Every spring, students in Michael Nocella's chemistry class at Niles West High School in Illinois design a hot air balloon. But they set goals beyond carrying the most passengers or flying the farthest. Students work in groups to create a balloon that meets a societal or environmental need, such as fuel efficiency. Weaving this kind […]
Traditional parent-teacher conferences may go the way of dial-up internet as administrators experiment with innovative family engagement programs to increase student achievement, experts say. "Parents are really interested in activities and events that involve interaction with teachers," says Elena Lopez, associate director of the Harvard Family Research Project, a national platform for family and community […]
Alexandria Public Schools leaders re-envisioned classrooms a few years ago when planning a new high school at their central Minnesota district. The educators were driven, in part, by students who refused to enroll in industry skills courses taught typically in classrooms tucked away in dark basements. District leaders also hoped to change the stereotype that […]
Nearly 10 percent of the 18,680 students in the South Bend Community School Corporation in north central Indiana are English language learners. With students of varying levels of proficiency spread across the district's 33 schools, finding solutions to help students increase their skills, particularly in reading comprehension, proved difficult. In spring 2014, leaders at the […]
Á¢Klint W. Willert Superintendent, Brookings School District, South Dakota Topic: Testing & assessment Trend: Student achievement is measured by more than a single assessment score. The trend of moving toward multiple measures, not just a test score, to determine the quality of a teacher, a school, and district will continue to resound with the voting […]
Many districts hesitate to integrate social media into district policies because administrators fear cyberbullying, class distractions or other negative consequences. But administrators embracing the new tech tools say social media enhances student and community engagement. Michael Roe, principal of Poly High School in California's Riverside USD, and Luvelle Brown, superintendent of Ithaca City School District […]
Statistics instruction has become integral in K12 math curricula thanks to a push from the Common Core and a national demand for students with the skills to fill data-intensive jobs. Districts provide more courses that teach students how to analyze data and integrate statistics across subjects, says Jessica Utts, incoming president of the American Statistical […]
Once used to reflect successful memorization of facts and figures, the process of grading has transformed into a near meaningless code, often fogged by a variety of factors that have nothing to do with learning. Cathy Vatterott, a professor of education at the University of MissouriÁ¢"St. Louis, says that over the years, grades have come […]
School gardens used for instruction are on the rise nationwide, and with them, student engagement and test scores, according to a recent study. The nonprofit REAL School Gardens works with corporations to build outdoor classrooms at low-income schools. The gardens include 150 square feet of vegetable beds, perennial and herb beds, rainwater collection systems, composting […]
