In March 2016, The Atlantic magazine article “When Social and Emotional Learning Is Key to College Success” stated, “While test scores can predict academic success, self-management and relationship skills may better prepare students to thrive and graduate.” In September, The Aspen Institute formed the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, to advance “the […]
On the first Friday of every school year, the new kindergartners of Utah’s Canyons School District look ahead to the future—far ahead. To mark Kindergarten College-Ready Day, the children make construction-paper mortar boards and march in mock graduation ceremonies, applauded by high school and college athletes and cheerleaders. Teachers come to school wearing T-shirts and […]
Atlanta’s film industry has in recent years boomed to third place behind Los Angeles and New York City, and incoming studios noted a major skills gap when looking for videographers, scene constructors, prop creators and costume designers. Leaders of Fulton County Schools in Georgia responded. Three years ago, administrators met with studio executives to develop […]
A cadre of canines visits San Francisco Bay Area elementary schools, where struggling readers gain confidence and improve literacy by reading aloud to their furry friends. Readers of the Pack, a program run by the nonprofit 4Paws Learning and Wellness Center, sends certified therapy dogs and handlers to schools, libraries and after-school programs. “Young students […]
At Banneker High School in College Park, Georgia, dedicating a wing of six classrooms, an office and a conference room to just 139 ninth graders and their six teachers is an exercise in innovation. The wing is the foundation of a Junior Achievement (JA) pilot program called JA Magnet Business Academy, JA-MBA. Junior Achievement is […]
With national attention intensifying on preparing students for college and careers, the nation’s estimated 103,000 school counselors in K12 schools are playing a more critical role in preparing students for life after graduation. When Cory Notestine moved to Alamosa, a southern Colorado town founded by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, he saw many barriers […]
The number and variety of courses that can be offered in a small rural district is often limited. That was not acceptable to Erik Belcher, superintendent of Fayette Local School District in northwest Ohio. “With an enrollment of 440 and a small staff, our in-house capacity is narrow,” he says. “Yet we still wanted our […]
The U.S. public school system’s focus on struggling students leaves high-achieversÁ‘especially minorities, the economically disadvantaged and English-language learners Á‘without a challenging enough education, experts say. A lack of federal funding and patchwork policies across states often leave decisions on identifying and serving gifted students to district administrators. An estimated 3 million to 5 million academically […]
Teacher quality is crucial to the success of schooling, yet the teacher-hiring process is sometimes rushed and ad hoc. A late-summer flurry of activity in which subjective factorsÁ‘from where a candidate went to high school to how many resumes an exhausted principal has already reviewedÁ‘can weigh as heavily as meaningful evidence of academic achievement or […]
