changes the Common Core demands
Kathleen Porter-MageeResistance among teachers to changing their instruction poses a serious challenge to Common Core implementation.
In building common science standards, not all benchmarks are created equal
Kathleen Porter-MageeA look at the merits of the science frameworks for the PISA, TIMSS, NAEP, and ACT.
Evaluating the NYC Core Knowledge Early Literacy Pilot: Year 3 Report
Daniela FairchildThis stuff really works!