In the United States, current approaches to helping teachers engage in ongoing skill development, and equitably reward teachers with particular skill sets aligned with advanced career opportunities, are often woefully ineffective, and sometimes even non-existent. “Micro-credentials” are a recent addition to the mix of potential solutions to these issues. Like many buzz-words in education, this Read more about Micro-credentials for Educators[…]
The idea of student-centered learning is not new; teachers have long sought to design personalized, competency-based environments that are tailored to individuals and that empower students to drive their own learning. What is new is the emergence of an online learning ecosystem and, with it, the technical possibility of equipping all students with a student-centered Read more about Educator competencies for student-centered teaching[…]
Among high school students who consider dropping out, half cite lack of engagement with school as a primary reason, and 42 percent say that they don’t see value in the schoolwork they are asked to do. During emergency closures due to COVID-19, even students who were previously highly motivated began to disengage from learning. In Read more about September Issue Brief: Student Engagement[…]
The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) is the leading U.S. organization studying high-performing education systems and their implications for dramatically improving American education. In The Design of High-Performing Education Systems, NCEE has distilled the accumulated insights of 35 years of research from the world’s leading systems. The document organizes what they have Read more about A Framework for Policy and Practice[…]
The Aspen Institute has released 10 recommendations states can use to maintain student connections and relationships through the 2020-21 school year. Healthy relationships and routines undergird the development of resilience, which is needed to engage successfully in academics and in life beyond school. These dimensions of student well-being and readiness-to-learn are under tremendous strain due Read more about 10 Recommendations to Maintain Student Connections[…]
Writing for KnowledgeWorks, Ted Toshalis provides an overview of 10 ways that teachers can drive student engagement in equitable ways. Excerpts from the piece appear below: What should we do to increase student engagement? Access and opportunity – Open doors, supply tools, broker relationships and explain processes. Take nothing for granted when it comes to Read more about 10 Drivers of Engagement You Can Use Right Now[…]
For many students, the COVID-19 pandemic is compounding traumatic experiences for diverse reasons, such as potential increased incidents of neglect, abuse, and isolation. At the same time, educators are limited in how they can support their students while schools are closed. REL Appalachia (REL AP) has been working with key stakeholders from the region in Read more about 5 Things Educators Can Do Virtually to Support Students Experiencing Trauma[…]
Writing for Inside Higher Ed, Doug Lederman reported on the best practices that were incorporated in virtual classes that students rated most highly. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Professors and students alike viewed their remote learning experience most favorably this spring when their courses incorporated more “best practices.” That’s the path to making the Read more about What Worked This Spring? Well-Designed and Delivered Courses[…]
Writing for EdSurge, Chelsea Waite recently explored an approach to remote learning that has resulted in extremely high levels of student engagement at a time when some schools and districts are seeing half or less of their students participating in online instruction. Excerpts of the piece appear below: What’s behind this rare level of engagement Read more about How Student Agency Can Ease the Pain of Remote Learning and Teaching[…]
Writing for the Shanker Institute, Matthew Kraft and Grace Falken explore the importance of school climate for both teachers and students. Excerpts of the piece appear below: The quality of a school’s teaching staff is greater than the sum of its parts. School environments can enable teachers to perform to their fullest potential or undercut Read more about Why School Climate Matters For Teachers And Students[…]
Recently, Chester Finn reflected on a new study which finds that achievement gaps have not closed in the last 50 years and educational improvements have not been seen at the high school level. Excerpts appear below: An ambitious, important new piece of analysis in Education Next concludes that young Americans across the socioeconomic spectrum have Read more about Achievement Quandaries[…]
Writing for The Hechinger Report, Jill Barshay explores a Virginia study that shows that prospective teachers improve their handling of student misbehavior when training simulations with avatars are combined with coaching. Excerpts of the piece appear below: University of Virginia researchers are rigorously testing computerized simulations of misbehaving students to see if they help student Read more about Learning to Teach Through Avatars[…]
Writing for FutureEd, Andreas Schleicher reviews the findings of the second volume of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Excerpts of the piece appear below. TALIS, which surveyed 260,000 secondary school teachers and administrators worldwide, found that only 7 percent of teachers work in schools Read more about Appraising Teachers Across the Globe: Where the U.S. Stands[…]
Writing for the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), Patricia Saenz-Armstrong explores how student teaching and initial licensure practices are shifting during this time of school closures. Excerpts from the piece appear below: School closures have obvious impacts on current students and teachers and are also creating challenges for teacher candidates hoping to graduate this Read more about Student Teaching and Initial Licensure in the Times of Coronavirus[…]
Writing for the Hechinger Report, Jill Barshay reviews a Chicago analysis that finds that schools that foster social-emotional development get better results for students. Excerpts of the piece appear below: We hear the phrase “failing schools” a lot but what really defines a failing school? Generally, we look at test scores. Schools that aren’t getting Read more about Boosting Soft Skills is Better than Raising Test Scores[…]
The Center for American Progress recently released recommendations to states, teacher preparation programs, and districts to improve the preparation of teachers to serve students with disabilities. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Roughly 7 million students in the K-12 public school system–14 percent–are identified as students with disabilities. Of these, more than 62 percent spend Read more about How Teacher Preparation Programs Can Help All Teachers Better Serve Students With Disabilities[…]