For decades, “vocational” education prepared students for a newly industrialized workplace by training them for a specific occupational skill set. Today, Career and Technical Education (CTE) is open to all students, regardless of their career interests. Additionally, CTE helps train skilled workers that are essential in today’s high-growth industries. As skilled jobs become some of […]
Four years of development in Michigan has produced an arts platform where educators can share a curriculum and better methods for assessing student work. The instructional materials align with state and national standards, including the Every Student Succeeds Act, which emphasizes the arts as part of a "well-rounded education." Arts can teach students valuable soft […]
When only 13 percent of sophomores at the Grandview School District in Washington passed the state math exams six years ago, administrators decided to develop their own curriculum. For instance, leaders had concluded the textbooks they purchased didn't adequately teach fractions and integers, leading to gaps in student learning. Grandview spent about $200,000 to hire […]
The origin of the word "educate" the Latin word educo, means to bring out or pull from, and develop from within. Inquiry-based learning does just that. It has been shown to improve performance in all subjects: reading and language arts, social studies, math and science. But to truly establish a culture of inquiry-based learning in […]
When the next president takes office in January, he or she will preside over major shifts in the K12 education landscape—from implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act and Common Core, to the rollout of nationwide STEM initiatives, to the simmering battles over charters, school choice and teachers unions. When the next president takes office […]
Harrisonburg City Public Schools in Virginia incorporates a technical- and engineering-based STEM curriculum starting with kindergarten and continuing right through high school. The nation needs more STEM-focused youths, as only 16 percent of American high school seniors are proficient in math and interested in a STEM career, according to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). […]
Most educators are enrolling in online professional learning courses in part because they want to increase their knowledge, according to a report by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). The 2016 Vision K-20 Professional Learning (PL) survey sampled 705 education professionals, including teachers, principals, librarians and tech directors from pre-K through grade 12 and […]
Young refugees who have fled foreign war zones, religious violence and dire poverty represent some of the country's most "at-risk" students. In one New York district, for instance, refugee students who recently heard alarms during a fire drill worried the school was being bombed. About 61,000 refugees age 17 and younger entered the U.S. between […]
As one of today's most promising models for instruction, blended learning is growing rapidly across the country. But what really is blended learning, and how can educators use it to improve student outcomes? In a blended learning environment, students learn through a combination of online instruction—with some element of student control over time, place, path […]
Students can step inside an astronaut's' boots to experience life and research onboard the international space station with online science courses offered by the Virtual High School, which supplements public and private school instruction. One course, the Middle School Space Station Academy, teaches students about Earth science, life science, physical science and engineering. They learn […]
