American philosopher John Dewey once said, "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." Dewey, a strong proponent of progressive educational reform, believed that education should be based on the principle of learning through doing. While Dewey's hands-on approach has always been the foundation of career and technical education, his educational concept continues […]
In the latest round of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam, given to more than 500,000 15-year-olds in 72 nations, students in the U.S. once again scored in the middle of the pack—and below average in math—raising concerns and sending educators looking for answers. The search often turns to the top of the […]
While the controversial practice of corporal punishment declines, it remains legal in 19 states. In those states, boys, black students and children with disabilities are more likely to receive physical punishment than other students, according to recent report by the Society for Research in Child Development. The 2016 report found that black children in Alabama […]
If you want to know what motivates students—and teachers and administrators, for that matter—Russell Quaglia says you have to go to the source. Quaglia has spent years collecting information about "school voice"—that is, what these three groups think about their schools. The latest incarnation of this work is the Student Voice Survey. With different versions […]
In the wake of a divisive presidential election, hundreds of students from about a dozen high schools in Oakland, California, cut class last November to voice their discontent with President-elect Donald Trump. Rather than demand students return to school, faculty at Oakland USD supported the peaceful demonstration, where students could express their feelings, says David […]
The issue of fake news drew national attention during the 2016 presidential campaign, when fabricated stories were widely accepted as genuine. According to recent research, the problem extends to K12 classrooms, where students have trouble judging the credibility of online information. A national assessment of 203 middle school students by Stanford History Education Group at […]
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 […]
Andrew Smith, chief strategy officer in North Carolina's Rowan-Salisbury School System, is leading a digital-first initiative that three years ago aimed to give an iPad or a MacBook Air to all students—and their teachers—from grades 3 through 12. Rowan-Salisbury became 1-to-1 by the 2014-15 school year. Three years into a digital-first initiative, Andrew Smith, chief strategy […]
Patricia Baltzley Board chair, Gardiner School District (Mont.) "The way high schools are currently designed—both with architecture and teaching and learning—needs to be revisioned in all high schools, not just those considered innovative. Instructional needs of the students are different and will continue to be different. We need to get out of the Industrial Age […]
