Many students at Oxnard Elementary School District in Southern California have a dual challenge in gaining reading proficiency. Not only do they struggle with developing literacy skills, but over 56 percent of Oxnard's 17,000 pre-k through 8 students are learning English as a second language. To help these students overcome their literacy deficiency, in 2014 […]
Advances in interactive display technology expand the ability for teachers and students to collaborate in the classroom as evermore powerful mobile devices are used to share content. Advances in interactive display technology expand the ability for teachers and students to collaborate in the classroom as evermore powerful mobile devices are used to share content. "The […]
Many districts teach formal keyboarding instruction as early as second grade—a shift that requires new approaches to a skill that was once taught only in high school. Today's software feature gamification, captivating graphics and extensive reporting components. Many districts teach formal keyboarding instruction as early as second grade—a shift that requires new approaches to a skill […]
Recommended books offer ideas for makerspace activities, insight into online teaching, a behind-the-scenes look at reform and philanthropy, and methods for teaching steam in elementary school. Meaningful Making:Projects and Inspirations for Fab Labs and Makerspaces Constructing Modern Knowledge Press From the Transformative Learning Technologies Lab at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education comes this compendium […]
The fault line running along the Cascade Mountains from British Columbia to northern California is long overdue for an earthquake many scientists believe is all but inevitable. Engineering studies have shown that if a major quake does strike, it could take weeks to repair utilities, six months or more to restore water and years to […]
Media specialist Samantha Edwards wants noise in her library—and she hears it. Last fall, Edwards, the librarian at Fogelsville Elementary School in Parkland School District in Pennsylvania, opened a modest self-publishing center in the library outfitted with an iMac, a printer and a machine to bind books. She noticed how excited her students were to […]
At Napa Valley USD in northern California, classroom technology integration has been a priority since 1997, when the district opened the country's first New Technology High School. So bringing in digital books in order to provide easily accessible content to the 18,000 students and faculty in 34 schools was a natural—and important—step. "The challenge was […]
Another group of states in 2015-16 deployed their own Common Core-aligned assessments, adding greater momentum to a national shift away from the PARCC and Smarter Balanced testing consortia. Who's still testing with PARCC and Smarter Balanced? Another group of states in 2015-16 deployed their own Common Core-aligned assessments, adding greater momentum to a national shift […]
More than five years after many states implemented Common Core, the impact on student achievement remains unclear—though some states show small academic gains, with persistent achievement gaps. "Common Core is alive and well" says Adam Ezring, policy director of the Collaborative For Student Success, a nonprofit that supports use of the standards. "While it's still […]
Few teachers receive individualized professional development, though many are expected to personalize learning for students. Microcredentials—digital badges that teachers earn by learning a skill and demonstrating mastery through student results—offer a PD pathway designed to be highly differentiated and engaging. The microcredentialing process starts with teachers choosing a skill they want to develop. They take […]
