In his new book What School Could Be, innovation expert Ted Dintersmith profiles schools that focus on innovation and “real” learning, rather than endlessly drilling on formulas and definitions that don’t matter in today’s world. Our archaic model of education trains kids for a world that no longer exists, and accelerating advances in technology are eliminating millions of […]

Dan Hamlin, a postdoctoral fellow in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and Paul E. Petersen have examined data to see what impact states lowering the bar on academic proficiency have had on student achievement. When they were created, the Common Core standards were intended as consistent benchmarks for student learning across the country. But public opinion […]

Every weekday during the academic year, more than 50 million children across the United States enter public school buildings, says Lori Peek. Many of these buildings are so dilapidated and poorly designed that children’s health and safety are at risk. In a New York Times editorial, Peek called these schools “deathtraps” a term intended to […]

Perhaps in an effort to right the wrongs of the past, the Department of Education has begun accepting applications for $2.3 million in grants that will teach Native American languages to a new generation of children. Starting in the 1870s, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs ran boarding schools for Native American children that separated […]

After the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, Matthew Mayer and Shane Jimerson knew they had some work to do. Mayer, from the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, and Jimerson, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, both specialize in studying school violence. “In 2006, there were several school shootings, and we […]

Pressure to raise achievement test scores has become the driving force behind what is taught and how. Worse, the results from these tests reveal only a fraction of the overall picture of whether students are learning—and whether teachers are effective in their jobs, says Daniel Koretz. As one of the nation’s foremost experts on education […]

We pretty much understand rocket science, says Doug Green. That is, we understand the complex math and physics that propel objects into space. “The human brain, however, which is the learning playground for students and teachers, is much more complex and less understood.” An educator since 1970—as an elementary principal, district computer director, K12 science […]

Our education system is like a giant embedded rock, says Grant Lichtman. In his book, Moving the Rock, the former administrator outlines seven “levers” that schools or districts can use to begin to pry that rock free and introduce a “deeper learning” model that truly prepares students for the future. The levers, which include changing […]