We are at the halfway point of summer and now is a great time to take advantage of the wonderful learning opportunities offered during the break. No longer constrained by the four walls of the classroom, a set curriculum, or standardized testing, summer activities help children...
When we think of unemployment, we often think of its immediate effects: people who are unemployed are unable to earn a regular salary, and are therefore unable to pay their bills. However, unemployment has much further-reaching effects on individuals, families, and the economy at large....
Research indicates that children who have a clear and positive image of their futures are better able to overcome the hurdles that being born into low-income communities can place before them. Beginning in kindergarten, the highest performing, "no-excuses" charter schools expose their students to the...
Imagine only receiving feedback on how you are doing in your job once every three years. When you do get feedback, it is almost solely based on a single pre-scheduled hour of observation, and the highest level of performance achievable on the evaluation is "consistently...
In today’s economy, there are 23 million American youth who have not found a meaningful place in the workforce—meaning they are not finding work, not finding enough work, or have become discouraged from seeking work altogether. Much of the focus on fixing this problem has...
It makes sense that if you want to know about how well something is going, you ask those directly impacted by it … right? Unfortunately, in the field of education, and especially in the area of teacher reform, this doesn’t always happen in a very...
“If I don’t pass the test, it will make you look bad.” The words stung me deeply as they left the mouth of my former 6th grade student. The dreaded state-testing window was quickly approaching, and I wanted my students to perform well. I was...
When I took my teacher prep courses in the dark ages, 20+ years ago, the only class I took that had anything to do with teaching reading was a single three-credit-hour course entitled "Teaching Reading in the Content Areas" -- and I was pursuing certification...
Unions are professional organizations. They provide services for teachers that cover an incredible gamut of purposes. Yet, despite all the positive work teachers' unions do for students, and education in general, some groups continue to criticize these organizations without really understanding their purpose and their...
I recently attended a briefing on technology in the classroom. CQ Roll Call and Samsung sponsored the event, which began with guest speakers Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo of California. Senator Isakson made the point that many textbooks are often used...