Dozens of high schools across the nation are adding competitive video-gaming as it becomes one of the fastest-growing activities in both K12 and higher ed.
Not long ago, 3D printers were the hot new edtech tool. Costing thousands of dollars, they were prized possessions that only teachers in specialties such as art and engineering knew how to use. Today, they have become necessary devices in ever-evolving, increasingly sophisticated classrooms in all subjects. And out in the workplace, students who have […]
Books represent just a part of the early literacy equation. Districts and community organizations now provide transportation, meals, summer lessons and family activities to prepare children for kindergarten reading. “The biggest challenge for closing the literacy gap is to address its cause: an opportunity gap” says Nell Duke, professor of literacy, language and culture at […]
How do you ensure students who excel at math remain engaged? Heidi Williams intended to solve that challenge by starting an after-school coding club while she was a gifted-and-talented teacher at Bayside Middle School near Milwaukee. Instead of using pen and paper, her students created an interactive children’s book on Scratch, the MIT Media Lab […]
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 […]
A frustrated student cries out “I can’t do it.” A teacher redirects: “You can’t do it, yet.” This may be the simplest way to define “growth mindset” the increasingly popular learning approach in which K12 leaders affirm their students’—and their staff members’—lifelong capacity to boost intelligence. “An individual with a fixed mindset has a fear […]
Where should schools start when it comes to implementing technology? As strange as this may sound, you have to start at the end, by which I mean determining the desired outcomes. If you start by debating Chromebooks or iPads, Microsoft Office or G-suite, laptops or tablets, your tech implementation won’t deliver on its full potential. […]
Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida, made headlines for their articulate arguments for gun control after a February shooting at their school left 17 dead. Their eloquence and activism did not come as a surprise to district leaders: Broward County Public Schools operates a systemwide debate program in more than two dozen […]
Quick quiz: After the buildings, salaries and benefits, what is one of the biggest expenses for most school districts? Chances are that it’s those ubiquitous yellow buses that pick up kids in the morning and return them home (or close to it) after school. With the typical school bus costing between $45,000 and $90,000 a […]
Last fall, a national problem arrived in Superintendent Richard Scaletta's corner of rural northwestern Pennsylvania. Principals in the General McLane School District began reporting unprecedented levels of misbehavior: students in frequent and severe distress, sometimes kicking, biting or throwing things.
