The crucial matter of hiring, firing, and retention

Few schools get turnarounds right, least of all high schools, writes Sara Neufeld for The Hechinger Report. In 2012 and 2013, the federal Institute of Education Sciences (IES) asked 49 states and the District of Columbia about their capacity to support failing schools that had received federal turnaround money. This money disproportionately went to high schools, and states reported significant problems. To…

What ESEA reauthorization must not ignore

A new brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education argues that reauthorization of the ESEA must ensure states and districts target resources and reforms toward high schools repeatedly failing to graduate a third or more of students, or consistently demonstrating low graduation rates among student subgroups. Twenty-nine percent of African American students and 25 percent of Hispanic students do not graduate from high…

The proficiency disconnect

A new brief from Achieve details discrepancies -- or the "honesty gap" -- between student proficiencies as reported by states to students, parents, and educators, and as reported by NAEP, the standard for student assessment comparisons across state lines. Over the past two years, many states report proficiency rates that are more than 30 percentage points higher than their 2013 NAEP rates, leading parents and educators to believe…

The Educational Canvas: R.I.P. Grant Wiggins

Grant Wiggins, Champion Of Understanding

05/27/2015, Terry Heick, 0 Comments

Grant Wiggins, Champion Of…

The glories of a year-round school calendar 

Given the choice, says middle grades teacher and PD consultant Bill Ferriter, "I will never work on a traditional school calendar again." Since his fast-growing district shifted to a no-summers-off schedule seven years ago, Ferriter finds himself "more focused and productive as a practitioner," more rested, and better able to pursue professional opportunities beyond the classroom. …

A Mom Corrects the Néw York Times about the Reasons for Opt Out…

Thompson: What Do We Mean When We Talk of Graduation Rates?…

Coding for Kids: The New Vocational Education…

Age of Opportunity: Lessons From the New Science of Adolescence

by Laurence Steinberg — May 15, 2015



American high schools continue to show lackluster performance relative to high schools in comparably developed countries and to American elementary and middle schools. Laurence Steinberg argues that the problem isn't our schools, but the ways in which we raise our…

Chart: State Teachers Of Year Prioritize Out-Of-School Factors

Teachers of the Year: Family Stress and Poverty Are Biggest Obstacles to Classroom Success…

Poorest Students Often Miss Out on Gifted Classes

Embracing Difference: Tai D. Matthews leads a lesson on ancient Greece in her 6th grade humanities class at the Paterson (N.J.) Academy for the Gifted and Talented. She says the school’s cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity enriches her teaching. 

—Mark Abramson for Education…

A Time and Place For Buy-In…

Coding Skills Empower Us All |The Maker Issue