Category: Continuous Development

March 29, 2019

The diversity of the nation’s public school students continues to grow at a far faster rate than that of the teacher workforce. As a result, efforts are increasing to ensure that beginning and current teachers have ways to make the […]

October 29, 2018

Developing stronger partnerships between community colleges and local industry can help make higher education more relevant to the needs of student and employers. A recent report from the Urban Institute identifies a significant imbalance between the types of jobs available […]

October 25, 2018

The labor market is changing, and schools need to be poised to adapt to those changes. Though many low-skilled jobs are vanishing because of the availability of new technologies, there are still many jobs available for students if they are […]

May 31, 2018

While the shift to digital has had its share of bumps in the road, it stands to significantly transform and improve education over the long haul. This has already been seen to some extent with the rising prevalence of models […]

May 30, 2018

At TeachThought, we’re huge fans of project-based learning. While there is no magic bullet of practice, program, or framework that automatically produces progressive and effective learning, what makes project-based learning exceptional is its flexibility. As it is, first and foremost, […]

May 7, 2018

Collaboration across departments has been identified as the fundamental differentiator in achieving strategic objectives in not only the business community but also in higher education. Today’s challenging higher-ed environment can benefit from more collaboration, particularly between IT, business, and finance […]

May 4, 2018

As the nation faces a looming teacher shortage, one of the most powerful tools we have for retaining teachers is coaching. Every district around the nation employs coaching models. But are they effective? We asked this question two years ago […]

May 3, 2018

Simulation has been around for more than 20 years, so what is compelling more science teachers and school districts to add it to their bag of resources? Just as early video games with their simply designed interfaces and limited functionality […]

April 30, 2018

Nearly all administrators (91 percent) in a recent survey say innovation is a top strategic or academic priority, but just 40 percent say their institution has a dedicated university innovation budget, according to a new report that explores the drivers […]

April 20, 2018

In many classrooms and computer labs, students are expected to “sit still” and “pay attention” for an entire class period or for several hours in a row. For some students with disabilities or learning differences, this can be an impossible […]

April 19, 2018

In 2018, an “unconnected classroom”—that is, one without social components, digital media output, authentic and highly visible school-to-school and school-to-community functions, and personal learning for each student through mobile and adaptive technology for each student—is seen as appropriately cautious. Perhaps […]

April 17, 2018

The ultimate goal of teaching is understanding. But sometimes it’s easier to talk than to teach, as we all know, especially when we need to cover a lot of material in a short amount of time. We hope students will […]

April 12, 2018

Preparing students for college — and even making it seem like an attainable goal for some students — is a challenge for many schools. According to the Center for American Progress, an estimated 40-60% of first-year students require remediation in […]

April 10, 2018

Most teachers become more effective with experience, while other teachers never become effective at all. The new ESSA regulations require that states now define “ineffective,” “inexperienced,” or “out-of-field teachers” and work to make sure that effective teachers are placed into […]

April 6, 2018

As the supervisor of instruction in Haddon Township School District in New Jersey, I would love to be able to give my teachers feedback every week. Feedback is a crucial factor for growth and progress, especially for teachers, who are […]

March 29, 2018

Who controls the learning in your classroom? What are the sources of that learning? Does the learning happen as a matter of access to content, or participation in teacher-derived learning activities–i.e., units and lessons? Who or what is the most […]

March 28, 2018

Social media is increasingly used for teachers’ professional learning, but teachers seem more hesitant to use it as a learning tool with students, according to a survey from the University of Phoenix and Harris Poll . Sixteen percent of the […]

February 27, 2018

Providing quality STEM education means taking care of teachers Ajmera said it’s clear K-12 teachers are “hungry for professional development.” Building an effective STEM program, she said, means making sure teachers are surrounded by learning opportunities to improve and like-minded colleagues […]

February 22, 2018

“Be the leader you wish you had.” —Simon Sinek Professional learning in many districts must undergo radical reform, from a model that’s outdated and ineffective to one that’s personal, empowering, and owned by the learner. How can we create such […]

February 21, 2018

The team at Otus has revamped a popular feature to make creating assessments easier for teachers using their robust learning platform. After hearing lots of feedback from current users, they decided to make a simple assessment feature so every teacher […]